Tips on Ways To Purchase and Look For Genuine Canadian Inuit Art (Eskimo Art) Sculptures



Numerous visitors to Canada will be exposed to Inuit art (Eskimo art) sculptures while touring the country. These are the splendid handmade sculptures carved 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 international visitors such as Banff, Inuit sculptures will be seen at numerous retail stores and displayed at some museums. Because Inuit art has actually been getting increasingly more international direct exposure, people may be seeing this Canadian fine art kind at museums and galleries situated outside Canada too. As a result, it will be natural for numerous tourists and art collectors to decide that they want to buy Inuit sculptures as nice souvenirs for their homes or as really unique presents for others. Assuming that the objective is to acquire an authentic piece of Inuit art rather than a inexpensive tourist imitation, the question develops on how does one differentiate the real thing from the fakes?

It would be pretty frustrating to bring home a piece only to learn later that it isn't authentic and 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 terrific artwork, 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 authentic. One would need to be more mindful somewhere else in Canada, especially in traveler 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 sold.

The most safe places to look for Inuit sculptures to ensure authenticity are always the reputable galleries that concentrate on Canadian Inuit art and Eskimo art. Some of these galleries have ads in the city tourist guides found in hotels.

Trustworthy Inuit art galleries are also noted in Inuit Art Quarterly publication which adheres entirely to Inuit art. These galleries will typically be located in the downtown traveler areas of major cities. When one walks into these galleries, one will see that there will be just Inuit art and possibly Native art but none of the other normal tourist souvenirs such as postcards or tee shirts . These galleries will have only authentic Inuit art for sale as they do not deal with imitations or phonies . Simply to be even more secure, make sure that the piece you have an interest in features a Canadian federal government Igloo tag certifying that it was handcrafted by a Canadian Inuit artist. The Inuit sculpture may be signed by the carver either in English or Inuit syllabics however not all genuine pieces are signed. So be aware that an unsigned piece may still be undoubtedly genuine.

Some of these Inuit art galleries also have sites so you might 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 genuine Inuit art.

Some tourist stores do bring genuine Inuit art as well as the other touristy keepsakes in order to cater to all types of travelers. Authentic Inuit sculpture is carved from stone and for that reason ought to 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 shop racks will look precisely like it.

Visit Website Where it becomes more difficult to determine authenticity are with the recreations that are likewise made from stone. This can be a real gray area to those unfamiliar with authentic Inuit art. They do have mass and may even have some kind of tag indicating that it was handmade however 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 main Igloo tag that features it which will have information on the artist, area where it was made and the year it was carved. If the Igloo tag is not readily available, carry on. The genuine pieces with the accompanying official Igloo tags will constantly be the highest priced and are generally kept in a separate (perhaps even locked) rack within the store.


Considering that Inuit art has actually been getting more and more worldwide direct exposure, people may be seeing this Canadian fine art kind at museums and galleries 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 wonderful art work, then it can be safely assumed that any Inuit art piece acquired from a local northern shop or straight from an Inuit carver would be genuine. Reputable Inuit art galleries are likewise listed in Inuit Art Quarterly magazine which is dedicated entirely to Inuit art. The Inuit sculpture might be signed by the carver either in English or Inuit syllabics however not all authentic pieces are signed. Some of these Inuit art galleries also have sites so you could go shopping and purchase authentic Inuit art sculpture from home anywhere in the world.

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