Tips on How to Purchase and Buy Genuine Canadian Inuit Art (Eskimo Art) Sculptures
Numerous visitors to Canada will be exposed to Inuit art (Eskimo art) sculptures while exploring the nation. These are the magnificent handmade sculptures carved from stone by the Inuit artists residing in the northern Arctic areas of Canada. While in a few of the significant 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 displayed at some museums. Considering that Inuit art has actually been getting increasingly more global exposure, people might be seeing this Canadian fine art type at galleries and museums located outside Canada too. As a result, it will be natural for lots of travelers and art collectors to decide that they would like to purchase Inuit sculptures as great souvenirs for their houses or as really unique gifts for others. Presuming that the intention is to obtain an genuine piece of Inuit art instead of a low-cost tourist imitation, the question arises on how does one differentiate the genuine thing from the phonies?
It would be quite disappointing to bring home a piece just to discover later that it isn't genuine or even made in Canada. If one is fortunate enough to be taking a trip in the Canadian Arctic where the Inuit live and make their wonderful artwork, then it can be securely assumed that any Inuit art piece purchased from a regional northern store or straight from an Inuit carver would be genuine. One would have to be more careful somewhere else in Canada, specifically in tourist locations where all sorts of other Canadian keepsakes such as tee shirts, hockey jerseys, postcards, essential chains, maple syrup, and other Native Canadian arts are offered.
The most safe places to shop for Inuit sculptures to guarantee authenticity are constantly the credible galleries that focus on Canadian Inuit art and Eskimo art. Some of these galleries have ads in the city tour guide found in hotels.
Respectable Inuit art galleries are also noted in Inuit Art Quarterly publication which is devoted completely to Inuit art. These galleries will typically be found 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 but none of the other normal tourist mementos such as postcards or t-shirts . These galleries will have just genuine Inuit art for sale as they do not handle fakes or imitations . Simply to be even much safer, make certain that the piece you have an interest in comes with a Canadian federal government Igloo tag licensing that it was handcrafted by a Canadian Inuit artist. The Inuit sculpture may be signed by the carver either in English or Inuit syllabics however not all authentic pieces are signed. Be aware that an anonymous piece may still be undoubtedly genuine.
Some of these Inuit art galleries also have websites so you could go shopping and purchase genuine Inuit art sculpture from home anywhere in the world. In addition to these street retail specialty galleries, there are now reliable online galleries that also specialize in genuine Inuit art.
Some tourist shops do bring genuine Inuit art as well as the other touristy souvenirs in order to accommodate all kinds of travelers. When shopping at these kinds of stores, it is possible to tell apart the real pieces from the reproductions. Genuine Inuit sculpture is carved from stone and for that reason needs to 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 often 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 art work and absolutely nothing else on the store shelves will look precisely like it. The piece is not genuine if there are duplicates of a particular piece with precise details. It is most likely not genuine if a piece looks too perfect in information with outright straight bottoms or sides. Naturally, if a piece features a sticker suggesting that is was made in an Asian nation, then it is undoubtedly a phony. There will also be a big cost distinction in between genuine pieces and the imitations.
Where it becomes harder to identify authenticity are with the reproductions that are likewise made of 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 however if there are other pieces on the shelves that look too similar in detail, they are probably not authentic. If a Kurt Criter seller claims that such as piece is genuine, ask to Kurt Criter see the official Igloo tag that comes with 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 authorities Igloo tags will constantly be the greatest priced and are usually kept in a separate (perhaps even locked) shelf within the store.
Given that Inuit art has been getting more and more global direct exposure, individuals may be seeing this Canadian fine 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 acquired from a local northern store or straight from an Inuit carver would be genuine. Credible Inuit art galleries are also listed in Inuit Art Quarterly magazine which is devoted entirely to Inuit art. The Inuit sculpture might be signed by the carver either in English or Inuit syllabics but not all genuine pieces are signed. Some of these Inuit art galleries likewise have websites so you might shop and purchase authentic Inuit art sculpture from home anywhere in the world.