Tips on How to Purchase and Look For Genuine Canadian Inuit Art (Eskimo Art) Sculptures
Numerous visitors to Canada will be exposed to Inuit art (Eskimo art) sculptures while visiting the nation. These are the splendid handmade sculptures carved from stone by the Inuit artists residing 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 tourist locations popular with international visitors such as Banff, Inuit sculptures will be seen at various retail stores and showed at some museums. Given that Inuit art has been getting more and more global direct exposure, individuals might be seeing this Canadian art type at galleries and museums situated outside Canada too. As a result, it will be natural for lots of travelers and art collectors to choose that they would like to acquire Inuit sculptures as good souvenirs for their homes or as extremely special gifts for others. Presuming that the intention is to get an genuine piece of Inuit art instead of a inexpensive tourist replica, the concern occurs on how does one tell apart the genuine thing from the phonies?
It would be quite frustrating to bring home a piece just to learn later on that it isn't really genuine or even made in Canada. If one is fortunate enough to be traveling in the Canadian Arctic where the Inuit live and make their terrific art work, then it can be safely presumed that any Inuit art piece purchased from a local northern shop or directly from an Inuit carver would be authentic. One would need to be more careful elsewhere in Canada, particularly in traveler areas where all sorts of other Canadian souvenirs such as tee shirts, hockey jerseys, postcards, crucial chains, maple syrup, and other Native Canadian arts are offered.
The most safe places to look for Inuit sculptures to guarantee authenticity are always the respectable galleries that concentrate on Canadian Inuit art and Eskimo art. A few of these galleries have ads in the city tourist guides found in hotels.
Trusted Inuit art galleries are also listed in Inuit Art Quarterly magazine which is devoted completely to Inuit art. These galleries will usually be located in the downtown traveler locations of significant cities. When one walks into these galleries, one will see that there will be just Inuit art and possibly Native art however none of the other typical traveler keepsakes such as t-shirts or postcards . These galleries will have just authentic Inuit art for sale as they do not handle phonies or imitations . Simply to be even much safer, make sure that the piece you are interested in includes a Canadian federal government Igloo tag certifying that it was handcrafted by a Canadian Inuit artist. The Inuit sculpture might be signed by the carver either in English or Inuit syllabics however not all genuine pieces are signed. So be aware that an unsigned piece might still be undoubtedly authentic.
Some of these Inuit art galleries also have websites so you could go shopping and buy genuine Inuit art sculpture from home throughout the world. In addition to these street retail specialty galleries, there are now trustworthy online galleries that also concentrate on genuine Inuit art. These online galleries are a great alternative for purchasing Inuit art given that the prices are usually lower than those at street retail galleries because of lower overheads. Naturally, like other shopping on the internet, one should take care so when handling an online gallery, make sure that their pieces also come with the main Igloo tags to guarantee credibility.
Some tourist shops do bring authentic Inuit art as well as the other touristy souvenirs in order to cater to all types of tourists. Authentic Inuit sculpture is sculpted from stone and for that reason should 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 shelves will look precisely like it.
Where it becomes harder to identify credibility are with the reproductions that are likewise made from stone. This can be a real gray area to those unfamiliar with authentic Inuit art. They do have mass and may even have some kind of tag showing that it was handmade but if there are other pieces on the shelves that look too similar in detail, they are probably not Kurt Criter Denver genuine. If a seller declares that such as piece is authentic, ask to see the official Igloo tag that features it which will know on the artist, location where it was made and the year it was sculpted. If the Igloo tag is not offered, carry on. The genuine pieces with the accompanying official Igloo tags will always be the greatest priced and are usually kept in a separate (perhaps even locked) shelf within the store.
Because Inuit art has been getting more and more global direct exposure, individuals might be seeing this Canadian great art kind at galleries and museums 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 artwork, then it can be safely presumed that any Inuit art piece purchased from a local northern store or directly from an Inuit carver would be authentic. Respectable Inuit art galleries are likewise noted in Inuit Art Quarterly publication which is devoted entirely to Inuit art. 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 likewise have sites so you might go shopping and purchase genuine Inuit art sculpture from house anywhere in the world.