Tips on How to Purchase and Shop for Authentic Canadian Inuit Art (Eskimo Art) Sculptures
Lots of visitors to Canada will be exposed to Inuit art (Eskimo art) sculptures while exploring the nation. These are the spectacular handmade sculptures carved from stone by the Inuit artists residing in the northern Arctic areas of Canada. While in a few of the major Canadian cities (Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, Ottawa, and Quebec City) or other tourist areas popular with global visitors such as Banff, Inuit sculptures will be seen at various retail stores and showed at some museums. Considering that Inuit art has actually been getting increasingly more worldwide direct exposure, people may be seeing this Canadian fine art kind at galleries and museums located outside Canada too. As a result, it will be natural for many travelers and art collectors to decide that they want to acquire Inuit sculptures as nice mementos for their homes or as extremely special presents for others. Assuming that the intent is to get an genuine piece of Inuit art rather than a cheap tourist replica, the question occurs on how does one differentiate the real thing from the phonies?
It would be quite disappointing to bring home a piece only to discover later on that it isn't really authentic or even made in Canada. If one is lucky 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 bought from a local northern store or directly from an Inuit carver would be authentic. One would need to be more careful elsewhere in Canada, especially in tourist areas where all sorts of other Canadian souvenirs such as tee shirts, hockey jerseys, postcards, essential chains, maple syrup, and other Native Canadian arts are offered.
The safest locations to look for Inuit sculptures to ensure credibility are always the credible galleries that specialize in Canadian Inuit art and Eskimo art. A few 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 totally to Inuit art. When one strolls into these galleries, one will see that there will be only Inuit art and possibly Native art however none of the other usual traveler souvenirs such as tee shirts or postcards . 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 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 trusted online galleries that also specialize in genuine Inuit art. These online galleries are a excellent choice for purchasing Inuit art because the rates are typically lower than those at street retail galleries because of lower overheads. Obviously, like any other shopping on the internet, one should beware so when handling an online gallery, make sure that their pieces also come with the official Igloo tags to ensure authenticity.
Some traveler stores do bring authentic Inuit art as well as the other touristy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ken_Criter souvenirs in order to cater to all kinds 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 needs to have some weight or mass to it. Stone is also cold to the touch. A recreation made of plastic or resin from a mold will be much lighter in weight and will not be cold to the touch. A reproduction will often have a company name on it such as Wolf Originals or Boma and will never ever include an artist's signature. 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. The piece is not genuine if there are duplicates of a certain piece with specific details. If a piece looks too best in detail with absolute straight bottoms or sides, it is probably not real. Naturally, if a piece includes a sticker label showing that is was made in an Asian nation, then it is certainly a fake. There will also be a big rate difference in between authentic pieces and the imitations.
This can be a real gray area to those unknown with genuine Inuit art. If a seller claims that such as piece is genuine, ask to see the main Igloo tag that comes with it which will have information on the artist, place where it was made and the year it was sculpted. The genuine pieces with the accompanying authorities Igloo tags will always be the greatest priced and are typically kept in a separate (perhaps even locked) shelf within the shop.
Considering that Inuit art has actually been getting more and more global direct exposure, individuals might be seeing this Canadian fine art form i was reading this at galleries and museums situated outside Canada too. 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 presumed that any Inuit art piece purchased from a local northern shop or directly from an Inuit carver would be authentic. Reputable Inuit art galleries are likewise noted in Inuit Art Quarterly publication which is dedicated completely 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 house anywhere in the world.