Tips on How to Buy and Buy Genuine Canadian Inuit Art (Eskimo Art) Sculptures
Many visitors to Canada will be exposed to Inuit art (Eskimo art) sculptures while exploring the country. These are the splendid handmade sculptures sculpted from stone by the Inuit artists living 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 traveler areas popular with worldwide visitors such as Banff, Inuit sculptures will be seen at different retail shops and showed at some museums. Because Inuit art has actually been getting increasingly more worldwide direct exposure, people may be seeing this Canadian fine art kind at galleries and museums situated outside Canada too. As a result, it will be natural for lots of travelers and art collectors to choose that they wish to buy Inuit sculptures as great mementos for their houses or as really unique gifts for others. Assuming that the intent is to get an genuine piece of Inuit art instead of a low-cost traveler replica, the concern develops on how does one tell apart the real thing from the fakes?
It would be quite frustrating to bring home a piece just to discover 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 art work, then it can be securely presumed that any Inuit art piece bought from a local northern shop or directly from an Inuit carver would be authentic. One would need to be more careful in other places in Canada, especially in traveler areas 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 locations to buy Inuit sculptures to guarantee credibility are always the reputable galleries that concentrate on Canadian Inuit art and Eskimo art. Some of these galleries have advertisements in the city tour guide found in hotels.
Respectable Inuit art galleries are also noted in Inuit Art Quarterly magazine which adheres completely to Inuit art. These galleries will normally be located in the downtown traveler locations of major cities. When one walks into these galleries, discover this one will see that there will be only Inuit art and possibly Native art but none of the other usual traveler keepsakes such as tee shirts or postcards . These galleries will have only authentic Inuit art for sale as they do not handle phonies or replicas . Simply to be even more secure, make sure that the piece you have an interest in includes a Canadian government Igloo tag accrediting that it was handcrafted by a Canadian Inuit artist. The Inuit sculpture might be signed by the carver either in English or Inuit syllabics but not all genuine pieces are signed. So know that an anonymous piece might still be undoubtedly authentic.
Some of these Inuit art galleries likewise have websites so you might go shopping and purchase authentic Inuit art sculpture from home throughout the world. In addition to these street retail specialty galleries, there are now reliable online galleries that likewise specialize in authentic Inuit art. These online galleries are a good choice for purchasing Inuit art considering that the prices are typically lower than those at street retail galleries because of lower overheads. Of course, like any other shopping on the internet, one need to be careful so when dealing with an online gallery, make certain that their pieces also include the main Igloo tags to ensure credibility.
Some traveler shops do bring authentic Inuit art as well as the other touristy keepsakes in order to cater to all types of travelers. Authentic Inuit sculpture is sculpted from stone and for that reason needs to have some weight or mass to it. An authentic Inuit sculpture is a one of a kind piece of artwork and nothing else on http://journals.oregondigital.org/index.php/OURJ/user/viewPublicProfile/5504 the shop racks will look exactly like it.
This can be a genuine gray area 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, place 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 usually kept in a separate (perhaps even locked) rack within the shop.
Since Inuit art has actually been getting more and more international exposure, individuals may be seeing this Canadian fine art form at museums and galleries located outside Canada too. If one is fortunate enough to be traveling in the Canadian Arctic where the Inuit live and make their terrific artwork, then it can be securely assumed that any Inuit art piece purchased from a regional northern store or straight from an Inuit carver would be genuine. Reliable Inuit art galleries are likewise listed in Inuit Art Quarterly publication which is dedicated 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 also have websites so you might shop and purchase authentic Inuit art sculpture from home anywhere in the world.