Tips on How to Buy and Buy Authentic Canadian Inuit Art (Eskimo Art) Sculptures



Lots of visitors to Canada will be exposed to Inuit art (Eskimo art) sculptures while touring the country. These are the spectacular handmade sculptures sculpted from stone by the Inuit artists residing in the northern Arctic areas of Canada. While in some of the major Canadian cities (Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, Ottawa, and Quebec City) or other tourist areas popular with international visitors such as Banff, Inuit sculptures will be seen at numerous retail stores and showed at some museums. Given that Inuit art has been getting a growing number of worldwide exposure, people may be seeing this Canadian fine art kind at museums and galleries situated outside Canada too. As a result, it will be natural for many tourists and art collectors to choose that they wish to buy Inuit sculptures as good souvenirs for their homes or as really unique gifts for others. Assuming that the objective is to get an genuine piece of Inuit art instead of a cheap traveler imitation, the question occurs on how does one differentiate the genuine thing from the fakes?

It would be quite disappointing to bring home a piece only to find out later on that it isn't really authentic and even made in Canada. If one is fortunate enough to be taking a trip in the Canadian Arctic where the Inuit live and make their wonderful artwork, then it can be securely assumed that any Inuit art piece bought from a local northern shop or directly from an Inuit carver would be authentic. One would need to be more mindful in other places in Canada, specifically in traveler locations where all sorts of other Canadian mementos such as tee shirts, hockey jerseys, postcards, essential chains, maple syrup, and other Native Canadian arts are sold.

The most safe locations to purchase Inuit sculptures to guarantee authenticity are constantly the reputable galleries that specialize in Canadian Inuit art and Eskimo art. Some of these galleries have ads in the city tour guide found in hotels.

Credible Inuit art galleries are also noted in Inuit Art Quarterly magazine which is dedicated entirely to Inuit art. When one strolls into these galleries, one will see that there will be only Inuit art and maybe Native art but none of the other typical tourist mementos such as postcards or tee shirts . The Inuit sculpture might be signed by the carver either in English or Inuit syllabics but not all authentic pieces are signed.

Some of these Inuit art galleries also have websites so you could go shopping and buy authentic Inuit art sculpture from home throughout the world. In addition to these street retail specialty galleries, there are now reputable online galleries that also specialize in genuine Inuit art. These online galleries are a excellent alternative for buying Inuit art because the prices are normally lower than those at street retail galleries because of lower overheads. Naturally, like other shopping on the internet, one must be careful so when handling an online gallery, ensure that their pieces also include the main Igloo tags to ensure authenticity.

Some tourist stores do bring genuine Inuit art read here along with the other touristy mementos in order to cater to all kinds of travelers. When shopping at these kinds of shops, it is possible to differentiate the real pieces from the recreations. Genuine Inuit sculpture is sculpted from stone and therefore needs to have some weight or mass to it. Stone is also cold to the touch. A recreation made of plastic or resin from a mold will be much lighter in weight and will not be cold to the touch. A reproduction will sometimes have a company name on it such as Wolf Originals or Boma and will never include an Kurt Criter artist's signature. An authentic Inuit sculpture is a one of a kind piece of artwork and absolutely nothing else on the store shelves will look precisely like it. The piece is not authentic if there are duplicates of a certain piece with exact information. If a piece looks too perfect in detail with outright straight bottoms or sides, it is probably not real. Of course, if a piece features a sticker label showing that is was made in an Asian country, then it is clearly a fake. There will also be a huge price distinction in between genuine pieces and the imitations.

This can be a genuine gray location to those unfamiliar with genuine Inuit art. If a seller claims that such as piece is genuine, ask to see the main Igloo tag that comes with it which will have info on the artist, place where it was made and the year it was sculpted. The genuine pieces with the accompanying official Igloo tags will always be the greatest priced and are generally kept in a different ( possibly even locked) shelf within the store.


Since Inuit art has been getting more and more global direct exposure, people might be seeing this Canadian great art type at museums and galleries situated outside Canada too. If one is lucky enough to be taking a trip in the Canadian Arctic where the Inuit live and make their fantastic art work, then it can be securely assumed that any Inuit art piece bought from a regional northern shop or straight from an Inuit carver would be genuine. Credible Inuit art galleries are also listed in Inuit Art Quarterly publication which is devoted totally to Inuit art. The Inuit sculpture might be signed by the carver either in English or Inuit syllabics but not all genuine pieces are signed. Some of these Inuit art galleries likewise have websites so you might go shopping and purchase genuine Inuit art sculpture from home anywhere in the world.

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