Tips on How to Purchase and Shop for Authentic Canadian Inuit Art (Eskimo Art) Sculptures
Numerous visitors to Canada will be exposed to Inuit art (Eskimo art) sculptures while exploring the nation. Since Inuit art has been getting more and more international direct exposure, individuals might be seeing this Canadian fine art kind at galleries and museums situated outside Canada too. Assuming that the objective is to get an genuine piece of Inuit art rather than a cheap tourist imitation, the question develops on how does one inform apart the genuine thing from the fakes?
It would be pretty disappointing to bring home a piece only to find out 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 artwork, then it can be securely presumed that any Inuit art piece bought from a regional northern store or directly from an Inuit carver would be genuine. One would have to be more mindful elsewhere in Canada, especially in traveler areas where all sorts of other Canadian keepsakes such as t-shirts, hockey jerseys, postcards, key chains, maple syrup, and other Native Canadian arts are sold.
The best locations to look for Inuit sculptures to ensure credibility are always the reputable galleries that concentrate on Canadian Inuit art and Eskimo art. A few of these galleries have ads in the city tour guide discovered in hotels.
Trustworthy Inuit art galleries are likewise listed in Inuit Art Quarterly magazine which is devoted entirely to Inuit art. These galleries will typically be located 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 possibly Native art however none of the other typical tourist souvenirs such as postcards or t-shirts . These galleries will have just authentic Inuit art for sale as they do not deal with replicas or fakes . Just to be even safer, make sure that the piece you are interested in comes with a Canadian federal government Igloo tag accrediting that it was handcrafted by a Canadian Inuit artist. The Inuit sculpture may be signed by the carver either in English or Inuit syllabics however not all authentic pieces are signed. So understand that an unsigned piece might still be certainly authentic.
Some of these Inuit art galleries likewise have sites so you might shop and purchase genuine Inuit art sculpture from house anywhere in the world. In addition to these street retail specialty galleries, there are now reputable online galleries that likewise specialize in genuine Inuit art.
Some traveler stores do carry genuine Inuit art as well as the other touristy keepsakes 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 authentic Inuit sculpture is http://journals.oregondigital.org/index.php/OURJ/user/viewPublicProfile/5504 a one of a kind piece of art work and nothing else on the store racks will look exactly like it.
Where it becomes more difficult to identify authenticity are with the recreations that are likewise made of stone. This can be a genuine gray area to those not familiar with genuine Inuit art. They do have mass and may even have some type of tag suggesting 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 claims that such as piece is genuine, ask to see the main Igloo tag that comes with it which will have information on the artist, area where it was made and the year it was carved. Move on if the Igloo tag is not available. The authentic pieces with the accompanying official Igloo tags will always be the greatest priced and are usually kept in a different (perhaps even locked) shelf within the shop.
Since Inuit art has been getting more and more global direct exposure, individuals might be seeing this Canadian great 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 artwork, then it can be safely assumed that any Inuit art piece bought Kurt Criter Denver from a local northern shop or directly from an Inuit carver would be authentic. Reliable Inuit art galleries are also listed in Inuit Art Quarterly magazine which is devoted 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 sites so you could go shopping and purchase authentic Inuit art sculpture from home anywhere in the world.