Tips on How to Purchase and Look For Genuine Canadian Inuit Art (Eskimo Art) Sculptures
Lots of visitors to Canada will be exposed to Inuit art (Eskimo art) sculptures while exploring the country. These are the splendid handmade sculptures carved from stone by the Inuit artists residing in the northern Arctic areas of Canada. While in some of the significant Canadian cities (Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, Ottawa, and Quebec City) or other traveler locations popular with global visitors such as Banff, Inuit sculptures will be seen at numerous retail shops and showed at some museums. Since Inuit art has been getting increasingly more global direct exposure, people might be seeing this Canadian fine art form at galleries and museums located outside Canada too. As a result, it will be natural for many travelers and art collectors to decide that they want to purchase Inuit sculptures as nice keepsakes for their houses or as very special presents for others. Presuming that the intention is to obtain an authentic piece of Inuit art rather than a inexpensive tourist imitation, the question arises on how does one differentiate the real thing from the phonies?
It would be pretty disappointing to bring home a piece just to find out later on that it isn't really authentic or perhaps made in Canada. If one is fortunate enough to be traveling 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 careful somewhere else in Canada, particularly in traveler locations where all sorts of other Canadian souvenirs such as tee shirts, hockey jerseys, postcards, key chains, maple syrup, and other Native Canadian arts are offered.
The safest locations to purchase Inuit sculptures to guarantee credibility are always the respectable galleries that concentrate on Canadian Inuit art and Eskimo art. Some of these galleries have ads in the city tour guide discovered in hotels.
Trusted Inuit art galleries are likewise noted in Inuit Art Quarterly magazine which is devoted totally to Inuit art. These galleries will typically be found in the downtown traveler locations of major cities. When one walks into these galleries, one will see that there will be just Inuit art and maybe Native art but none of the other typical tourist mementos such as tee shirts or postcards . These galleries will have just authentic Inuit art for sale as they do not handle replicas or phonies . Just to be even much safer, ensure that the piece you have an interest in features a Canadian government Igloo tag certifying that it was handmade by a Canadian Inuit artist. The Visit This Link Inuit sculpture may be signed by the carver either in English or Inuit syllabics but not all authentic pieces are signed. So understand that an anonymous piece might still be certainly genuine.
Some of these Inuit art galleries also have sites so you might shop and buy genuine Inuit art sculpture from house anywhere in the world. In addition to these street retail specialty galleries, there are now reliable online galleries that likewise concentrate on authentic Inuit art. These online galleries are a great option for purchasing Inuit art considering that the prices are usually lower than those at street retail galleries because of lower overheads. Naturally, like any other shopping on the internet, one need to beware so when handling an online gallery, make sure that their pieces likewise come with the official Igloo tags to ensure authenticity.
Some tourist shops do bring genuine Inuit art as well as the other touristy keepsakes in order to cater to all types of tourists. Authentic Inuit sculpture is carved 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 art work and nothing else on the store racks will look exactly like it.
Where it becomes more difficult to figure out credibility are with the reproductions that are likewise made from stone. This can be a real gray area to those unfamiliar with genuine Inuit art. They do have mass and may even have some kind of tag showing that it was handmade however 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 authentic, ask to see the main Igloo tag that includes 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 official Igloo tags will constantly be the highest priced and are usually kept in a different (perhaps even locked) shelf within the shop.
Because Inuit art has been getting more and more worldwide exposure, Kurt Criter Denver individuals might be seeing this Canadian great art type at galleries and museums located outside Canada too. If one is fortunate 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 acquired from a regional northern store or directly from an Inuit carver would be authentic. Trustworthy Inuit art galleries are likewise noted in Inuit Art Quarterly magazine 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 authentic pieces are signed. Some of these Inuit art galleries also have websites so you could shop and buy authentic Inuit art sculpture from house anywhere in the world.