Tips on How to Buy and Buy Genuine Canadian Inuit Art (Eskimo Art) Sculptures
Many 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 global exposure, people might be seeing this Canadian fine art form at galleries and museums located outside Canada too. Assuming that the objective is to get an genuine piece of Inuit art rather than a cheap tourist imitation, the question occurs on how does one tell apart the real thing from the phonies?
It would be quite frustrating to bring home a piece just to find out later that it isn't really genuine or even made in Canada. If one is lucky enough to be traveling in the Canadian Arctic where the Inuit live and make their wonderful artwork, then it can be securely presumed that any Inuit art piece purchased from a local northern store or straight from an Inuit carver would be authentic. One would need to be more mindful elsewhere in Canada, specifically in tourist areas 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 most safe places to look for Inuit sculptures to ensure credibility are always the trustworthy galleries that concentrate on Canadian Inuit art and Eskimo art. A few of these galleries have advertisements in the city tour guide discovered in hotels.
Respectable Inuit art galleries are also noted in Inuit Art Quarterly magazine which is dedicated totally to Inuit art. When one walks into these galleries, one will see that there will be just Inuit art and perhaps Native art but none of the other typical traveler souvenirs such as t-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 likewise have sites so you might go shopping and buy genuine Inuit art sculpture from house anywhere in the world. In addition to these street retail specialty galleries, there are now trusted online galleries that also focus on authentic Inuit art. Since of lower overheads, these online galleries are a great option for buying Inuit art because the costs are normally lower than those at street retail galleries. Naturally, like other shopping on the internet, one need to take care so when handling an online gallery, make certain that their pieces likewise feature the main Igloo tags to ensure credibility.
Some tourist stores do carry authentic Inuit art as well as the other touristy keepsakes in order to deal with all kinds of travelers. When shopping at these kinds of shops, it is possible to differentiate click for more the real pieces from the reproductions. Genuine Inuit sculpture is sculpted from stone and for that reason should have some weight or mass to it. Stone is also cold to the touch. A recreation made of plastic or resin from a mold will be much lighter in weight and will not be cold to the touch. A recreation will in some cases have a business name on it such as Wolf Originals or Boma and will never ever include an artist's signature. An authentic Inuit sculpture is a one of a kind piece of art work and nothing else on the store shelves will look precisely like it. The piece is not genuine if there are duplicates of a certain piece with specific details. It is most likely not genuine if a piece looks too perfect in information with absolute straight bottoms or sides. Naturally, if a piece features a sticker label suggesting that is was made in an Asian country, then it is clearly a fake. There will likewise be a big rate difference in between genuine pieces and the imitations.
Where it ends up being harder to identify authenticity are with the reproductions that are also made from stone. This can be a real gray area to those not familiar with genuine Inuit art. They do have mass and may even have some kind of tag showing that it was handcrafted however if there are other pieces on the shelves that look too similar in detail, they are probably not authentic. If a seller claims that such as piece is genuine, ask to see the official Igloo tag that includes it which will know on the artist, location where it was made and the year it was carved. Move on if the Igloo tag is not readily available. The authentic pieces with the accompanying official Igloo tags will always be the greatest priced and are typically kept in a separate (perhaps even locked) rack within the shop.
Since Inuit art has been getting more and more international exposure, people may be seeing this Canadian fine art kind at museums and galleries situated 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 art work, then it can be safely assumed that any Inuit art piece bought from a local northern store or directly from an Inuit carver would be genuine. Reliable Inuit art galleries are likewise listed in Inuit Art Quarterly magazine which is devoted completely to Inuit art. The Inuit sculpture may 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 websites so you might go shopping and purchase authentic Inuit art sculpture from home anywhere in the world.