Tips on How to Buy and Buy 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 worldwide exposure, people may be seeing this Canadian fine art kind at galleries and museums situated outside Canada too. Assuming that the intention is to obtain an genuine piece of Inuit art rather than a inexpensive tourist imitation, the question arises on how does one inform apart the real thing from the fakes?
It would be quite frustrating to bring home a piece just to find out later that it isn't really authentic 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 art work, then it can be securely assumed that any Inuit art piece purchased from a regional northern shop or straight from an Inuit carver would be authentic. One would need to be more careful in other places in Canada, specifically in tourist locations where all sorts of other Canadian souvenirs such as tee shirts, hockey jerseys, postcards, key chains, maple syrup, and other Native Canadian arts are sold.
The safest places to look for Inuit sculptures to guarantee credibility are constantly the credible galleries that specialize in Canadian Inuit art and Eskimo art. Some of these galleries have advertisements in the city tour guide discovered in hotels.
Trusted Inuit art galleries are likewise noted in Inuit Art Quarterly magazine which is dedicated totally to Inuit art. When one walks into these galleries, one will see that there will be only Inuit art and perhaps Native art however none of the other normal traveler souvenirs such as postcards or t-shirts . 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 you could try this out could go shopping and purchase genuine Inuit art sculpture from home throughout the world. In addition to these street retail specialty galleries, there are now reliable online galleries that also concentrate on authentic Inuit art. Since of lower overheads, these online galleries are a excellent option for buying Inuit art given that the rates are typically lower than those at street retail galleries. Of course, like other shopping on the internet, one must be careful so when dealing with an online gallery, ensure that their pieces likewise come with the official Igloo tags to guarantee credibility.
Some tourist stores do carry genuine Inuit Kurt Criter 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 therefore must have some weight or mass to it. An authentic Inuit sculpture is a one of a kind piece of artwork and absolutely nothing else on the shop racks will look precisely like it.
Where it becomes more difficult to figure out credibility are with the reproductions that are likewise made from stone. This can be a genuine gray area to those unfamiliar with genuine Inuit art. They do have mass and may even have some kind of tag suggesting that it was handcrafted however if there are other pieces on the shelves that look too similar in detail, they are more than likely not genuine. If a seller claims that such as piece is genuine, ask to see the main Igloo tag that comes with it which will know on the artist, place where it was made and the year it was sculpted. If the Igloo tag is not readily available, carry on. The authentic pieces with the accompanying official Igloo tags will constantly be the greatest priced and are generally kept in a different (perhaps even locked) rack within the store.
Since Inuit art has been getting more and more worldwide direct exposure, individuals may be seeing this Canadian fine art form at museums and galleries located outside Canada too. If one is fortunate enough to be traveling in the Canadian Arctic where the Inuit live and make their terrific art work, then it can be securely presumed that any Inuit art piece purchased from a local northern store or straight from an Inuit carver would be genuine. Trustworthy Inuit art galleries are likewise listed 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 of these Inuit art galleries likewise have websites so you could shop and purchase genuine Inuit art sculpture from house anywhere in additional info the world.