Tips on Ways To Purchase and Look 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. Considering that Inuit art has actually been getting more and more worldwide direct exposure, individuals may be seeing this Canadian fine art type at galleries and museums located outside Canada too. Assuming that the intention is to get an authentic piece of Inuit art rather than a cheap tourist imitation, the question occurs on how does one inform apart the real thing from the fakes?

It would be pretty 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 lucky enough to be taking a trip 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 shop or straight from an Inuit carver would be authentic. One would need to be more careful somewhere else in Canada, especially in tourist areas where all sorts of other Canadian mementos such as t-shirts, hockey jerseys, postcards, crucial chains, maple syrup, and other Native Canadian arts are sold.

The safest locations to purchase Inuit sculptures to ensure credibility are constantly the trusted galleries that focus on Canadian Inuit art and Eskimo art. Some of these galleries have advertisements in the city tour guide discovered in hotels.

Reliable Inuit art galleries are also listed in Inuit Art Quarterly publication which is dedicated completely to Inuit art. When one walks into these galleries, one will see that there will be only Inuit art and maybe Native art however none of the other usual tourist souvenirs such as postcards or tee shirts . The Inuit sculpture might be signed by the carver either in English or Inuit syllabics however not all genuine pieces are signed.

Some of these Inuit art galleries also have sites so you might shop and buy authentic Inuit art sculpture from home anywhere in the world. In addition to these street retail specialized galleries, there are now reputable online galleries that also specialize in authentic Inuit art.

Some traveler stores do bring authentic Inuit art as well as the other touristy souvenirs in order to deal with all types of travelers. When shopping at these kinds of stores, it is possible to tell apart the genuine pieces from the recreations. Genuine Inuit sculpture is carved from stone and for that reason should have some weight or mass to it. Stone is also cold to the touch. A reproduction made of plastic or resin from a mold will be much lighter in weight Kurt Criter Denver and will not be cold to the touch. A reproduction will sometimes have a business name on it such as Wolf Originals or Boma and will never ever feature an artist's signature. An authentic Inuit sculpture is a one of a kind piece of art work and nothing else on the shop shelves will look exactly like it. If there are duplicates of a particular piece with precise details, the piece is not authentic. If a piece looks too perfect in detail with outright straight bottoms or sides, it is probably not real. Obviously, if a piece features a sticker suggesting that is was made in an Asian nation, then it is obviously a fake. There will also be a huge rate difference between authentic pieces and the replicas.

Where it becomes harder to determine authenticity are with the recreations that are also made from stone. This can be a real 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 similar in detail, they are most likely not authentic. If a seller declares that such as piece is authentic, ask to see the main Igloo tag that features it which will have information on the artist, area where it was made and the year it was carved. Move on if the Igloo tag is not Kurt Criter readily available. The authentic pieces with the accompanying authorities Igloo tags will always be the highest priced and are normally kept in a different ( possibly even locked) shelf within the shop.


Since Inuit art has been getting more and more global exposure, people might be seeing this Canadian fine art type at museums and galleries located outside Canada too. 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 assumed that any Inuit art piece purchased from a local northern shop or straight from an Inuit carver would be authentic. Reliable Inuit art galleries are also listed in Inuit Art Quarterly publication 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 also have websites so you might go shopping and purchase genuine Inuit art sculpture from home anywhere in the world.

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