Tips on Ways To Buy and Purchase Authentic Canadian Inuit Art (Eskimo Art) Sculptures



Lots of visitors to Canada will be exposed to Inuit art (Eskimo art) sculptures while exploring 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 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 various retail shops and showed at some museums. Given that Inuit art has been getting more and more worldwide exposure, individuals may 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 choose that they would like to buy Inuit sculptures as good souvenirs for their houses or as extremely distinct gifts for others. Assuming that the intent is to obtain an genuine piece of Inuit art instead of a cheap tourist replica, the concern emerges on how does one tell apart the real thing from the fakes?

It would be pretty frustrating to bring home a piece just 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 wonderful art work, then it can be safely assumed that any Inuit art piece bought from a regional northern store or straight from an Inuit carver would be genuine. One would have to be more mindful in other places in Canada, specifically in traveler 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 sold.

The safest places to look for Inuit sculptures to ensure credibility are always the trustworthy galleries that focus on Canadian Inuit art and Eskimo art. Some of these galleries have ads in the city tour guide found in hotels.

Credible Inuit art galleries are also noted in Inuit Art Quarterly publication which is devoted entirely to Inuit art. When one walks into these galleries, one will see that there will be just Inuit art and perhaps Native art but none of the other normal tourist mementos such as t-shirts or postcards . The Inuit sculpture may 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 websites so you could go shopping and purchase genuine Inuit art sculpture from house anywhere in the world. In addition to these street retail specialty galleries, there are now respectable online galleries that also specialize in genuine Inuit art.

Some traveler shops do carry authentic Inuit art in addition to the other touristy keepsakes in order to cater to all kinds of tourists. When shopping at these types of shops, it is possible to differentiate the genuine pieces from the reproductions. Genuine Inuit sculpture is sculpted from stone and therefore must have some weight or mass to it. Stone is likewise 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 artwork and nothing else on the store racks will look precisely like it. The piece is not genuine if there are duplicates of a certain piece with precise details. If a piece looks too ideal in detail with absolute straight bottoms or sides, it is probably not real. Obviously, if a piece includes a sticker label indicating that is was made in an Asian country, then it is obviously a fake. There will also be a huge rate distinction between a knockout post genuine pieces and the imitations.

Where it becomes more difficult to figure out authenticity are with the recreations that are also made from stone. This can be a real gray area to those not familiar with genuine Inuit art. They do have mass and may even have some kind of tag indicating that it was handcrafted however if there are other pieces on the shelves that look too similar in detail, they are most likely not genuine. If a seller claims that such as piece is authentic, ask to see the main Igloo tag that includes 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, proceed. The authentic pieces with the accompanying official Igloo tags will constantly be the greatest priced and are generally kept in a different ( maybe even locked) shelf within the store.


Because Inuit art has actually been getting more and more international direct exposure, people might be seeing this Canadian great art form at galleries and museums located outside Canada too. 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 securely presumed that any Inuit art piece acquired from a local northern store or straight from an Inuit carver would be authentic. Respectable Inuit art galleries are likewise noted 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 likewise have websites so you might go shopping and purchase authentic Inuit art sculpture from house anywhere in the world.

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