Tips on How to Purchase and Shop for 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. These are the stunning handmade sculptures carved from stone by the Inuit artists living 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 areas popular with international visitors such as Banff, Inuit sculptures will be seen at numerous retail shops and showed at some museums. Since Inuit art has been getting more and more worldwide exposure, individuals may be seeing this Canadian fine art type at museums and galleries located outside Canada too. As a result, it will be natural for numerous tourists and art collectors to choose that they would like to buy Inuit sculptures as good keepsakes for their homes or as really unique presents for others. Presuming that the intent is to acquire an authentic piece of Inuit art rather than a low-cost tourist imitation, the concern develops on how does one differentiate the real thing from the fakes?
It would be quite disappointing to bring home a piece just to learn later on that it isn't really genuine or perhaps made in Canada. If one is lucky 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 need to be more mindful somewhere else in Canada, especially in tourist locations where all sorts of other Canadian keepsakes such as t-shirts, hockey jerseys, postcards, key chains, maple syrup, and other Native Canadian arts are offered.
The best locations to look for Inuit sculptures to ensure credibility are always the trustworthy 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 likewise noted in Inuit Art Quarterly magazine which is dedicated entirely to Inuit art. When one strolls into these galleries, one will see that there will be just Inuit art and maybe Native art however none of the other typical traveler souvenirs such as t-shirts or postcards . 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 sites so you could shop and purchase genuine Inuit art sculpture from home anywhere in the world. In addition to these street retail specialty galleries, there are now reputable online galleries that likewise focus on authentic Inuit art. Because of lower overheads, these online galleries are a excellent option for buying Inuit art given that the costs are normally lower than those at street retail galleries. Of course, like any other shopping on the internet, one must be careful so when handling an online gallery, make sure that their pieces also come with the official Igloo tags to ensure credibility.
Some tourist Homepage stores do carry authentic Inuit art as well as the other touristy souvenirs in order to deal with all types of tourists. When shopping at these types of stores, it is possible to differentiate the genuine pieces from the recreations. Authentic Inuit sculpture is sculpted from stone and therefore needs to have some weight or mass to it. Stone is likewise 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 in some cases have a company name on it such as Wolf Originals or Boma and will never ever feature an artist's signature. An genuine Inuit sculpture is a one of a kind piece of artwork and nothing else on the shop shelves will look precisely like it. The piece is not authentic if there are duplicates of a specific piece with precise information. It is probably not genuine if a piece looks too perfect in information with absolute straight bottoms or sides. Obviously, if a piece includes a sticker label suggesting that is was made in an Asian country, then it is certainly a phony. There will also be a big price distinction between genuine pieces and the replicas.
Where it becomes more difficult to determine credibility are with the reproductions that are likewise made from stone. This can be a genuine gray area to those not familiar with genuine Inuit art. They do have mass and may even have some kind of tag showing 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 claims that such as piece is authentic, ask to see the official Igloo tag that includes it which will know on the artist, location where it was made and the year it was carved. Move on if the Igloo tag is not available. The genuine pieces with the accompanying authorities Igloo tags will constantly be the highest priced and are generally kept in a different (perhaps even locked) rack within the store.
Because Inuit art has been getting more and more international direct exposure, people may be seeing this Canadian fine art kind at museums and galleries located 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 Kurt Criter Denver safely assumed that any Inuit art piece bought from a regional northern store or straight from an Kurt Criter Inuit carver would be authentic. Reliable Inuit art galleries are likewise noted in Inuit Art Quarterly publication which is dedicated entirely to Inuit art. The Inuit sculpture might be signed by the carver either in English or Inuit syllabics but not all genuine pieces are signed. Some of these Inuit art galleries also have websites so you could go shopping and purchase authentic Inuit art sculpture from home anywhere in the world.