Tips on The Best Ways To Purchase and Shop for Authentic Canadian Inuit Art (Eskimo Art) Sculptures
Many visitors to Canada will be exposed to Inuit art (Eskimo art) sculptures while visiting 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 significant Canadian cities (Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, Ottawa, and Quebec City) or other traveler locations popular with international visitors such as Banff, Inuit sculptures will be seen at different retail stores and showed at some museums. Because Inuit art has been getting a growing number of global exposure, people might be seeing this Canadian art form at galleries and museums located outside Canada too. As a result, it will be natural for numerous tourists and art collectors to decide that they wish to buy Inuit sculptures as nice keepsakes for their homes or as really unique gifts for others. Assuming that the intention is to acquire an genuine piece of Inuit art instead of a low-cost traveler replica, the question arises on how does one tell apart the genuine thing from the phonies?
It would be quite frustrating to bring home a piece just to find out later that it isn't authentic and even made in Canada. If one is lucky enough to be taking a trip 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 local northern store or straight from an Inuit carver would be authentic. One would need to be more careful elsewhere in Canada, particularly in tourist locations where all sorts of other Canadian mementos such as t-shirts, hockey jerseys, postcards, crucial chains, maple syrup, and other Native Canadian arts are sold.
The safest locations to look for Inuit sculptures to make sure authenticity are constantly the trustworthy galleries that focus on Canadian Inuit art and Eskimo art. A few of these galleries have advertisements in the city tourist guides discovered in hotels.
Reputable Inuit art galleries are likewise listed in Inuit Art Quarterly magazine which is devoted completely to Inuit art. These galleries will usually be found in the downtown traveler areas of significant cities. When one strolls into these galleries, one will see that there will be only Inuit art and maybe Native art however none of the other normal traveler keepsakes such as tee shirts or postcards . These galleries will have only genuine Inuit art for sale as they do not deal with imitations or phonies . Simply to be even safer, make sure that the piece you are interested in features a Canadian government Igloo tag accrediting that it was handmade by a Canadian Inuit artist. The Inuit sculpture may be signed by the carver either in English or Inuit syllabics but not all authentic pieces are signed. Be aware that an anonymous piece might still be undoubtedly genuine.
A few of these Inuit art galleries likewise have websites so you could shop and buy authentic Inuit art sculpture from house anywhere in the world. In addition to these street retail specialty galleries, there are now reputable online galleries that also specialize in authentic Inuit art. These online galleries are a great option for buying Inuit art because the costs are typically lower than those at street retail galleries because of lower overheads. Obviously, like other shopping on the internet, one should be careful so when handling an online gallery, ensure that their pieces also come with the official Igloo tags to make sure credibility.
Some traveler stores do carry genuine Inuit art as well as the other touristy keepsakes in order to deal with all kinds of travelers. When shopping at these kinds of shops, it is possible to differentiate the genuine pieces from the recreations. Genuine Inuit sculpture is sculpted from stone and for that reason should 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 business name on it such as Wolf Originals or Boma and will never ever feature an artist's signature. An authentic Inuit sculpture is a one of a kind piece of art work and nothing else on the shop racks will look exactly like it. If there are duplicates of a certain piece with precise information, the piece is not authentic. If a piece looks too best 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 country, then it is clearly a phony. There will also be a big price distinction between genuine pieces and the replicas.
Where it ends up being harder to figure out authenticity are with the reproductions that are also made from stone. This can be a genuine gray area to those unfamiliar with authentic Inuit art. They do have mass and may even have some type of tag indicating that it was handcrafted but if there are other pieces on the shelves that look too similar in detail, they are more than likely not authentic. If a seller declares that such as piece is genuine, ask to see the official Igloo tag that features it which will have information on the artist, place where it was made and the year it was sculpted. If the Igloo tag is not offered, move on. The authentic pieces with the accompanying authorities Igloo tags will always be the greatest priced and are normally kept in a separate (perhaps even locked) shelf within the shop.
Considering that Inuit art has actually been getting more and more worldwide direct exposure, people might be seeing this Canadian fine art kind at galleries and museums situated 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 view it can be securely assumed that any Inuit art piece bought from a regional northern store or directly from an Inuit carver would be genuine. Reputable Inuit art galleries are likewise listed in Inuit Art Quarterly publication which is dedicated entirely to Inuit art. 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 likewise have sites so you might go shopping and purchase authentic Inuit art sculpture from house anywhere in the world.