Tips on The Best Ways To Purchase and Purchase Authentic Canadian Inuit Art (Eskimo Art) Sculptures
Many visitors to Canada will be exposed to Inuit art (Eskimo art) sculptures while visiting the country. These are the splendid handmade sculptures sculpted from stone by the Inuit artists living in the northern Arctic regions of Canada. While in a few 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 different retail shops and showed at some museums. Considering that Inuit art has been getting more and more worldwide exposure, people might be seeing this Canadian 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 great souvenirs for their houses or as extremely distinct gifts for others. Assuming that the intention is to acquire an genuine piece of Inuit art rather than a cheap tourist replica, the question emerges on how does one differentiate the genuine thing from the phonies?
It would be quite disappointing to bring home a piece only to find out later on that it isn't genuine or perhaps made in Canada. If one is fortunate enough to be traveling in the Canadian Arctic where the Inuit live and make their fantastic art work, then it can be safely presumed that any Inuit art piece bought from a local northern store or directly from an Inuit carver would be authentic. One would need to be more careful in other places in Canada, specifically in tourist areas where all sorts of other Canadian keepsakes such as t-shirts, hockey jerseys, postcards, crucial chains, maple syrup, and other Native Canadian arts are offered.
The best locations to shop for Inuit sculptures to guarantee authenticity are always the credible galleries that specialize in Canadian Inuit art and Eskimo art. Some of these galleries have ads in the city tour guide found in hotels.
Trusted Inuit art galleries are also listed in Inuit Art Quarterly magazine which is dedicated entirely to Inuit art. When one walks into these galleries, one will see that there will be just Inuit art and perhaps Native art but none of the other usual tourist mementos such as t-shirts or postcards . 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 also have sites so you could go shopping and purchase authentic Inuit art sculpture from house anywhere in the world. In addition to these street retail specialized galleries, there are now reputable online galleries that also specialize in authentic Inuit art.
Some traveler shops do carry genuine Inuit art along with the other touristy souvenirs in order to accommodate all types of tourists. When shopping at these types of shops, it is possible to tell apart the real pieces from the reproductions. Genuine Inuit sculpture is carved 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 artist's signature. An genuine Inuit sculpture is a one of a kind piece of art work and nothing else on the store racks will look precisely like it. If there are duplicates of a specific piece with precise details, the piece is not genuine. It is most likely not real if a piece looks too best in information with absolute straight bottoms or sides. Naturally, if a piece includes a sticker label indicating that is was made page in an Asian country, then it is certainly a fake. There will also be a substantial price difference in between genuine pieces and the imitations.
Where it ends up being more difficult to identify authenticity are with the reproductions that are also made of stone. This can be a genuine gray area to those not familiar with genuine Inuit art. They do have mass and may even have some kind of tag indicating that it was handcrafted however if there are other pieces on the shelves that look too comparable in detail, they are more than likely not authentic. If a seller declares that such as piece is authentic, ask to see the main Igloo tag that features it which will have information on the artist, area where it was made and the year it was carved. If the Igloo tag is not offered, carry on. The genuine pieces with the accompanying authorities Igloo tags will always be the greatest priced and are generally kept in a different (perhaps even locked) rack within the shop.
Considering that Inuit art has actually been getting more and more international direct exposure, people may be seeing this Canadian fine art form at museums and galleries situated outside Canada too. If one is fortunate enough to be taking a trip in the Canadian Arctic where the Inuit live and make their wonderful art work, then it can be safely assumed that any Inuit art piece acquired from a local northern shop or directly from an Inuit carver would be genuine. Respectable 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 genuine pieces are signed. Some of these Inuit art galleries also have websites so you could go shopping and purchase genuine Inuit art sculpture from house anywhere in the world.