Tips on The Best Ways To Buy and Shop for Genuine Canadian Inuit Art (Eskimo Art) Sculptures
Many visitors to Canada will be exposed to Inuit art (Eskimo art) sculptures while touring the country. Since Inuit art has been getting more and more worldwide direct exposure, individuals might be seeing this Canadian great art kind at galleries and museums located outside Canada too. Assuming that the objective is to obtain an authentic piece of Inuit art rather than a inexpensive traveler replica, the question emerges on how does one inform apart the real thing from the fakes?
It would be pretty disappointing to bring home a piece only to learn later on that it isn't really authentic or even made in Canada. 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 assumed that any Inuit art piece bought from a regional northern shop or straight from an Inuit carver would be authentic. One would have to be more careful elsewhere in Canada, especially in tourist locations 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 purchase Inuit sculptures to ensure authenticity are constantly the reliable galleries that specialize in Canadian Inuit art and Eskimo art. Some of these galleries have ads in the city tour guide found in hotels.
Trustworthy Inuit art galleries are also listed in Inuit Art Quarterly publication which is devoted completely to Inuit art. When one strolls into these galleries, one will see that there will be only Inuit art and perhaps Native art but none of the other typical tourist mementos such as tee shirts or postcards . The Inuit sculpture may 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 shop and purchase authentic Inuit art sculpture from home anywhere in the world. In addition to these street retail specialized galleries, there are now credible online galleries that also specialize in authentic Inuit art.
Some traveler shops do bring genuine Inuit art as well as the other touristy souvenirs in order to deal with all types of travelers. When shopping at these types of stores, it is possible to differentiate the genuine pieces from the recreations. Authentic Inuit sculpture is carved from stone and for that reason needs to have some weight or mass to it. Stone is likewise 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 often have a business name on it such as Wolf Originals or Boma and will never ever feature an artist's signature. An genuine Inuit sculpture is a one of a kind piece of artwork and nothing else on the shop shelves will look exactly like it. If there are duplicates of a certain piece with exact information, the piece is not genuine. It is probably not real if a piece looks too perfect in detail with outright straight bottoms or sides. Obviously, if a piece includes a sticker label suggesting that is was made in an Asian nation, then it is obviously a phony. There will likewise be a big price difference in between authentic pieces and the replicas.
Where it becomes more difficult to figure out authenticity are with the reproductions 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 kind of tag indicating that it was handmade but 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 Kurt Criter 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 carved. Move on if the Igloo tag is not available. The authentic pieces with the accompanying authorities Igloo tags will constantly be the highest priced and are normally kept in a separate (perhaps even locked) shelf within the store.
Considering that Inuit art has actually been getting more and more global exposure, individuals might be seeing this Canadian fine art form 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 wonderful art work, then it can be safely assumed that any Inuit art piece bought from a regional northern store or directly from an Inuit carver would be genuine. Reliable Inuit art galleries are likewise listed in Inuit Art Quarterly magazine which is dedicated completely to Inuit art. 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 might go shopping and buy authentic Inuit art sculpture from house anywhere in the world.