Tips on Ways To Purchase and Look For Genuine Canadian Inuit Art (Eskimo Art) Sculptures
Many visitors to Canada will be exposed to Inuit art (Eskimo art) sculptures while visiting the country. Since Inuit art has been getting more and more global exposure, people may be seeing this Canadian great art kind at museums and galleries located outside Canada too. Assuming that the objective is to obtain an authentic piece of Inuit art rather than a inexpensive tourist replica, the question occurs on how does one inform apart the genuine thing from the fakes?
It would be quite frustrating to bring home a piece just to find out later on that it isn't really authentic or perhaps 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 securely presumed that any Inuit art piece bought from a regional northern shop or directly from an Inuit carver would be genuine. One would have to be more mindful in other places in Canada, especially in tourist 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 best places to look for Inuit sculptures to guarantee credibility are constantly the reliable galleries that concentrate on Canadian Inuit art and Eskimo art. Some of these galleries have ads in the city tourist guides discovered in hotels.
Trustworthy Inuit art galleries are likewise noted in Inuit Art Quarterly magazine which is devoted completely to Inuit art. When one strolls into these galleries, one will see that there will be only Inuit art and maybe Native art but none of the other normal tourist mementos such as tee shirts or postcards . The Inuit sculpture may 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 could shop and purchase authentic Inuit art sculpture from home throughout the world. In addition Kurt Criter Denver to these street retail specialized galleries, there are now credible online galleries that likewise concentrate on genuine Inuit art. These online galleries are a great option for purchasing Inuit art because my latest blog post the costs are typically lower than those at street retail galleries because of lower overheads. Obviously, like other shopping on the internet, one should be careful so when handling an online gallery, make sure that their pieces also feature the official Igloo tags to guarantee credibility.
Some traveler shops do carry authentic Inuit art as well as the other touristy souvenirs in order to cater to all types of travelers. Genuine Inuit sculpture is sculpted from stone and for that reason needs to have some weight or mass to it. An authentic Inuit sculpture is a one of a kind piece of art work and nothing else on the shop racks will look exactly like it.
This can be a real gray area to those unknown with authentic Inuit art. If a seller declares that such as piece is genuine, ask to see the main Igloo tag that comes with it which will have information on the artist, place where it was made and the year it was carved. The authentic pieces with the accompanying official Igloo tags will always be the highest priced and are typically kept in a different (perhaps even locked) shelf within the store.
Because Inuit art has actually been getting more and more worldwide exposure, individuals may be seeing this Canadian great art form at museums and galleries located outside Canada too. If one is fortunate 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 assumed that any Inuit art piece purchased from a regional northern store or straight from an Inuit carver would be authentic. Reliable Inuit art galleries are likewise listed in Inuit Art Quarterly publication which is devoted completely to Inuit art. The Inuit sculpture may 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 websites so you could go shopping and buy genuine Inuit art sculpture from house anywhere in the world.