Tips on How to Buy and Shop for Genuine Canadian Inuit Art (Eskimo Art) Sculptures
Many visitors to Canada will be exposed to Inuit art (Eskimo art) sculptures while exploring the country. Since Inuit art has actually been getting more and more international direct exposure, individuals may be seeing this Canadian great art form at museums and galleries located outside Canada too. Presuming that the intent is to get an authentic piece of Inuit art rather than a low-cost tourist imitation, the question arises on how does one tell apart the real thing from the phonies?
It would be pretty disappointing to bring home a piece just to learn later on that it isn't really genuine or even made in Canada. If one is fortunate enough to be traveling in the Canadian Arctic where the Inuit live and make their terrific artwork, then it can be securely presumed that any Inuit art piece bought from a local northern store or straight from an Inuit carver would be genuine. One would have to be more careful in other places in Canada, particularly in tourist locations where all sorts of other Canadian mementos such as t-shirts, hockey jerseys, postcards, crucial chains, maple syrup, and other Native Canadian arts are sold.
The safest locations to shop for Inuit sculptures to guarantee credibility are constantly the reliable galleries that concentrate on Canadian Inuit art and Eskimo art. A few of these galleries have ads in the city tour guide discovered in hotels.
Reputable Inuit art galleries are likewise noted in Inuit Art Quarterly magazine which is devoted entirely to Inuit art. When one strolls into these galleries, one will see that there will be only Inuit art and maybe Native art however none of the other typical tourist souvenirs such as t-shirts or postcards . The Inuit sculpture may be signed by the carver either in English or Inuit syllabics but not all genuine pieces are signed.
Some of these Inuit art galleries also have websites so you might shop and buy authentic Inuit art sculpture from house anywhere in the world. In addition to these street retail specialized galleries, there are now respectable online galleries that also concentrate on genuine Inuit art. These online galleries are a great option for purchasing Inuit art because the rates are generally lower than those at street retail galleries because of lower overheads. Of course, like other shopping on the internet, one must beware so when dealing with an online gallery, ensure that their pieces likewise come with the main Igloo tags to make sure authenticity.
Some tourist stores do carry authentic Inuit art as well as the other touristy souvenirs in order to cater to all types of travelers. Authentic Inuit sculpture is sculpted from stone and for that reason needs to have some weight or mass to it. An genuine Inuit sculpture is a one of a kind piece of artwork and nothing else on the Kurt Criter shop shelves will look Kurt Criter precisely like it.
Where it ends up being harder to identify credibility are with the reproductions that are also made from stone. This can be a real gray area to those unfamiliar with authentic Inuit art. They do have mass and may even have some type of tag suggesting that it was handmade however if there are other pieces on the shelves that look too comparable in detail, they are most likely not authentic. If a seller claims that such as piece is genuine, ask to see the main Igloo tag that comes with it which will have information on the artist, location where it was made and the year it was sculpted. Move on if the Igloo tag is not available. The genuine pieces with the accompanying official Igloo tags will always be the greatest priced and are typically kept in a separate ( possibly even locked) rack within the shop.
Because Inuit art has actually been getting more and more global exposure, individuals might be seeing this Canadian fine art type at museums and galleries located outside Canada too. If one is lucky enough to be taking a trip in the Canadian Arctic where the Inuit live and make their terrific artwork, then it can be safely assumed that any Inuit art piece purchased from a local northern shop or directly from an Inuit carver would be genuine. Reliable Inuit art galleries are also listed in Inuit Art Quarterly publication which is dedicated entirely to Inuit art. The Inuit sculpture might be signed by the carver either in English or Inuit syllabics however not all authentic pieces are signed. Some of these Inuit art galleries also have websites so you could shop and purchase authentic Inuit art sculpture from home anywhere in the world.