Tips on How to Purchase and Shop for Authentic Canadian Inuit Art (Eskimo Art) Sculptures
Many visitors to Canada will be exposed to Inuit art (Eskimo art) sculptures while visiting the country. These are the splendid handmade sculptures carved from stone by the Inuit artists living in the northern Arctic regions of Canada. While in some of the major Canadian cities (Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, Ottawa, and Quebec City) or other tourist areas popular with global visitors such as Banff, Inuit sculptures will be seen at numerous retail stores and showed at some museums. Because Inuit art has actually been getting more and more global direct exposure, people may be seeing this Canadian fine art form at museums and galleries located outside Canada too. As a result, it will be natural for lots of travelers and art collectors to decide that they want to acquire Inuit sculptures as nice souvenirs for their homes or as really distinct presents for others. Presuming that the objective is to acquire an genuine piece of Inuit art instead of a low-cost tourist imitation, the question occurs on how does one tell apart the real thing from the phonies?
It would be quite disappointing to bring home a piece only to find out 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 local northern shop or straight from an Inuit carver would be genuine. One would need to be more careful in other places in Canada, especially in tourist areas 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 best places to buy Inuit sculptures to ensure credibility are always the trustworthy galleries that specialize in Canadian Inuit art and Eskimo art. A few of these galleries have ads in the city tour guide found in hotels.
Respectable Inuit art galleries are also listed in Inuit Art Quarterly magazine which is devoted totally to Inuit art. These galleries will typically be located in the downtown tourist areas of major cities. When one strolls into these galleries, one will see that there will be just Inuit art and possibly Native art but none of the other normal traveler souvenirs such as postcards or t-shirts . These galleries will have just genuine Inuit art for sale as they do not handle fakes or imitations . Just to be even more secure, make sure that the piece you are interested in includes a Canadian government Igloo tag licensing that it was handcrafted by a Canadian Kurt Criter Inuit artist. The Inuit sculpture may be signed by the carver either in English or Inuit syllabics but not all authentic pieces are signed. So know that an anonymous piece might still be indeed genuine.
Some of these Inuit art galleries also have websites so you might shop and purchase authentic Inuit art sculpture from house 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 carved from stone and therefore 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 shop shelves will look precisely like it.
This can https://damienfgjo243.wordpress.com/tag/kurt-criter-denver/ be a genuine gray area to those unknown with authentic Inuit art. If a seller declares that such as piece is authentic, ask to see the main reference Igloo tag that comes with it which will have info on the artist, area where it was made and the year it was carved. The genuine pieces with the accompanying official Igloo tags will always be the highest priced and are typically kept in a different (perhaps even locked) rack within the shop.
Considering that Inuit art has been getting more and more international exposure, individuals might be seeing this Canadian fine art type at galleries and museums situated outside Canada too. 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 acquired from a regional northern store or directly from an Inuit carver would be genuine. Trustworthy Inuit art galleries are also noted in Inuit Art Quarterly magazine 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 likewise have sites so you might shop and purchase genuine Inuit art sculpture from house anywhere in the world.