Tips on Ways To Purchase and Shop for Authentic 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 splendid handmade sculptures carved from stone by the Inuit artists residing in the northern Arctic areas of Canada. While in some of the significant Canadian cities (Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, Ottawa, and Quebec City) or other tourist locations popular with worldwide visitors such as Banff, Inuit sculptures will be seen at different retail shops and showed at some museums. Since Inuit art has been getting a growing number of international direct exposure, individuals may be seeing this Canadian fine art kind at galleries and museums located outside Canada too. As a result, it will be natural for many travelers and art collectors to decide that they wish to buy Inuit sculptures as good mementos for their houses or as very unique gifts for others. Assuming that the intent is to get an authentic piece of Inuit art rather than a inexpensive tourist replica, the concern arises on how does one differentiate the genuine thing from the fakes?

It would be pretty disappointing to bring home a piece just to learn later on that it isn't really authentic and even made in Canada. 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 safely assumed that any Inuit art piece bought from a local northern store or directly from an Inuit carver would be authentic. One would have to be more cautious in other places in Canada, specifically in traveler areas where all sorts of other Canadian souvenirs such as t-shirts, hockey jerseys, postcards, crucial chains, maple syrup, and other Native Canadian arts are sold.

The best places to look for Inuit sculptures to ensure credibility are always the trustworthy galleries that specialize in Canadian Inuit art and Eskimo art. A few of these galleries have ads in the city tourist guides found in hotels.

Respectable Inuit art galleries are also noted in Inuit Art Quarterly magazine which is devoted entirely to Inuit art. 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 mementos such as postcards or tee shirts . 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 shop and purchase genuine Inuit art sculpture from house anywhere in the world. In addition to these street retail specialized galleries, there are now reliable online galleries that likewise specialize in genuine Inuit art.

Some tourist stores do bring genuine Inuit art in addition to the other touristy souvenirs in order to cater to all types of travelers. When shopping at these types of shops, it is possible to differentiate the genuine pieces from the recreations. Authentic Inuit sculpture is carved from stone and therefore needs to have some weight or mass to it. Stone is also 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 sometimes have a business name on it such as Wolf Originals or Boma and will never include an artist's signature. An authentic Inuit sculpture is a one of a kind piece of art work and absolutely nothing else on the store racks will look exactly like it. The piece is not genuine if there are duplicates of a specific piece with specific details. If a piece looks too perfect Kurt Criter in detail with outright straight bottoms or sides, it is probably not real. Obviously, if a piece features a sticker label indicating that is was made in an Asian country, then it is obviously a phony. There will likewise be a huge rate difference in between genuine pieces and the replicas.

This can be a real gray location to those unknown with authentic Inuit art. If a seller claims that such as piece is authentic, ask to see the main Igloo tag that comes with it which will have details on the artist, location where it was made and the year it was carved. The genuine pieces with the accompanying official Igloo tags will always be the greatest priced and are normally kept in a separate (perhaps even locked) rack within the shop.


Considering that Inuit art has been getting more and more international exposure, individuals might be seeing this Canadian great art type at museums and galleries situated outside Canada too. 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 assumed that any Inuit art piece purchased from a regional northern store or straight from an Inuit carver would be genuine. Trusted Inuit art galleries are also listed in Inuit Art Quarterly publication which is devoted entirely to Inuit art. 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 likewise have sites so you could shop and buy authentic Inuit art sculpture from house anywhere in the world.

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