Tips on How to Purchase and Buy 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 stunning handmade sculptures sculpted from stone by the Inuit artists living 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 various retail shops and showed at some museums. Because Inuit art has actually been getting a growing number of international exposure, people may be seeing this Canadian fine art form at galleries and museums located outside Canada too. As a result, it will be natural for numerous tourists and art collectors to choose that they would like to purchase Inuit sculptures as good souvenirs for their homes or as really special presents for others. Presuming that the intent is to obtain an genuine piece of Inuit art rather than a low-cost traveler replica, the question emerges on how does one tell apart the genuine thing from the fakes?
It would be quite frustrating to bring home a piece only to find out later that it isn't really genuine and even 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 securely assumed that any Inuit art piece purchased from a local northern store or directly from an Inuit carver would be authentic. One would have to be more mindful somewhere else in Canada, especially in tourist locations where all sorts of other Canadian souvenirs such as t-shirts, hockey jerseys, postcards, crucial chains, maple syrup, and other Native Canadian arts are offered.
The most safe locations to look for Inuit sculptures to make sure authenticity are always the credible galleries that specialize in Canadian Inuit art and Eskimo art. Some of these galleries have advertisements in the city tour guide found in hotels.
Reputable Inuit art galleries are also listed in Inuit Art Quarterly magazine which is devoted completely to Inuit art. When one strolls into these galleries, one will see that there will be just Inuit art and maybe Native art but none of the other typical traveler mementos such as tee shirts or postcards . 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 sites so you might go shopping and buy genuine Inuit art sculpture from home anywhere in the world. In addition to these street retail specialty galleries, there are now reputable online galleries that also focus on genuine Inuit art. These online galleries are a good choice for buying Inuit art given that the rates are usually lower than those at street retail galleries because of lower overheads. Naturally, like any other shopping on the internet, one should be careful so when dealing with an online gallery, make certain that their pieces likewise come with the main Igloo tags to guarantee authenticity.
Some traveler shops do carry authentic Inuit art along with the other touristy mementos in order to deal with all kinds of tourists. When shopping at these types of shops, it is possible to differentiate the genuine pieces from the reproductions. Authentic 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 from 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 include an artist's signature. An genuine Inuit sculpture is a one of a kind piece of artwork and nothing else on the store racks will look exactly like it. The piece is not authentic if there are duplicates of a specific piece with exact information. If a piece looks too best in detail with absolute straight bottoms or sides, it is most likely not real. Naturally, if a piece features a sticker showing that is was made in an Asian nation, then it is obviously a phony. There will also be a huge price distinction in between genuine pieces and the imitations.
Where it ends up being more difficult to identify credibility are with the reproductions that are also 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 indicating that it was handcrafted but if there are other pieces on the shelves that look too similar in detail, they are most likely not genuine. If a seller declares that such as piece is genuine, ask to see the official Igloo tag that includes it which will have information on the artist, location where it was made and the year it was carved. 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 normally kept in a different (perhaps even locked) shelf within the store.
Given that Inuit art has actually been getting more and more global direct exposure, people might 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 Find Out More be securely presumed that any Inuit art piece acquired from a local northern shop or directly from an Inuit carver would be genuine. Credible Inuit art galleries are also listed in Inuit Art Quarterly publication which is dedicated completely 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 buy authentic Inuit art sculpture from home anywhere in the world.