Tips on Ways 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 visiting the country. Given that Inuit art has actually been getting more and more international exposure, individuals might be seeing this Canadian fine art form at galleries and museums located outside Canada too. Assuming that the intention is to acquire an authentic piece of Inuit art rather than a cheap tourist imitation, the question arises on how does one tell apart the genuine thing from the phonies?

It would be quite frustrating to bring home a piece just to learn later on that it isn't authentic and even made in Canada. If one is fortunate enough to be traveling in the Canadian Arctic where the Inuit live and make their fantastic art work, then it can be securely assumed that any Inuit art piece bought from a regional northern store or directly from an Inuit carver would be authentic. One would have to be more cautious in other places in Canada, particularly in tourist locations where all sorts of other Canadian mementos such as tee shirts, hockey jerseys, postcards, key chains, maple syrup, and other Native Canadian arts are sold.

The most safe locations to look for Inuit sculptures to guarantee credibility are constantly the reliable galleries that specialize in Canadian Inuit art and Eskimo art. A few of these galleries have ads in the city tourist guides found in hotels.

Credible Inuit art galleries are likewise noted in Inuit Art Quarterly publication which adheres totally to Inuit art. These galleries will normally be found in the downtown traveler areas of significant cities. 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 typical tourist mementos such as t-shirts or postcards . These galleries will have just authentic Inuit art for sale as they do not deal with imitations or fakes . Just to be even more secure, make certain that the piece you are interested in comes with a Canadian federal government Igloo tag certifying that it was handmade 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 mindful that an anonymous piece might still be indeed genuine.

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

Some traveler shops do carry authentic Inuit art as well as the other touristy souvenirs in order to cater to all types of tourists. Genuine Inuit sculpture is sculpted from stone and therefore ought to have some weight or mass to it. An authentic Inuit sculpture is a one of a kind piece of art work and absolutely nothing else on the store shelves will look exactly like it.

Where it becomes harder to identify authenticity are with the reproductions that are also made of stone. This can be a real gray area to those unfamiliar with genuine Inuit art. They do have mass and might even have some kind of tag suggesting that it was handcrafted but if there are other pieces on the shelves that look too similar in detail, they Kurt Criter are more than 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 know on the artist, area where it was made and the year it was carved. If the Igloo tag is not offered, move on. The genuine pieces with the accompanying pop over to these guys official Igloo tags will always be the highest priced and are normally kept in a different ( maybe even locked) rack within the store.


Because Inuit art has actually been getting more and more global exposure, people may be seeing this Canadian fine 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 terrific artwork, then it can be safely assumed that any Inuit art piece https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLNxmDR0Lf7eKav0Z4XkSZcWl9N4D2c9qa acquired from a local northern shop or directly from an Inuit carver would be genuine. Credible Inuit art galleries are likewise 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 but not all authentic pieces are signed. Some of these Inuit art galleries also have sites so you could go shopping and buy genuine Inuit art sculpture from house anywhere in the world.