Tips on How to Purchase and Shop for Genuine Canadian Inuit Art (Eskimo Art) Sculptures
Lots of visitors to Canada will be exposed to Inuit art (Eskimo art) sculptures while visiting the country. Since Inuit art has been getting more and more worldwide exposure, people may be seeing this Canadian great art type at museums and galleries located outside Canada too. Assuming that the intention is to acquire an genuine piece of Inuit art rather than a low-cost traveler replica, the question emerges on how does one inform apart the real thing from the fakes?
It would be quite disappointing to bring home a piece just to discover later on that it isn't genuine and even made in Canada. If one is lucky enough to be traveling in the Canadian Arctic where the Inuit live and make their wonderful artwork, then it can be safely presumed that any Inuit art piece purchased from a regional northern store or straight from an Inuit carver would be genuine. One would have to be more mindful elsewhere in Canada, especially in tourist locations where all sorts of other Canadian keepsakes such as tee shirts, hockey jerseys, postcards, key chains, maple syrup, and other Native Canadian arts are offered.
The best locations to purchase Inuit sculptures to ensure authenticity are always the credible galleries that specialize in Canadian Inuit art and Eskimo art. Some of these galleries have advertisements in the city tourist guides discovered in hotels.
Trusted Inuit art galleries are likewise listed in Inuit Art Quarterly magazine which adheres totally to Inuit art. These galleries will usually be located in the downtown tourist locations of significant cities. When one walks into these galleries, one will see that there will be only Inuit art and maybe Native art but none of the other normal traveler keepsakes such as postcards or t-shirts . These galleries will have just authentic Inuit art for sale as they do not deal with imitations or phonies . Simply to be even safer, make sure that the piece you have an interest in comes with a Canadian government Igloo tag certifying that it was handcrafted by a Canadian Inuit artist. The Inuit sculpture might be signed by the carver either in English or Inuit syllabics however not all authentic pieces are signed. Be conscious that an unsigned piece might still be indeed authentic.
A few of these Inuit art galleries likewise have websites so you could go shopping and purchase Kurt Criter authentic Inuit art sculpture from house throughout the world. In addition to these street retail specialty galleries, there are now respectable online galleries that likewise concentrate on authentic Inuit art. These online galleries are a excellent option for purchasing Inuit art considering that the costs are generally lower than those at street retail galleries because of lower overheads. Of course, like any other shopping on the internet, one must be careful so when dealing with an online gallery, ensure that their pieces likewise include the main Igloo tags to ensure credibility.
Some tourist shops do carry authentic Inuit art as well as the other touristy mementos in order to cater to all types of tourists. Genuine Inuit sculpture is sculpted from stone and for that reason needs to have some weight or mass to it. An authentic Inuit sculpture is a one of a kind piece of art work and absolutely nothing else on the shop racks will look precisely like it.
Where it ends up being more difficult to figure out authenticity are with the recreations that are likewise made from stone. This can be a real gray area to those not familiar with authentic Inuit art. They do have mass and may even have some type of tag indicating that it was handmade but if there are other pieces on the shelves that look too comparable in detail, they are probably not genuine. If a seller declares that such as piece is genuine, ask to see the official Igloo tag that includes it which will have information on the artist, area 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 constantly be the highest priced and are normally kept in a separate ( possibly even locked) rack within the store.
Since Inuit art has actually been getting more and more worldwide exposure, individuals may be seeing this Canadian great art form at museums and galleries located outside Canada too. If one is fortunate enough to be taking a trip in the Canadian Arctic where the Inuit live and make great site their wonderful art work, then it can be securely assumed that any Inuit art piece acquired from a local northern store or directly from an Inuit carver would be authentic. Credible Inuit art galleries are also noted in Inuit Art Quarterly magazine which is dedicated entirely to Inuit art. The Inuit sculpture may be signed by the carver either in English or Inuit syllabics however not all genuine pieces are signed. Some of these Inuit art galleries likewise have websites so you could go shopping and purchase authentic Inuit art sculpture from home anywhere in the world.