Tips on How to Purchase and Shop for Authentic Canadian Inuit Art (Eskimo Art) Sculptures
Many visitors to Canada will be exposed to Inuit art (Eskimo art) sculptures while visiting the nation. These are the spectacular handmade sculptures sculpted from stone by the Inuit artists living in the northern Arctic regions of Canada. While in some of the major Canadian cities (Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, Ottawa, and Quebec City) or other tourist locations popular with global visitors such as Banff, Inuit sculptures will be seen at various retail stores and showed at some museums. Since Inuit art has been getting increasingly more international direct exposure, people might be seeing this Canadian fine art kind at galleries and museums situated outside Canada too. As a result, it will be natural for lots of tourists and art collectors to choose that they want to buy Inuit sculptures as nice souvenirs for their homes or as very unique presents for others. Presuming that the intent is to obtain an genuine piece of Inuit art instead of a inexpensive tourist replica, the concern arises on how does one tell apart the real thing from the phonies?
It would be pretty disappointing to bring home a piece just to learn later that it isn't genuine 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 wonderful art work, then it can be securely assumed that any Inuit art piece bought from a regional northern store or straight from an Inuit carver would be genuine. One would need to be more cautious elsewhere in Canada, particularly in tourist areas where all sorts of other Canadian keepsakes such as tee shirts, hockey jerseys, postcards, essential chains, maple syrup, and other Native Canadian arts are sold.
The best locations to purchase Inuit sculptures to make sure 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 found in hotels.
Reputable Inuit art galleries are also listed in Inuit Art Quarterly publication which is devoted completely to Inuit art. When one walks into these galleries, one will see that there will be only Inuit art and perhaps Native art however none of the other typical tourist keepsakes such as postcards or tee shirts . The Inuit sculpture may be signed by the carver either in English or Inuit syllabics but not all authentic pieces are signed.
A few of these Inuit art galleries likewise have websites so you might go shopping and buy authentic Inuit art sculpture from house anywhere in the world. In addition to these street retail specialty galleries, there are now reputable online galleries that likewise specialize in genuine Inuit art. These online galleries are a great option for purchasing Inuit art since the costs are usually lower than those at street retail galleries because of lower overheads. Of course, like other shopping on the internet, one should take care so when handling an online gallery, ensure that their pieces also include the official Igloo tags to guarantee authenticity.
Some tourist stores do bring authentic Inuit art along with the other touristy keepsakes in order to deal with all kinds of travelers. When shopping at these kinds of stores, it is possible to tell apart the real pieces from the recreations. Genuine Inuit sculpture is sculpted from stone and for that reason must have some weight or mass to it. Stone is also cold to the touch. A reproduction made of plastic or resin from a mold will be much lighter in weight and will not be cold to the touch. A recreation will in some cases have a company name on it such as Wolf Originals or Boma and will never feature an artist's signature. An authentic Inuit sculpture is a one of a kind Kurt Criter piece of artwork and nothing else on the shop shelves will look exactly like it. If there are duplicates of a certain piece with specific details, the piece is not genuine. It is most likely not genuine if a piece looks too perfect in detail with outright straight bottoms or sides. Of course, if a piece features a sticker showing that is was made in an Asian country, then it is obviously a fake. There will also be a huge cost distinction between authentic pieces and the replicas.
Where it ends up being more difficult to determine authenticity are with the reproductions that are likewise made from stone. This can be a genuine gray area to those not familiar with genuine Inuit art. They do have mass and might even have some type of tag suggesting that it was handcrafted however if there are other pieces on the shelves that look too similar in detail, they are more than likely not genuine. If a seller visit this page declares that such as piece is authentic, ask to see the official Igloo tag that comes with 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 readily available. The genuine pieces with the accompanying official Igloo tags will always be the highest priced and are generally kept in a separate (perhaps even locked) shelf within the shop.
Considering that Inuit art has actually been getting more and more international direct exposure, people may be seeing this Canadian great art form at museums and galleries located 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 presumed that any Inuit art piece bought from a regional northern store or directly from an Inuit carver would be authentic. Respectable Inuit art galleries are also noted in Inuit Art Quarterly magazine which is devoted totally to Inuit art. The Inuit sculpture may 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 sites so you might go shopping and purchase authentic Inuit art sculpture from house anywhere in the world.