Tips on The Best Ways To Buy and Look For Authentic Canadian Inuit Art (Eskimo Art) Sculptures



Numerous visitors to Canada will be exposed to Inuit art (Eskimo art) sculptures while visiting the country. These are the magnificent handmade sculptures sculpted from stone by the Inuit artists living 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 traveler areas popular with worldwide visitors such as Banff, Inuit sculptures will be seen at various retail shops and showed at some museums. Since Inuit art has been getting a growing number of international exposure, individuals may be seeing this Canadian art kind at museums and galleries located outside Canada too. As a result, it will be natural for numerous tourists and art collectors to decide that they want to purchase Inuit sculptures as good souvenirs for their homes or as very distinct gifts for others. Presuming that the intent is to get an authentic piece of Inuit art rather than a low-cost tourist imitation, the question develops on how does one tell apart the real thing from the fakes?

It would be quite frustrating to bring home a piece just to find out later on that it isn't authentic 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 local northern store or directly from an Inuit carver would be authentic. One would have to be more careful elsewhere in Canada, particularly in traveler areas where all sorts of other Canadian mementos such as tee shirts, hockey jerseys, postcards, essential chains, maple syrup, and other Native Canadian arts are offered.

The safest locations to purchase Inuit sculptures to make sure credibility are constantly the reliable galleries that concentrate on Canadian Inuit art and Eskimo art. A few of these galleries have advertisements in the city tourist guides found in hotels.

Reputable Inuit art galleries are likewise listed 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 just Inuit art and possibly Native art but none of the other normal traveler souvenirs 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.

A few of these Inuit art galleries also have sites so you could shop and purchase genuine Inuit art sculpture from home anywhere in the world. In addition to these street retail specialized galleries, there are now trustworthy online galleries that also focus on authentic Inuit art. These online galleries are a good choice for purchasing Inuit art because the costs are usually lower than those at street retail galleries because of lower overheads. Of course, like any other shopping on the internet, one must be careful so when dealing with an online gallery, ensure that their pieces likewise include the main Igloo tags to ensure authenticity.

Some tourist stores do carry genuine Inuit art as well as the other touristy keepsakes in order to cater to all types of tourists. go to this website Genuine Inuit sculpture is carved from stone and therefore must have some weight or mass to it. An authentic Inuit sculpture is a one of a kind piece of artwork and nothing else on the shop racks will look precisely like it.

Where it becomes more difficult to identify authenticity are with the recreations that are likewise made of 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 type 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 genuine. If a seller declares that such as piece is authentic, ask to see the main 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 offered. The authentic pieces with the accompanying official Igloo tags will always be the highest priced and are normally kept in a different ( maybe even locked) shelf within the store.


Because Inuit art has been getting more and more international exposure, people may be seeing this Canadian fine art form at museums and galleries situated outside Canada too. If one is fortunate enough to be traveling in the Canadian Arctic where the Inuit live and make their wonderful artwork, then it can be safely presumed that any Inuit art piece acquired from a regional northern store or directly from an Inuit carver would be genuine. Reputable Inuit art galleries are likewise noted in Inuit Art Quarterly magazine which is devoted completely to Inuit art. The Inuit sculpture might 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 websites so you could shop and buy authentic Inuit art sculpture from home anywhere in the world.

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