Tips on How to Purchase and Purchase Genuine Canadian Inuit Art (Eskimo Art) Sculptures
Lots of visitors to Canada will be exposed to Inuit art (Eskimo art) sculptures while touring the nation. Since Inuit art has actually been getting more and more global direct exposure, people might be seeing this Canadian fine art type at galleries and museums located outside Canada too. Assuming that the intent is to get an genuine piece of Inuit art rather than a low-cost traveler imitation, the question develops on how does one inform apart the genuine thing from the fakes?
It would be pretty frustrating to bring home a piece just to discover later that it isn't really 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 art work, then it can be securely assumed that any Inuit art piece bought from a regional northern shop or directly from an Inuit carver would be genuine. One would need to be more careful somewhere else in Canada, particularly in tourist locations where all sorts of other Canadian keepsakes such as tee shirts, hockey jerseys, postcards, crucial chains, maple syrup, and other Native Canadian arts are offered.
The most safe places to purchase Inuit sculptures to make sure authenticity 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 discovered in hotels.
Trustworthy Inuit art galleries are likewise noted in Inuit Art Quarterly publication which is devoted totally to Inuit art. When one walks into these galleries, one will see that there will be only Inuit art and perhaps Native art but none of the other typical traveler mementos such as postcards or t-shirts . 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 websites so you might shop 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 traveler shops do bring authentic Inuit art as well as the other touristy souvenirs in order to cater to all types of travelers. Genuine Inuit sculpture is carved 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 artwork and nothing else on the store shelves will look exactly like it.
Where it becomes more difficult to identify credibility are with the reproductions that are also made of stone. This can be a real gray area to those unfamiliar with genuine Inuit art. They do have mass and may even have some type of tag suggesting that it was handcrafted but if there are other pieces on the shelves that look too comparable in detail, they are probably not authentic. If a seller claims that such as piece is authentic, ask to see the official 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 available, proceed. The genuine pieces with the accompanying official Igloo tags will always be the greatest priced and are normally kept in a different ( https://medium.com/@kurtcriter maybe even locked) rack within the shop.
Since Inuit art has been getting more and more global exposure, individuals might be seeing this Canadian great art form at galleries and museums located outside Canada too. If one is fortunate 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 assumed that any Inuit art piece acquired from a regional northern store or straight from an Inuit carver would go to the website be genuine. Trusted Inuit art galleries are also listed in Inuit Art Quarterly magazine 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 also have sites so you might shop and purchase genuine Inuit art sculpture from home anywhere in the world.