Tips on The Best Ways To Buy and Buy Authentic Canadian Inuit Art (Eskimo Art) Sculptures
Numerous visitors to Canada will be exposed to Inuit art (Eskimo art) sculptures while exploring the country. Considering that Inuit art has actually been getting more and more worldwide exposure, individuals may be seeing this Canadian fine art type 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 replica, the question arises on how does one tell apart the real thing from the phonies?
It would be pretty disappointing to bring home a piece only to find out later that it isn't genuine or perhaps made in Canada. If one is fortunate enough to be taking a trip 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 local northern store or straight from an Inuit carver would be genuine. One would need to be more cautious somewhere else in Canada, specifically in tourist areas where all sorts of other Canadian keepsakes such as t-shirts, hockey jerseys, postcards, crucial chains, maple syrup, and other Native Canadian arts are sold.
The best locations to purchase Inuit sculptures to ensure credibility are constantly the trusted galleries that specialize in Canadian Inuit art and Eskimo art. A few of these galleries have ads in the city tour guide discovered in hotels.
Credible Inuit art galleries are also listed in Inuit Art Quarterly magazine which is dedicated completely to Inuit art. 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 tourist keepsakes such as tee shirts or postcards . 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 sites so you might go shopping and purchase authentic Inuit art sculpture from house throughout the world. In addition to these street retail specialty galleries, there are now respectable online galleries that also specialize in genuine Inuit art. Because of lower overheads, these online galleries are a great alternative for buying Inuit art considering that the costs are typically lower than those at street retail galleries. Naturally, like other shopping on the internet, one should be careful so when handling an online gallery, ensure that their pieces also feature the official Igloo tags to make sure authenticity.
Some traveler stores do carry authentic Inuit art as well as the other touristy mementos in order to cater to all types of tourists. Authentic Inuit sculpture is sculpted 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 artwork and absolutely nothing else on the store shelves will look exactly like it.
Where it becomes more difficult to identify authenticity are with the reproductions that are likewise made of 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 handmade but if there are other pieces on the shelves that look too similar in detail, they are probably not genuine. If a seller declares that such as piece is authentic, ask to see the official Igloo tag that site includes it which will have information 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 genuine pieces with the accompanying authorities Igloo tags will always be the greatest priced and are usually kept in a different (perhaps even locked) rack within the store.
Given that Inuit art has been getting more and more international exposure, individuals might be seeing this Canadian fine art type at galleries and museums located outside Canada too. If one is lucky enough to be taking a trip in the Canadian Arctic where the Inuit live and make their wonderful artwork, then it can be securely assumed that any Inuit art piece purchased from a regional northern store or straight from an Inuit carver would be genuine. Trusted Inuit art galleries are likewise noted in Inuit Art Quarterly magazine which is dedicated totally to Inuit art. 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 websites so you might go shopping and purchase authentic Inuit art sculpture from house anywhere in the world.