Tips on How 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 visiting the nation. These are the stunning handmade sculptures carved from stone by the Inuit artists residing in the northern Arctic regions of Canada. While in some of the major Canadian cities (Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, Ottawa, and Quebec City) or other traveler areas popular with international visitors such as Banff, Inuit sculptures will be seen at various retail stores and showed at some museums. Given that Inuit art has actually been getting increasingly more international exposure, individuals may be seeing this Canadian fine art form at museums and galleries located outside Canada too. As a result, it will be natural for lots of tourists and art collectors to decide that they want to buy Inuit sculptures as great souvenirs for their houses or as really special presents for others. Presuming that the intent is to acquire an genuine piece of Inuit art rather than a inexpensive tourist imitation, the question occurs on how does one differentiate the genuine thing from the fakes?
It would be quite 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 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 purchased from a local northern shop or straight from an Inuit carver would be genuine. One would need to be more mindful in other places in Canada, especially in tourist locations where all sorts of other Canadian keepsakes such as t-shirts, hockey jerseys, postcards, essential chains, maple syrup, and other Native Canadian arts are sold.
The most safe places to buy Inuit sculptures to guarantee credibility are constantly the trusted galleries that focus on Canadian Inuit art and Eskimo art. A few of these galleries have advertisements in the city tourist guides found in hotels.
Credible Inuit art galleries are also noted in Inuit Art Quarterly magazine which is devoted entirely to Inuit art. These galleries will usually be found in the downtown traveler areas of significant 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 usual traveler mementos such as t-shirts or postcards . These galleries will have just genuine Inuit art for sale as they do not deal with phonies or replicas . Just to be even more secure, make sure that the piece you are interested in includes 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 syllabics however not all genuine pieces are signed. Be mindful that an anonymous piece may still be indeed genuine.
Some of these Inuit art galleries also have websites so you might go shopping and buy genuine Inuit art sculpture from home anywhere in the world. In addition to these street retail specialty galleries, there are now credible online galleries that also specialize in genuine Inuit art.
Some tourist stores do carry genuine Inuit art as well as the other touristy mementos in order to deal with all kinds of travelers. When shopping at these kinds of stores, it is possible to differentiate the real pieces from the reproductions. Genuine Inuit sculpture is carved from stone and therefore needs to have some weight or mass to it. Stone is likewise cold to the touch. A reproduction made from plastic or resin from a mold will be much lighter in weight and will not be cold to the touch. A recreation will often have a business name on it such as Wolf Originals or Boma and will never feature an artist's signature. An genuine Inuit sculpture is a one of a kind piece of art work and absolutely nothing else on the store racks will look exactly like it. If there are duplicates of a specific piece with specific information, the piece is not genuine. It is most likely not real if a piece looks too best in detail with outright straight bottoms or sides. Obviously, if a piece includes a sticker suggesting that is was made in an Asian nation, then it is certainly a fake. There will also be a huge price distinction between genuine pieces and the replicas.
Where it becomes harder to figure out authenticity are with the recreations that are also made of stone. This can be a real gray area to those not familiar with genuine Inuit art. They do have mass and might even have some type 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 genuine. If a seller claims that such as piece is genuine, ask to see the official Igloo tag that features it which will have information on the artist, place where it was made and the year it was sculpted. If the Igloo tag is not readily available, move on. The authentic pieces with the accompanying authorities Igloo tags will constantly be the greatest priced and are typically kept in a different (perhaps even locked) shelf within the shop.
Considering that Inuit art has actually been getting more and more global exposure, people may be seeing this Canadian fine art form at museums and galleries situated outside Canada too. 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 acquired from a local northern store or directly from an Inuit carver would be genuine. Trustworthy Inuit art galleries are likewise noted in Inuit Art Quarterly publication which is dedicated completely to Inuit art. The Inuit sculpture may be signed by the carver either in English or Inuit syllabics however not all genuine pieces are signed. next page Some of these Inuit art galleries likewise have websites so you could go shopping and purchase genuine Inuit art sculpture from home anywhere in the world.