Tips on The Best Ways To Purchase and Purchase Genuine Canadian Inuit Art (Eskimo Art) Sculptures
Many visitors to Canada will be exposed to Inuit art (Eskimo art) sculptures while visiting the nation. Since Inuit art has been getting more and more international direct exposure, people may be seeing this Canadian fine art form at galleries and museums located outside Canada too. Assuming that the intention is to acquire an genuine piece of Inuit art rather than a cheap tourist replica, the concern arises on how does one tell apart the genuine thing from the fakes?
It would be quite disappointing to bring home a piece only to discover later on that it isn't genuine or perhaps made in Canada. 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 presumed that any Inuit art piece purchased from a regional northern shop or straight from an Inuit carver would be genuine. One would have to be more cautious somewhere else in Canada, specifically in tourist locations where all sorts of other Canadian keepsakes such as t-shirts, hockey jerseys, postcards, key chains, maple syrup, and other Native Canadian arts are offered.
The most safe locations to look for Inuit sculptures to make sure authenticity are constantly the reliable galleries that specialize in Canadian Inuit art and Eskimo art. Some of these galleries have ads in the city tourist guides found in hotels.
Reputable Inuit art galleries are also noted in Inuit Art Quarterly magazine which adheres completely to Inuit art. These galleries will generally be located in the downtown tourist areas of major cities. When one walks into these galleries, one will see that there will be only Inuit art and possibly Native art however none of the other normal tourist keepsakes such as postcards or t-shirts . These galleries will have only authentic Inuit art for sale as they do not deal with imitations or fakes . Simply Kurt Criter to be even more secure, make sure that the piece you are interested in includes a Canadian federal government Igloo tag licensing that it was handcrafted by a Canadian Inuit artist. The Inuit sculpture might be signed by the carver either in English or Inuit syllabics however not all authentic pieces are signed. Be conscious that an unsigned piece might still be undoubtedly genuine.
Some of these Inuit art galleries likewise have sites so you could go shopping and purchase authentic Inuit art sculpture from home anywhere in the world. In addition to these street retail specialty galleries, there are now credible online galleries that also specialize in genuine Inuit art.
Some tourist stores do bring authentic Inuit art as well as the other touristy mementos in order to cater to all types of tourists. Authentic Inuit sculpture is carved from stone and for that reason should have some weight or mass to it. An genuine Inuit sculpture is a one of a kind piece of art work and nothing else on the store shelves will look precisely like it.
Where it becomes harder to determine authenticity are with the reproductions that are likewise made of stone. This can be a genuine gray area to those not familiar with authentic Inuit art. They do have mass and may even have some type of tag suggesting that it was handcrafted however if there are other pieces on the shelves that look too comparable in detail, they are most likely not genuine. If a seller declares that such as piece is authentic, ask to see the main Igloo tag that includes it which will have information on the artist, place where it was made and the year it was sculpted. Move on if the Igloo tag is not offered. The authentic pieces with the accompanying official Igloo tags will always be the greatest priced and are normally kept in a different ( possibly even locked) rack within the store.
Because Inuit art has actually been getting more and more global direct exposure, individuals may be seeing this Canadian fine art type at galleries and museums located 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 securely presumed that any Inuit art piece bought from a regional northern store or directly from an Inuit carver would be authentic. Trustworthy Inuit art galleries are also noted 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 likewise have websites so you might go shopping and buy genuine Inuit art sculpture from home anywhere in the world.