Tips on How to Purchase and Purchase Authentic Canadian Inuit Art (Eskimo Art) Sculptures
Many visitors to Canada will be exposed to Inuit art (Eskimo art) sculptures while touring the country. Considering that Inuit art has been getting more and more international exposure, people might be seeing this Canadian fine art form at museums and galleries located outside Canada too. Assuming that the objective is to obtain an authentic piece of Inuit art rather than a low-cost traveler replica, the concern arises on how does one inform apart the genuine thing from the phonies?
It would be quite frustrating to bring home a piece just to discover later on that it isn't really authentic or perhaps made in Canada. If one is fortunate enough to be taking a trip 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 straight from an Inuit carver would be authentic. One would have to be more careful elsewhere in Canada, especially in traveler areas where all sorts of other Canadian mementos such as tee shirts, hockey jerseys, postcards, key chains, maple syrup, and other Native Canadian arts are offered.
The best locations to purchase Inuit sculptures to guarantee credibility are always the reputable galleries that focus on Canadian Inuit art and Eskimo art. A few of these galleries have advertisements in the city tourist guides found in hotels.
Reputable Inuit art galleries are likewise listed in Inuit Art Quarterly magazine which is devoted totally to Inuit art. These galleries will usually be located in the downtown traveler areas of major cities. 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 normal tourist mementos such as postcards or t-shirts . These galleries will have just authentic Inuit art for sale as they do not handle phonies or replicas . Just to be even much safer, make sure that the piece you are interested in features a Canadian government Igloo tag licensing 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 genuine pieces are signed. Be aware that an anonymous piece may still be indeed authentic.
Some of these Inuit art galleries likewise have sites so you could shop and purchase genuine Inuit art sculpture from home throughout the world. In addition to these street retail specialty galleries, there are now trustworthy online galleries that likewise specialize in authentic Inuit art. These online galleries are a great choice for buying Inuit art considering that the prices are usually lower than those at street retail galleries because of lower overheads. Of course, like other shopping on the internet, one should beware so when handling an online gallery, ensure that their pieces likewise feature the main Igloo tags to guarantee authenticity.
Some tourist stores do bring genuine Inuit art as well as the other touristy mementos in order to cater to all kinds of tourists. When shopping at these kinds of shops, it is possible to differentiate the real pieces from the reproductions. Genuine Inuit sculpture is carved from stone and for that reason must have some weight or mass to it. Stone is likewise cold to the touch. A reproduction 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 company name on it such as Wolf Originals or Boma and will never feature an artist's signature. An authentic Inuit sculpture is a one of a kind piece of art work and absolutely nothing else on the shop racks will look exactly like it. The piece is not authentic if there are duplicates of a certain piece with precise information. It is probably not real if a piece looks too perfect in detail with absolute straight bottoms or sides. Naturally, if a piece includes a sticker label indicating that is was made in an Asian nation, then it is undoubtedly a fake. There will likewise be a substantial cost difference between authentic pieces and the replicas.
This can be a genuine gray location to those unknown with genuine Inuit art. If a seller claims that such as piece is genuine, 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 sculpted. The genuine pieces with the accompanying authorities Igloo tags will always be the highest priced and are generally kept in a different ( maybe even locked) rack within the shop.
Because Inuit art has actually been getting more and more international exposure, people may be seeing this Canadian fine art type 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 art work, then it can be securely presumed that any Inuit art piece purchased from a local northern store or directly from an Inuit carver would be genuine. Trustworthy Inuit art galleries are also noted in Inuit Art Quarterly magazine 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 genuine pieces are signed. Some Kurt Criter Denver of these Inuit art galleries likewise have sites so you might shop and purchase genuine Inuit art sculpture from house anywhere in the world.