Tips on How to Purchase and Look For Genuine Canadian Inuit Art (Eskimo Art) Sculptures
Lots of visitors to Canada will be exposed to Inuit art (Eskimo art) sculptures while exploring the country. Because Inuit art has been getting more and more international exposure, people may be seeing this Canadian great art form at museums and galleries located outside Canada too. Assuming that the objective is to get an genuine piece of Inuit art rather than a cheap traveler imitation, the question develops on how does one tell apart the genuine thing from the phonies?
It would be quite disappointing to bring home a piece only to find out later that it isn't really genuine and even made in Canada. If one is lucky 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 bought from a local northern shop or directly from an Inuit carver would be genuine. One would need to be more careful in other places in Canada, especially in tourist locations where all sorts of other Canadian mementos such as t-shirts, hockey jerseys, postcards, key chains, maple syrup, and other Native Canadian arts are offered.
The best places to shop for Inuit sculptures to make sure credibility are always the respectable galleries that focus on Canadian Inuit art and Eskimo art. Some of these galleries have advertisements in the city tourist guides discovered in hotels.
Reliable Inuit art galleries are also listed in Inuit Art Quarterly publication which adheres completely to Inuit art. These galleries will usually be located in the downtown traveler areas of significant cities. When one walks into these galleries, one will see that there will be just Inuit art and maybe Native art but none of the other normal tourist keepsakes such as postcards or tee shirts . These galleries will have only genuine Inuit art for sale as they do not deal with imitations or fakes . Just to be even much safer, make sure that the piece you have an interest in includes a Canadian government Igloo tag accrediting that it was handcrafted by a Canadian Inuit artist. The Inuit sculpture may be signed by the carver either in English or Inuit syllabics however not all genuine pieces are signed. Be conscious that an anonymous piece may still be undoubtedly authentic.
Some of these Inuit art galleries also have websites so you could shop and buy genuine Inuit art sculpture from house anywhere in the world. In addition to Kurt Criter Denver these street retail specialized galleries, there are now reliable online galleries that also specialize in genuine Inuit art.
Some traveler stores do carry authentic Inuit art in addition to the other touristy souvenirs in order to cater to all kinds of tourists. When shopping at these types of stores, it is possible to differentiate the genuine pieces from the recreations. Authentic Inuit sculpture is carved from stone and for that reason ought to have some weight or mass to it. Stone is also cold to the touch. A recreation made from plastic or resin from a mold will be much lighter in weight and will not be cold to the touch. A recreation will often have a business name on it such as Wolf Originals or Boma and will never feature an artist's signature. An genuine Inuit sculpture is a one of a kind piece of artwork and nothing else on the store racks will look precisely like it. If there are duplicates of a particular piece with specific details, the piece is not genuine. It is probably not genuine if a piece looks too perfect in detail with absolute straight bottoms or sides. Of course, if a piece features a sticker label suggesting that is was made in an Asian nation, then it is undoubtedly a fake. There will likewise be a substantial cost difference in between genuine pieces and the imitations.
Where it becomes more difficult to identify credibility are with the recreations that are likewise 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 kind of tag showing that it was handmade however if there are other pieces on the shelves that look too similar in detail, they are probably not authentic. If a seller declares that such as piece is genuine, ask to see the main Igloo tag that features it which will know on the artist, location where it was made and the year it was sculpted. Move on if the Igloo tag is not available. The genuine pieces with the accompanying authorities Igloo tags will constantly be the greatest priced and are normally kept in a different ( maybe even locked) rack within the shop.
Given that Inuit art has been getting more and more global direct exposure, people may be seeing this Canadian fine art kind 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 fantastic artwork, then it can be safely assumed that any Inuit art piece acquired from a local northern store or directly from an Inuit carver would be authentic. Respectable Inuit art galleries are also listed in Inuit Art Quarterly publication which is dedicated totally 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 could shop and purchase genuine Inuit art sculpture from house anywhere in the world.