Tips on Ways To Buy and Shop for Genuine Canadian Inuit Art (Eskimo Art) Sculptures
Lots of visitors to Canada will be exposed to Inuit art (Eskimo art) sculptures while touring the nation. Given that Inuit art has been getting more and more international exposure, people may be seeing this Canadian fine art type at galleries and museums situated outside Canada too. Assuming that the intent is to get an authentic piece of Inuit art rather than a low-cost tourist imitation, the concern develops on how does one inform apart the real thing from the fakes?
It would be pretty disappointing to bring home a piece just to discover later that it isn't really genuine 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 securely assumed that any Inuit art piece bought from a regional northern shop or straight from an Inuit carver would be genuine. One would need to be more careful in other places in Canada, particularly in tourist 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 sold.
The best locations to shop for Inuit sculptures to guarantee authenticity are always the respectable galleries that specialize in Canadian Inuit art and Eskimo art. Some of these galleries have ads in the city tourist guides found in hotels.
Respectable Inuit art galleries are also listed in Inuit Art Quarterly publication which is devoted completely to Inuit art. These galleries will usually be found in the downtown traveler areas of major cities. When one walks into these galleries, one will see that there will be only Inuit art and perhaps Native art however none of the other typical traveler keepsakes such as tee shirts or postcards . These galleries will have only genuine Inuit art for sale as they do not handle replicas or fakes . Simply to be even safer, make sure that the piece you are interested in comes with 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 authentic pieces are signed. So understand that an anonymous piece may still be certainly genuine.
Some of these Inuit art galleries likewise have websites so you could shop and purchase genuine Inuit art sculpture from house throughout the world. In addition to these street retail specialty galleries, there are now trusted online galleries that likewise focus on authentic Inuit art. These online galleries are a excellent option for purchasing Inuit art since the rates are usually lower than those at street retail galleries because of lower overheads. Naturally, like any other shopping on the internet, one need to beware so when handling an online gallery, make sure that their pieces also feature the official Igloo tags to ensure credibility.
Some tourist stores do carry authentic Inuit art as well as the other touristy souvenirs 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 genuine Inuit sculpture is a one of a kind piece of artwork and absolutely nothing else on the shop racks will look exactly like it.
Where it becomes more difficult to determine authenticity are with the reproductions that are also made from stone. This can be a genuine 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 handmade however if there are other pieces on the shelves that look too similar in detail, they are more than likely not authentic. If a seller declares that such as piece is genuine, ask to see the main Igloo tag that comes with it which will know on the artist, place where it was made and the year it was sculpted. Move on if the Igloo tag is not readily available. The authentic pieces with the accompanying authorities Igloo tags will always be the highest priced and are typically kept in a separate ( maybe even locked) rack within the store.
Because Inuit art has been getting more and more worldwide direct exposure, https://www.buzzfeed.com/kurtcriter people may be seeing this Canadian fine art form at museums and galleries located outside Canada too. If one is fortunate enough to be taking a trip in the Canadian Arctic where the Inuit live and make their wonderful artwork, then it can be safely assumed that any Inuit art piece bought from a regional northern store or straight from an Inuit carver would be authentic. Respectable Inuit art galleries are also noted 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 Clicking Here not all authentic pieces are signed. Some of these Inuit art galleries also have sites so you could shop and buy genuine Inuit art sculpture from home anywhere in the world.