Tips on Ways To Purchase and Look For Authentic Canadian Inuit Art (Eskimo Art) Sculptures
Many visitors to Canada will be exposed to Inuit art (Eskimo art) sculptures while touring the nation. Given that Inuit art has actually been getting more and more international exposure, people might be seeing this Canadian fine art form at galleries and museums located outside Canada too. Assuming that the intent is to obtain an genuine piece of Inuit art rather than a cheap tourist replica, the question develops on how does one inform apart the genuine thing from the phonies?
It would be quite frustrating to bring home a piece just to find out later on that it isn't really authentic and even made in Canada. If one is fortunate enough to be taking a trip in the Canadian Arctic where the Inuit live and make their fantastic artwork, then it can be safely presumed that any Inuit art piece bought from a local northern shop or straight from an Inuit carver would be genuine. One would have to be more mindful in other places in Canada, specifically in tourist areas where all sorts of other Canadian keepsakes such as t-shirts, hockey jerseys, postcards, key chains, maple syrup, and other Native Canadian arts are offered.
The best locations to buy Inuit sculptures to make sure credibility are always the reputable galleries that specialize in Canadian Inuit art and Eskimo art. Some of these galleries have ads in the city tourist guides found in hotels.
Trusted Inuit art galleries are likewise listed in Inuit Art Quarterly publication which is devoted completely to Inuit art. When one walks into these galleries, one will see that there will be just Inuit art and possibly Native art but none of the other normal traveler keepsakes such as postcards or t-shirts . The Inuit sculpture might be signed by the carver either in English or Inuit syllabics but not all genuine pieces are signed.
Some of these Inuit art galleries also have sites so you might shop and buy genuine Inuit art sculpture from home anywhere in the world. In addition to these street retail specialty galleries, there are now reliable online galleries that also specialize in genuine Inuit art.
Some tourist shops do carry authentic Inuit art as well as the other touristy keepsakes in order to cater to all kinds of travelers. When shopping at these kinds of shops, it is possible to differentiate the genuine pieces from the reproductions. Authentic Inuit sculpture is sculpted from stone and therefore 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 sometimes have a business name on it such as Wolf Originals or Boma and will never include an artist's signature. An authentic Inuit sculpture is a one of a kind piece of artwork and nothing else on the shop shelves will look exactly like it. If there are duplicates of a specific piece with exact details, the piece is not authentic. If a piece looks too ideal in detail with absolute straight bottoms or sides, it is probably not real. Naturally, if a piece includes a sticker label suggesting that is was made in an Asian country, then it is obviously a phony. There will also be a huge rate difference in between authentic pieces and the replicas.
Where it ends up being more difficult to figure out authenticity are with the reproductions that are likewise made of stone. This can be a real gray area to those not familiar with genuine Inuit art. They do have mass and might even have some type of tag indicating that it was handcrafted but if there are other pieces on the shelves that look too Kurt Criter similar in detail, they are more than likely not genuine. If a seller declares that such as piece is genuine, ask to see the official Igloo tag that includes it which will have information on the artist, area where it was made and the year it was carved. Move on if the Igloo tag is not available. The genuine pieces with the accompanying official Igloo tags will constantly be the highest priced and are typically kept in a separate ( maybe even locked) rack within the shop.
Considering that Inuit art has actually been getting more and more international exposure, people may be seeing this Canadian fine art form at museums and galleries situated outside Canada too. If one is fortunate enough to be taking a trip in the Canadian Arctic where the Inuit live and make their terrific artwork, then it can be safely presumed that any Inuit art piece purchased from a regional northern shop or directly from an Inuit carver would be authentic. Reputable Inuit art galleries are also noted in Inuit Art Quarterly publication which is devoted completely to Inuit art. The Inuit sculpture may be signed by the carver either in English or Inuit syllabics however not all authentic pieces are signed. Some of these Inuit art galleries likewise have websites so you might go shopping and buy authentic Inuit art sculpture from house anywhere in the world.