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 touring the nation. These are the spectacular handmade sculptures carved from stone by the Inuit artists residing in the northern Arctic regions of Canada. While in some of the major Canadian cities (Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, Ottawa, and Quebec City) or other traveler locations popular with worldwide visitors such as Banff, Inuit sculptures will be seen at numerous retail shops and displayed at some museums. Considering that Inuit art has been getting increasingly more worldwide exposure, individuals might be seeing this Canadian art kind at galleries and museums located outside Canada too. As a result, it will be natural for lots of travelers and art collectors to decide that they want to purchase Inuit sculptures as nice souvenirs for their houses or as extremely special presents for others. Presuming that the objective is to get an authentic piece of Inuit art instead of a low-cost traveler imitation, the concern arises on how does one tell apart the genuine thing from the phonies?
It would be quite disappointing to bring home a piece just to find out later that it isn't authentic or even made in Canada. If one is lucky enough to be taking a trip in the Canadian Arctic where the Inuit live and make their terrific art work, then it can be safely presumed that any Inuit art piece purchased from a local northern store or straight from an Inuit carver would be genuine. One would have to be more careful somewhere else in Canada, especially in traveler areas where all sorts of other Canadian mementos such as t-shirts, hockey jerseys, postcards, essential chains, maple syrup, and other Native Canadian arts are sold.
The safest locations to look for Inuit sculptures to ensure authenticity are constantly the reputable galleries that specialize in Canadian Inuit art and Eskimo art. A few of these galleries have ads in the city tour guide found in hotels.
Reliable Inuit art galleries are likewise noted in Inuit Art Quarterly magazine which is devoted entirely to Inuit art. These galleries will usually be found in the downtown tourist locations of major cities. When one strolls into these galleries, one will see that there will be just Inuit art and possibly Native art but none of the other usual traveler keepsakes such as postcards or tee shirts . These galleries will have only authentic Inuit art for sale as they do not handle replicas or fakes . Just to be even safer, make sure that the piece you have an interest in includes a Canadian federal government Igloo tag certifying that it was handmade by a Canadian Inuit artist. The Inuit sculpture might be signed by the carver either in English or Inuit syllabics but not all authentic pieces are signed. Be mindful that an anonymous piece may still be indeed authentic.
Some of these Inuit art galleries likewise have websites so you could shop and buy authentic Inuit art sculpture from home anywhere in the world. In addition to these street retail specialty galleries, there are now respectable online galleries that also specialize in authentic Inuit art.
Some traveler shops do carry authentic Inuit Home Page art in addition to the other touristy souvenirs in order to accommodate all types of tourists. When shopping at these kinds of shops, it is possible to differentiate the real pieces from the recreations. Genuine Inuit sculpture is carved from stone and therefore must have some weight or mass to it. Stone is likewise cold to the touch. A recreation made from 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 business name on it such as Wolf Originals or Boma and will never ever feature an artist's signature. An authentic Inuit sculpture is a one of a kind piece of artwork and nothing else on the shop racks will look exactly like it. If there are duplicates of a certain piece with exact information, the piece is not genuine. If a piece looks too ideal in detail with outright straight bottoms or sides, it is probably not real. Naturally, if a piece features a sticker label showing that is was made in an Asian nation, then it is undoubtedly a fake. There will likewise be a huge rate distinction in between authentic pieces and the replicas.
This can be a genuine gray location to those unfamiliar with authentic Inuit art. If a seller claims that such as piece is authentic, ask to see the official Igloo tag that comes with it which will have information on the artist, place where it was made and the year it was carved. The genuine pieces with the accompanying official Igloo tags will always be the greatest priced and are usually kept in a separate ( maybe even locked) shelf within the store.
Because Inuit art has actually been getting more and more worldwide exposure, people may be seeing this Canadian fine art form at museums and galleries located outside Canada too. If one is lucky enough to be traveling in the Canadian Arctic where the Inuit live and make their terrific art work, then it can be safely presumed that any Inuit art piece purchased from a local northern store or straight from an Inuit carver would be genuine. Respectable Inuit art galleries are likewise listed in Inuit Art Quarterly magazine 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 genuine pieces are signed. Some of these Inuit art galleries also have websites so you could go shopping and purchase authentic Inuit art sculpture from house anywhere in the world.