Tips on Ways To Buy and Purchase Authentic Canadian Inuit Art (Eskimo Art) Sculptures
Lots of visitors to Canada will be exposed to Inuit art (Eskimo art) sculptures while exploring the nation. Considering that Inuit art has been getting more and more worldwide direct exposure, people might be seeing this Canadian fine art kind at museums and galleries located outside Canada too. Presuming that the intent is to obtain an authentic piece of Inuit art rather than a cheap tourist replica, the question occurs on how does one inform apart the genuine thing from the phonies?
It would be quite frustrating to bring home a piece only to discover later that it isn't authentic or perhaps made in Canada. If one is lucky enough to be taking a trip in the Canadian Arctic where the Inuit live and make their wonderful 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 authentic. One would need to be more careful somewhere else in Canada, particularly in tourist areas where all sorts of other Canadian souvenirs such as tee shirts, hockey jerseys, postcards, crucial chains, maple syrup, and other Native Canadian arts are offered.
The safest places to purchase Inuit sculptures to make sure credibility are constantly the reliable galleries that focus on Canadian Inuit art and Eskimo art. A few of these galleries have advertisements in the city tourist guides discovered in hotels.
Trusted Inuit art galleries are likewise noted in Inuit Art Quarterly magazine which is devoted completely to Inuit art. These galleries will normally be located in the downtown tourist locations of major cities. When one strolls into these galleries, one will see that there will be only Inuit art and maybe Native art however none of the other typical traveler mementos such as tee shirts or postcards . These galleries will have just authentic Inuit art for sale as they do not deal with replicas or fakes . Just to be even more secure, make certain that the piece you are interested in comes with a Canadian government Igloo tag certifying that it was handcrafted by a Canadian Inuit artist. The Inuit sculpture may be signed by the carver either in English or Inuit syllabics but not all authentic pieces are signed. So know that an anonymous piece might still be undoubtedly authentic.
Some of these Inuit art galleries likewise have sites so you might shop 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 tourist shops do carry authentic Inuit art as well as the other touristy souvenirs in order to cater to all types of tourists. Authentic Inuit sculpture is sculpted 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 artwork and nothing else on the shop shelves will look precisely like it.
Where it becomes harder to determine credibility are with the reproductions that are also made of stone. This can be a genuine gray area to those not familiar with genuine Inuit art. They do have mass and might even have some type of tag suggesting that it was handmade however Kurt Criter if there are other pieces on the shelves that look too similar in detail, they are more than likely not authentic. If a seller claims that such as piece is authentic, ask to see the main Igloo tag that comes with it which will know on the artist, location where it was made and the year it was sculpted. Move on if the Igloo tag is not readily available. The genuine pieces with the accompanying official Igloo tags will constantly be the highest priced and are typically kept in a different (perhaps even locked) shelf within the store.
Because Inuit art has been getting more and more worldwide direct 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 fantastic artwork, then it can be securely presumed that any Inuit art piece acquired from a local northern store or straight from an Inuit carver would be genuine. Reliable 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 not all genuine pieces are signed. Some of these Inuit art galleries likewise have websites so you might go shopping and buy genuine Kurt Criter Inuit art sculpture from house anywhere in the world.