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 visiting the nation. Considering that Inuit art has been getting more and more international exposure, people might be seeing this Canadian great art form at museums and galleries situated outside Canada too. Assuming that the intention is to get an genuine piece of Inuit art rather than a inexpensive tourist imitation, the question develops on how does one tell apart the real thing from the fakes?
It would be pretty disappointing to bring home a piece just to find out later that it isn't really genuine or perhaps made in Canada. If one is lucky enough to be traveling 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 bought from a regional northern shop or straight from an Inuit carver would be authentic. One would have to be more cautious elsewhere in Canada, particularly in tourist locations where all sorts of other Canadian mementos such as tee shirts, hockey jerseys, postcards, crucial chains, maple syrup, and other Native Canadian arts are offered.
The safest places to look for Inuit sculptures to make sure credibility are always the reputable galleries that specialize in Canadian Inuit art and Eskimo art. Some of these galleries have ads in the city tourist guides found in hotels.
Reliable Inuit art galleries are also noted in Inuit Art Quarterly magazine which is devoted entirely to Inuit art. When one strolls into these galleries, one will see that there will be just Inuit art and maybe Native art however none of the other usual traveler keepsakes such as postcards or tee shirts . The Inuit sculpture might be signed by the carver either in English or Inuit syllabics but not all genuine pieces are signed.
A few of these Inuit art galleries also have websites so you might shop and buy genuine Inuit art sculpture from home throughout the world. In addition to these street retail specialized galleries, there are now trusted online galleries that likewise specialize in genuine Inuit art. Because of lower overheads, these online galleries are a great option for buying Inuit art given that the prices are generally lower than those at street retail galleries. Of course, like any other shopping on the internet, one must beware so when handling an online gallery, make certain that their pieces also include the main Igloo tags to guarantee credibility.
Some traveler stores do bring authentic Inuit art as well as the other touristy mementos in order to cater to all types of travelers. Genuine Inuit sculpture is sculpted from stone and for that reason needs to have some weight or mass to it. An authentic Inuit sculpture is a one of a kind piece of art work and nothing else on the store racks will Kurt Criter Denver look precisely like it.
Where it becomes more difficult to figure out credibility are with the recreations that are also made of stone. This can be a genuine gray area to those unfamiliar with authentic Inuit art. They do have mass and may even have some kind of tag suggesting that it was handcrafted but if there are other pieces on the shelves that look too similar in detail, they are probably not authentic. If a seller claims that such as piece is genuine, ask to see the main Igloo tag that features it which will have information on the artist, place where it was made and the year it was carved. Move on if the Igloo tag is not offered. The authentic pieces with the accompanying authorities Igloo tags will constantly be the highest priced and are generally kept in a different ( maybe even locked) rack within the store.
Considering that Inuit art has actually been getting more and more worldwide exposure, people may be seeing this Canadian great art type at museums and galleries 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 wonderful art work, then it can be securely presumed that any Inuit art piece bought from a regional northern shop or directly from an Inuit carver would be authentic. Reputable Inuit art galleries are also listed in https://soundcloud.com/kurt-criter Inuit Art Quarterly magazine which is devoted entirely 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 websites so you could go shopping and purchase genuine Inuit art sculpture from house anywhere in the world.