Tips on The Best Ways To Purchase and Purchase Genuine Canadian Inuit Art (Eskimo Art) Sculptures
Numerous 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 worldwide direct exposure, individuals might be seeing this Canadian great art type at galleries and museums situated outside Canada too. Presuming that the intent is to obtain an authentic piece of Inuit art rather than a cheap traveler imitation, the question emerges on how does one tell apart the real thing from the fakes?
It would be quite frustrating to bring home a piece only to discover later on that it isn't genuine or even made in Canada. If one is lucky enough to be traveling in the Canadian Arctic where the Inuit live and make their wonderful artwork, then it can be securely presumed that any Inuit art piece purchased from a local northern shop or straight from an Inuit carver would be authentic. One would need to be more cautious in other places in Canada, specifically 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 sold.
The most safe locations to shop for Inuit sculptures to ensure authenticity are always the reliable galleries that specialize in Canadian Inuit art and Eskimo art. Some of these galleries have ads in the city tourist guides discovered in hotels.
Reputable Inuit art galleries are also listed in Inuit Art Quarterly magazine which adheres totally to Inuit art. These galleries will generally be located in the downtown traveler locations of major cities. 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 normal tourist mementos such as postcards or t-shirts . These galleries will have only genuine Inuit art for sale as they do not deal with imitations or fakes . Simply to be even much safer, make sure that the piece you are interested in comes with a Canadian government Igloo tag licensing that it was handmade by a Canadian Inuit artist. The Inuit sculpture may be signed by the carver either in English or Inuit like it syllabics however not all genuine pieces are signed. Be aware that an unsigned piece may still be certainly authentic.
Some of these Inuit art galleries likewise have websites so you could shop and buy genuine Inuit art sculpture from house anywhere in the world. In addition to these street retail specialized galleries, there are now reliable online galleries that also specialize in genuine Inuit art.
Some traveler shops do bring genuine Inuit art as well as the other touristy souvenirs in order to cater to all types of tourists. Authentic Inuit sculpture is carved from stone and for that reason must have some weight or mass to it. An genuine Inuit sculpture is a one of a kind piece of art work and absolutely nothing else on the shop shelves will look exactly like it.
Where it becomes harder to identify authenticity are with the recreations that are likewise made of stone. This can be a genuine gray area to those unfamiliar with authentic Inuit art. They do have mass and might even have some kind of tag indicating that it was handcrafted but if there are other pieces on the shelves that look too comparable in detail, they are probably not genuine. If a seller claims 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 available. The genuine pieces with the accompanying official Igloo tags will constantly be the highest priced and are usually kept in a different (perhaps even locked) shelf within the store.
Given that Inuit art has been getting more and more worldwide direct exposure, people might be seeing this Canadian fine art form at museums and galleries situated 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 art work, then it can be securely presumed that any Inuit art piece acquired from a local northern store or directly from an Inuit carver would be authentic. Reliable Inuit art galleries are also noted in Inuit Art Quarterly publication which is dedicated totally to Inuit art. The Inuit sculpture might 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 could go shopping and purchase authentic Inuit art sculpture from home anywhere in the world.