Tips on How to Purchase and Purchase Authentic 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 spectacular handmade sculptures sculpted from stone by the Inuit artists residing in the northern Arctic areas of Canada. While in a few of the major Canadian cities (Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, Ottawa, and Quebec City) or other tourist locations popular with international visitors such as Banff, Inuit sculptures will be seen at various retail shops and showed at some museums. Since Inuit art has actually been getting more and more worldwide exposure, individuals may be seeing this Canadian fine art kind at museums and galleries located outside Canada too. As a result, it will be natural for many travelers and art collectors to decide that they want to buy Inuit sculptures as great mementos for their houses or as extremely special gifts for others. Assuming that the intent is to acquire an authentic 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 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 fantastic artwork, then it can be safely presumed that any Inuit art piece bought from a regional northern shop or directly from an Inuit carver would be authentic. One would have to be more mindful in other places in Canada, especially in traveler locations where all sorts of other Canadian mementos such as t-shirts, hockey jerseys, postcards, key chains, maple syrup, and other Native Canadian arts are offered.
The best places to shop for Inuit sculptures to make sure credibility are always the credible 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 listed in Inuit Art Quarterly publication 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 but none of the other normal traveler souvenirs such as postcards or tee shirts . 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 likewise have sites so you might go shopping and purchase authentic Inuit art sculpture from home anywhere in the world. In addition to these street retail specialty galleries, there are now respectable online galleries that also specialize in authentic Inuit art.
Some traveler stores do bring authentic Inuit art as well as the other touristy souvenirs in order to cater to all kinds of travelers. When shopping at these types of stores, it is possible to tell apart the real pieces from the recreations. Genuine Inuit sculpture is carved from stone and therefore needs to have some weight or mass to it. Stone is likewise cold to go to these guys the touch. A reproduction made of plastic or resin from a mold will be much lighter in weight and will not be cold to the touch. A recreation will often have a company 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 artwork and absolutely nothing else on the store shelves will look precisely like it. The piece is not authentic if there are duplicates of a particular piece with precise information. It is probably not genuine if a piece looks too ideal in detail with outright straight bottoms or sides. Of course, if a piece includes a sticker showing that is was made in an Asian country, then it is obviously a phony. There will also be a big price distinction between authentic pieces and the replicas.
This can be a genuine gray location to those unfamiliar with authentic Inuit art. If a seller claims that such as piece is authentic, ask to see the official Igloo tag that comes with it which will have info on the artist, area where it was made and the year it was sculpted. The genuine pieces with the accompanying authorities Igloo tags will constantly be the greatest priced and are usually kept in a separate (perhaps even locked) shelf within the store.
Because Inuit art has been getting more and more worldwide exposure, people may be seeing this Canadian fine art form at galleries and museums 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 securely 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 also noted in Inuit Art Quarterly publication which is dedicated completely to Inuit art. The Inuit sculpture may be signed by the carver either in English or Inuit syllabics but not all genuine pieces are signed. Some of these Inuit art galleries likewise have sites so you could shop and purchase genuine Inuit art sculpture from home anywhere in the world.