Tips on Ways To Buy and Shop for Genuine Canadian Inuit Art (Eskimo Art) Sculptures
Many visitors to Canada will be exposed to Inuit art (Eskimo art) sculptures while exploring the country. Given that Inuit art has actually been getting more and more international exposure, individuals may be seeing this Canadian fine art form at museums and galleries situated outside Canada too. Presuming that the objective is to acquire an authentic piece of Inuit art rather than a inexpensive tourist replica, the concern arises on how does one inform apart the genuine thing from the fakes?
It would be quite frustrating to bring home a piece only to discover later that it isn't 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 art work, then it can be securely assumed that any Inuit art piece bought from a regional northern shop or straight from an Inuit carver would be authentic. One would need to be more mindful in other places in Canada, especially in tourist locations where all sorts of other Canadian mementos such as t-shirts, hockey jerseys, postcards, crucial chains, maple syrup, and other Native Canadian arts are sold.
The safest locations to look for Inuit sculptures to ensure credibility are always the respectable galleries that specialize in 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 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 usual traveler mementos such as postcards or t-shirts . The Inuit sculpture might be signed by the carver either in English or Inuit syllabics but not all genuine pieces are signed.
Some of these Inuit art galleries also have websites 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 trustworthy online galleries that likewise focus on authentic Inuit art. Since of lower overheads, these online galleries are a good option for buying Inuit art given that the prices are typically lower than those at street retail galleries. Of course, like other shopping on the internet, one should be careful so when dealing with an online gallery, ensure that their pieces also come with the official Igloo tags to make sure authenticity.
Some traveler shops do carry genuine Inuit art in addition to the other touristy keepsakes in order to deal with all types of travelers. When shopping at these types of stores, it is possible to differentiate the real pieces from the recreations. Authentic Inuit sculpture is carved from stone and for that reason ought to have some weight or mass to it. Stone is Kurt Criter 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 recreation will often 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 absolutely nothing else on the shop racks will look exactly like it. If there are duplicates of a particular piece with precise details, the piece is not authentic. If a piece looks too best in detail with absolute straight bottoms or sides, it is most likely not real. Obviously, if a piece includes a sticker indicating that is was made in an Asian country, then it is undoubtedly a phony. There will also be a big rate difference between genuine pieces and the replicas.
This can be a real gray location to those unknown with genuine Inuit art. If a seller claims that such as piece is genuine, 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 carved. The genuine pieces with the accompanying official Igloo tags will always be the highest priced and are usually kept in a different ( maybe even locked) shelf within the shop.
Given that Inuit art has been getting more and more international exposure, people may be seeing this Canadian great art type 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 bought from a local northern shop or straight from an Inuit Resources carver would be authentic. Credible Inuit art galleries are likewise listed in Inuit Art Quarterly publication which is dedicated completely 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 also have websites so you might go shopping and purchase authentic Inuit art sculpture from home anywhere in the world.