Tips on How to Buy and Buy Authentic Canadian Inuit Art (Eskimo Art) Sculptures
Lots of visitors to Canada will be exposed to Inuit art (Eskimo art) sculptures while visiting the nation. These are the splendid handmade sculptures sculpted from stone by the Inuit artists living in the northern Arctic areas of Canada. While in some 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. Given that Inuit art has actually been getting increasingly more worldwide exposure, people may be seeing this Canadian art kind at galleries and museums situated outside Canada too. As a result, it will be natural for many tourists and art collectors to choose that they wish to purchase Inuit sculptures as great mementos for their homes or as very special presents for others. Assuming that the intention is to get an authentic piece of Inuit art rather than a cheap traveler imitation, the concern occurs on how does one differentiate the genuine thing from the fakes?
It would be pretty frustrating to bring home a piece just to learn later that it isn't genuine or even made in Canada. If one is fortunate enough to be traveling in the Canadian Arctic where the Inuit live and make their fantastic artwork, then it can be securely assumed that any Inuit art piece purchased from a local northern store or straight from an Inuit carver would be authentic. One would have to be more mindful somewhere else in Canada, especially in tourist locations where all sorts of other Canadian souvenirs such as t-shirts, hockey jerseys, postcards, crucial chains, maple syrup, and other Native Canadian arts are offered.
The safest places to look for Inuit sculptures to ensure authenticity are constantly the reputable galleries that specialize in Canadian Inuit art and Eskimo art. Some of these galleries have advertisements in the city tourist guides discovered in hotels.
Trustworthy Inuit art galleries are also noted in Inuit Art Quarterly magazine which is devoted completely to Inuit art. These galleries will normally be found in the downtown tourist areas of major cities. When one walks into these galleries, one will see that there will be only Inuit art and possibly Native art however none of the other normal tourist keepsakes such as t-shirts or postcards . These galleries will have only authentic Inuit art for sale as they do not handle imitations or fakes . Just to be even safer, ensure that the piece you are interested in includes a Canadian government Igloo tag accrediting that it was handmade by a Canadian Inuit artist. The Inuit sculpture might be signed by the carver either in English or Inuit syllabics but not all authentic pieces are signed. Be mindful that an unsigned piece may still be undoubtedly authentic.
Some of these Inuit art galleries also have sites so you could 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 authentic Inuit art.
Some traveler stores do bring authentic Inuit art as well as the other touristy mementos in order to cater to all types of travelers. Genuine Inuit sculpture is carved from stone and therefore should have some weight or mass to it. An genuine Inuit sculpture is a one of a kind piece of art work and absolutely nothing else on the shop shelves will look precisely 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 not familiar with genuine Inuit art. They do have mass and might even have some kind of tag showing that it was handcrafted however if there are other pieces on the shelves that look too similar in detail, they are more than likely not genuine. If a seller declares that such as piece is authentic, ask to see the official Igloo tag that includes it which will know on the artist, place where it was made https://www.manta.com/c/mmdg9st/vision-chemical-systems-inc and the year it was carved. If the Igloo tag is not offered, proceed. The authentic pieces with the accompanying authorities Igloo tags will always be the highest priced and are generally kept in a different ( possibly even locked) rack within the store.
Given that Inuit art has been getting more and more worldwide direct exposure, individuals may be seeing this Canadian great art form at museums and More Help 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 art work, then it can be safely presumed that any Inuit art piece bought from a regional northern store or directly from an Inuit carver would be genuine. Reliable Inuit art galleries are also 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 but not all authentic pieces are signed. Some of these Inuit art galleries also have websites so you might shop and purchase authentic Inuit art sculpture from house anywhere in the world.