Tips on The Best Ways To Buy and Look For Authentic Canadian Inuit Art (Eskimo Art) Sculptures
Many visitors to Canada will be exposed to Inuit art (Eskimo art) sculptures while touring the country. These are the splendid handmade sculptures sculpted 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 tourist locations popular with global visitors such as Banff, Inuit sculptures will be seen at numerous retail shops and displayed at some museums. Given that Inuit art has been getting a growing number of worldwide exposure, people might be seeing this Canadian art form at galleries and museums located outside Canada too. As a result, it will be natural for lots of tourists and art collectors to decide that they wish to acquire Inuit sculptures as good keepsakes for their houses or as extremely distinct gifts for others. Assuming that the intent is to acquire an genuine piece of Inuit art instead of a cheap traveler replica, the question develops on how does one differentiate the real thing from the fakes?
It would be quite frustrating to bring home a piece just to discover later that it isn't really authentic or even made in Canada. If one is lucky enough to be taking a trip in the Canadian Arctic where the Inuit live and make their fantastic art work, then it can be safely presumed that any Inuit art piece bought from a local northern shop or straight from an Inuit carver would be authentic. One would need to be more careful somewhere else in Canada, particularly in tourist locations where all sorts of other Canadian souvenirs such as t-shirts, hockey jerseys, postcards, key chains, maple syrup, and other Native Canadian arts are sold.
The best locations to purchase Inuit sculptures to make sure authenticity are always the reliable galleries that specialize in Canadian Inuit art and Eskimo art. Some of these galleries have advertisements in the city tourist guides found in hotels.
Trusted Inuit art galleries are likewise listed in Inuit Art Quarterly publication which is dedicated totally to Inuit art. When one walks into these galleries, one will see that there will be just Inuit art and possibly Native art but none of the other typical traveler souvenirs such as postcards or t-shirts . The Inuit sculpture may be signed by the carver either in English or Inuit syllabics but not all genuine pieces are signed.
Some of these Inuit art galleries also have websites so you could shop and buy genuine Inuit art sculpture Kurt Criter 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 traveler shops do carry authentic Inuit art in addition to the other touristy keepsakes in order to deal with all site kinds of travelers. When shopping at these types of stores, it is possible to differentiate the genuine pieces from the recreations. Genuine Inuit sculpture is carved from stone and for that reason must have some weight or mass to it. Stone is also cold to the touch. A recreation made of plastic or resin from a mold will be much lighter in weight and will not be cold to the touch. A recreation will sometimes have a company name on it such as Wolf Originals or Boma and will never include an artist's signature. 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. If there are duplicates of a particular piece with specific information, the piece is not genuine. It is probably not real if a piece looks too ideal in information with absolute straight bottoms or sides. Obviously, if a piece includes a sticker label indicating that is was made in an Asian country, then it is clearly a phony. There will likewise be a huge price difference between genuine pieces and the replicas.
Where it becomes more difficult to figure out authenticity are with the recreations that are likewise 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 suggesting that it was handmade but if there are other pieces on the shelves that look too comparable in detail, they are most likely not authentic. If a seller declares that such as piece is authentic, ask to see the official 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 offered. The authentic pieces with the accompanying authorities Igloo tags will always be the greatest priced and are typically kept in a different (perhaps even locked) shelf within the shop.
Given that Inuit art has been getting more and more worldwide exposure, individuals might be seeing this Canadian fine art type at galleries and museums situated outside Canada too. If one is fortunate enough to be traveling in the Canadian Arctic where the Inuit live and make their wonderful art work, then it can be safely presumed that any Inuit art piece acquired from a local northern store or directly from an Inuit carver would be genuine. Reliable Inuit art galleries are likewise noted in Inuit Art Quarterly magazine which is devoted entirely to Inuit art. The Inuit sculpture might 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 might go shopping and buy authentic Inuit art sculpture from home anywhere in the world.