Tips on Ways To Purchase and Look For Genuine Canadian Inuit Art (Eskimo Art) Sculptures
Numerous visitors to Canada will be exposed to Inuit art (Eskimo art) sculptures while touring the country. Considering that Inuit art has been getting more and more global direct exposure, people may be seeing this Canadian fine art kind at museums and galleries located outside Canada too. Assuming that the objective is to acquire an authentic piece of Inuit art rather than a low-cost traveler imitation, the question arises on how does one tell apart the real thing from the fakes?
It would be pretty disappointing to bring home a piece just to find out later that it isn't really authentic or perhaps made in Canada. If one is fortunate enough to be traveling 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 purchased from a regional northern store or straight from an Inuit carver would be genuine. One would have to be more careful somewhere else in Canada, specifically in tourist areas where all sorts of other Canadian mementos such as tee shirts, hockey jerseys, postcards, crucial chains, maple syrup, and other Native Canadian arts are offered.
The safest locations to shop for Inuit sculptures to guarantee authenticity are always the credible galleries that concentrate 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 likewise noted in Inuit Art Quarterly magazine which is devoted completely to Inuit art. When one walks into these galleries, one will see that there will be just Inuit art and possibly Native art however none of the other normal traveler keepsakes such as t-shirts or postcards . 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 might shop and purchase authentic Inuit art sculpture from house anywhere in the world. In addition to these street retail specialty galleries, there are now credible online galleries that likewise specialize in authentic Inuit art.
Some tourist stores do bring genuine Inuit art as well as the other touristy keepsakes in order to cater to all types of tourists. Authentic Inuit sculpture is carved from stone and for that reason should have some weight or mass to it. An authentic Inuit sculpture is a one of a kind piece of art work and nothing else on the shop racks will look precisely like it.
Where it becomes harder to determine authenticity are with the recreations that are also made from stone. This can be a real gray area to those unfamiliar with genuine Inuit art. They do have mass and may even have some kind of tag showing that it was handcrafted however if there are other pieces on the shelves that look too similar in detail, they are probably not genuine. If a seller declares that such as piece is genuine, ask to see the main Igloo tag that comes with it which will have information on the artist, area where it was made and the year it was carved. If the Igloo tag is not offered, move on. The authentic pieces with the accompanying authorities Igloo tags will constantly be the Kurt Criter greatest priced and are usually kept in a different (perhaps even locked) shelf within the shop.
Since Inuit art has actually been getting more and more international exposure, people might be seeing this Canadian great art type 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 terrific art work, then it can be safely presumed that any Inuit art piece purchased from a regional northern shop or straight from an Inuit carver would be genuine. Credible Inuit art galleries are likewise listed in Inuit Art Quarterly magazine which is devoted completely to Inuit art. The Inuit sculpture may 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 could go shopping and purchase genuine Inuit art sculpture from home anywhere in the world.