Tips on How to Buy and Look For Genuine Canadian Inuit Art (Eskimo Art) Sculptures
Numerous visitors to Canada will be exposed to Inuit art (Eskimo art) sculptures while exploring the country. These are the spectacular handmade sculptures sculpted from stone by the Inuit artists residing in the northern Arctic regions of Canada. While in some of the major Canadian cities (Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, Ottawa, and Quebec City) or other traveler areas popular with global visitors such as Banff, Inuit sculptures will be seen at different retail shops and showed at some museums. Considering that Inuit art has been getting a growing number of global direct exposure, individuals 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 tourists and art collectors to decide that they want to buy Inuit sculptures as nice keepsakes for their homes or as extremely distinct presents for others. Presuming that the intention is to obtain an authentic piece of Inuit art instead of a inexpensive traveler imitation, the question arises on how does one tell apart the real thing from the phonies?
It would be quite disappointing to bring home a piece only to learn later on 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 presumed that any Inuit art piece bought from a local northern shop or straight from an Inuit carver would be genuine. One would need to be more cautious in other places in Canada, especially in tourist locations where all sorts of other Canadian keepsakes such as t-shirts, hockey jerseys, postcards, crucial chains, maple syrup, and other Native Canadian arts are offered.
The safest places to purchase Inuit sculptures to ensure authenticity are constantly the trusted galleries that focus on Canadian Inuit art and Eskimo art. Some of these galleries have ads in the city tour guide found in hotels.
Trustworthy Inuit art galleries are also listed in Inuit Art Quarterly magazine which is devoted totally to Inuit art. When one strolls into these galleries, one will see that there will be only Inuit art and perhaps Native art but none of the other usual traveler mementos such as postcards or tee shirts . The Inuit sculpture may be signed by the carver either in English or Inuit syllabics however not all authentic pieces are signed.
A few of these Inuit art galleries likewise have websites so you might shop and purchase authentic Inuit art sculpture from house anywhere in the world. In addition to these street retail specialty galleries, there are now reliable online galleries that also focus on authentic Inuit art. Because of lower overheads, these online galleries are a good choice for purchasing Inuit art given that the prices are usually lower than those at street retail galleries. Of course, like other shopping on the internet, one need to take care so when dealing with an online gallery, make certain that their pieces also include the main Igloo tags to make sure authenticity.
Some tourist stores do carry genuine Inuit art as well as the other touristy mementos in order to accommodate all types of tourists. When shopping at these kinds of shops, it is possible to tell apart the real pieces from the reproductions. Authentic Inuit sculpture is carved from stone and for that reason must have some weight or mass to it. Stone is also cold to the touch. A recreation 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 ever feature 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 precisely like it. The piece Kurt Criter Denver is not genuine if there are duplicates of a particular piece with precise information. If a piece looks too perfect in detail with outright straight bottoms or sides, it is most likely not real. Naturally, if a piece features a sticker label suggesting that is was made in an Asian nation, then it is obviously a fake. There will also be a substantial cost difference between authentic pieces and the replicas.
Where it becomes more difficult to determine credibility are with the recreations 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 kind of tag suggesting that it was handmade but if there are other pieces on the shelves that look too similar in detail, they are most likely not authentic. If a seller declares that such as piece is genuine, ask to see the main Igloo tag that includes it which will have information on the artist, area where it was made and the year it was sculpted. If the Igloo tag is not readily available, carry on. The genuine pieces with the accompanying official Igloo tags will constantly be the greatest priced and are typically kept in a separate (perhaps even locked) rack within the store.
Considering that Inuit art has been getting more and more global exposure, individuals might be seeing this Canadian fine art type at museums and galleries located outside Canada too. If one is fortunate enough to be traveling in the Canadian Arctic where the Inuit live and make their terrific artwork, then it can be securely assumed that any Inuit art piece acquired from a local northern shop or straight from an Inuit carver would be genuine. Credible Inuit art galleries are also noted in Inuit Art Quarterly magazine which is dedicated entirely to Inuit art. The Inuit sculpture might be signed by the carver either in English or Inuit syllabics however not all authentic pieces are signed. Some of these Inuit art galleries likewise have sites so you could shop and purchase authentic Inuit art sculpture from home anywhere in the world.