Tips on How 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 nation. These are the magnificent handmade sculptures carved from stone by the Inuit artists living in the northern Arctic regions of Canada. While in a few of the major Canadian cities (Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, Ottawa, and Quebec City) or other traveler areas popular with global visitors such as Banff, Inuit sculptures will be seen at various retail stores and showed at some museums. Because Inuit art has actually been getting more and more worldwide exposure, individuals may be seeing this Canadian fine art kind at galleries and museums situated outside Canada too. As a result, it will be natural for many tourists and art collectors to decide that they want to purchase Inuit sculptures as good mementos for their houses or as very unique gifts for others. Presuming that the intent is to get an authentic piece of Inuit art rather than a low-cost traveler imitation, the question develops on how does one differentiate the genuine thing from the fakes?

It would be pretty frustrating to bring home a piece just to find out later on that it isn't really genuine and even made in Canada. If one is lucky enough to be taking a trip in the Canadian Arctic where the Inuit live and make their terrific art work, then it can be safely presumed that any Inuit art piece purchased from a local northern store or straight from an Inuit carver would be genuine. One would need to be more cautious somewhere else in Canada, particularly in tourist areas where all sorts of other Canadian souvenirs such as tee shirts, hockey jerseys, postcards, crucial chains, maple syrup, and other Native Canadian arts are sold.

The safest places to buy Inuit sculptures to make sure authenticity are always the trusted galleries that concentrate on Canadian Inuit art and Eskimo art. A few of these galleries have ads in the city tour guide discovered in hotels.

Reliable Inuit art galleries are likewise listed in Inuit Art Quarterly magazine which is devoted entirely to Inuit art. These galleries will usually be found in the downtown tourist locations of major cities. When one strolls into these galleries, one will see that there will be only Inuit art and maybe Native art however none of the other usual traveler souvenirs such as postcards or t-shirts . These galleries will have only authentic Inuit art for sale as they do not handle replicas or fakes . Just to be even much safer, make sure that the piece you have an interest in includes a Canadian government Igloo tag accrediting 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 authentic pieces are signed. Be mindful Kurt Criter Denver that an unsigned piece may still be indeed genuine.

Some of these Inuit art galleries also have websites so you could shop and buy genuine Inuit art sculpture from home anywhere in the world. In addition to these street retail specialty galleries, there are now trusted online galleries that likewise specialize in genuine Inuit art.

Some traveler shops do carry authentic Inuit art as well as the other touristy keepsakes in order to deal with all types of tourists. When shopping at these types of shops, it is possible to tell apart the real pieces from the reproductions. Authentic Inuit sculpture is sculpted from stone and for that reason should have some weight or mass to it. Stone is also cold to the touch. A recreation made from plastic or resin from a mold will be much lighter in weight and will not be cold to the touch. A reproduction will in some cases have a company name on it such as Wolf Originals or Boma and will never ever include an artist's signature. An authentic Inuit sculpture is a one of a kind piece of artwork and absolutely nothing else on the shop racks will look exactly like it. The piece is not authentic if there are duplicates of a particular piece with precise information. It is probably not genuine if a piece looks too best in detail with outright straight bottoms or sides. Obviously, if a piece features a sticker label indicating that is was made in an Asian nation, then it is undoubtedly a phony. There will likewise be a huge cost difference in between authentic pieces and the replicas.

This can be a genuine gray location to those unfamiliar with genuine Inuit art. If a seller declares that such as piece is genuine, ask to see the official Igloo tag that comes with it which will have information on the artist, place where it was made and the year it was sculpted. The genuine pieces with the accompanying official Igloo tags will always be the greatest priced and are generally kept in a separate (perhaps even locked) shelf within the shop.


Since Inuit art has been getting more and more international exposure, individuals might be seeing this Canadian great art form at museums and galleries situated outside Canada too. If one is lucky enough to be traveling in the Canadian Arctic where the Inuit live and make their wonderful artwork, then it can be safely assumed that any Inuit art piece purchased from a local northern store or straight from an Inuit carver would be genuine. Respectable Inuit art galleries are also listed in Inuit Art Quarterly publication which is devoted entirely to Inuit art. The Inuit sculpture might be signed by the carver either in English or Inuit syllabics however not all authentic pieces are signed. Some of these Inuit art galleries also have websites so you might shop and purchase genuine Inuit art sculpture from house anywhere in the world.

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