Tips on How to Buy and Shop for Authentic Canadian Inuit Art (Eskimo Art) Sculptures
Lots of visitors to Canada will be exposed to Inuit art (Eskimo art) sculptures while touring the country. Because Inuit art has actually been getting more and more global direct exposure, people might be seeing this Canadian great art form at galleries and museums situated outside Canada too. Assuming that the objective is to obtain an genuine piece of Inuit art rather than a low-cost tourist replica, the question develops on how does one tell apart the real thing from the phonies?
It would be quite disappointing to bring home a piece just to learn later on that it isn't authentic or even made in Canada. If one is lucky enough to be traveling in the Canadian Arctic where the Inuit live and make their fantastic artwork, then it can be safely presumed that any Inuit art piece purchased from a local northern shop or directly from an Inuit carver would be genuine. One would need to be more careful somewhere else in Canada, especially in tourist locations where all sorts of other Canadian keepsakes such as tee shirts, hockey jerseys, postcards, crucial chains, maple syrup, and other Native Canadian arts are sold.
The best places to purchase Inuit sculptures to make sure authenticity are always the trustworthy galleries that focus on Canadian Inuit art and Eskimo art. Some of these galleries have advertisements in the city tour guide discovered in hotels.
Reputable Inuit art galleries are also listed in Inuit Art Quarterly publication which is dedicated entirely 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 usual tourist souvenirs such as t-shirts or postcards . 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 also have websites so you might shop and buy genuine Inuit art sculpture from house anywhere in the world. In addition to these street retail specialized galleries, there are now respectable online galleries that also specialize in authentic Inuit art.
Some tourist shops do carry authentic Kurt Criter Denver Inuit art as well as the other touristy mementos in order to cater to all types of travelers. Genuine Inuit sculpture is sculpted from stone and for that reason must have some weight or mass to it. An genuine Inuit sculpture is a one of a kind piece of art work and absolutely nothing else on the shop racks will look precisely like it.
This can be a real gray area to those unfamiliar with authentic Inuit art. If a seller claims that such as piece is authentic, ask to see the main Igloo tag that comes with it which will have details on the artist, location where it was made and the year it was carved. The genuine pieces with the accompanying official Igloo tags will always be the greatest priced and are usually kept in a separate (perhaps even locked) rack within the shop.
Because Inuit art has been getting more and more worldwide direct exposure, people might be seeing this Canadian great art type at galleries and museums situated outside Canada too. If one is lucky enough to be traveling in the Canadian Arctic where the Inuit live and make their terrific artwork, then it can be safely presumed 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 noted in Inuit Art Quarterly magazine which is dedicated totally 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. Some of these Inuit art galleries likewise have websites so you might shop and purchase genuine Inuit art sculpture from home anywhere in the world.