Tips on How to Buy 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 exploring the nation. These are the spectacular 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 worldwide visitors such as Banff, Inuit sculptures will be seen at various retail stores and showed at some museums. Since Inuit art has actually been getting increasingly more worldwide direct exposure, individuals might be seeing this Canadian art form at galleries and museums located outside Canada too. As a result, it will be natural for lots of travelers and art collectors to decide that they want to acquire Inuit sculptures as great mementos for their homes or as very distinct presents for others. Assuming that the intent is to obtain an authentic piece of Inuit art rather than a low-cost tourist replica, the question emerges on how does one differentiate the real thing from the fakes?
It would be pretty disappointing to bring home a piece only to learn later on that it isn't really 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 wonderful art work, then it can be safely presumed that any Inuit art piece bought from a local northern shop or straight from an Inuit carver would be authentic. One would have to be more cautious somewhere else in Canada, particularly in traveler areas where all sorts of other Canadian mementos such as t-shirts, hockey jerseys, postcards, essential chains, maple syrup, and other Native Canadian arts are offered.
The best locations to purchase Inuit sculptures to guarantee credibility are always the credible galleries that concentrate on Canadian Inuit art and Eskimo art. Some of these galleries have ads in the city tourist guides discovered in hotels.
Trustworthy Inuit art galleries are also listed 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 only Inuit art and possibly Native art but none of the other normal tourist souvenirs such as postcards or tee shirts . The Inuit sculpture may be signed by the carver either in English or Inuit syllabics however not all genuine pieces are signed.
Some of these Inuit art galleries likewise have websites so you could go shopping and buy authentic Inuit art sculpture from house anywhere in the world. In addition to these street retail specialized galleries, there are now reputable online galleries that also specialize in genuine Inuit art. These online galleries are a great option for buying Inuit art because the rates are usually lower than those at street retail galleries because of lower overheads. Obviously, like other shopping on the internet, one need to be careful so when handling an online gallery, make sure that their pieces also include the official Igloo tags to make sure authenticity.
Some tourist stores do carry authentic Inuit art in addition to the other touristy souvenirs in order to deal with all kinds of travelers. When shopping at these types of stores, it is possible to differentiate the real pieces from the recreations. Authentic 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 reproduction made from plastic or resin from a mold will be much lighter in weight and will not be cold to the touch. A reproduction will often have a company name on it such as Wolf Originals or Boma and will never include an artist's signature. An genuine Inuit sculpture is a one of a kind piece of art work and absolutely nothing else on the store racks will look exactly like Full Article it. The piece is not authentic if there are duplicates of a particular piece with exact information. It is most likely not real if a piece looks too best in detail with absolute straight bottoms or sides. Obviously, if a piece features a sticker suggesting that is was made in an Asian country, then it is obviously a phony. There will also be a big cost distinction between authentic pieces and the imitations.
Where it ends up being more difficult to identify credibility are with the recreations that are also made from stone. This can be a real gray area to those unfamiliar with authentic Inuit art. They do have mass and might 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 genuine. If a seller claims that such as piece is genuine, ask to see the main Igloo tag that comes with it which will know on the artist, location where it was made and the year it was carved. If the Igloo tag is not readily available, move on. The authentic pieces with the accompanying authorities Igloo tags will constantly be the greatest priced and are usually kept in a different (perhaps even locked) rack 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 type at galleries and museums 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 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 authentic. Reliable Inuit art galleries are likewise listed in Inuit Art Quarterly magazine which is devoted entirely to Inuit art. The Inuit sculpture might be signed by the carver either in English or Inuit syllabics however not all genuine pieces are signed. Some of these Inuit art galleries likewise have sites so you could shop and buy genuine Inuit art sculpture from home anywhere in the world.