Tips on Ways To Purchase and Purchase Authentic Canadian Inuit Art (Eskimo Art) Sculptures
Many visitors to Canada will be exposed to Inuit art (Eskimo art) sculptures while touring the nation. These are the splendid handmade sculptures sculpted from stone by the Inuit artists residing in the northern Arctic regions of Canada. While in some of the significant Canadian cities (Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, Ottawa, and Quebec City) or other traveler areas popular with international visitors such as Banff, Inuit sculptures will be seen at various retail stores and showed at some museums. Considering that Inuit art has actually been getting increasingly more worldwide exposure, individuals might be seeing this Canadian art form at galleries and museums situated outside Canada too. As a result, it will be natural for many travelers and art collectors to decide that they would like to acquire Inuit sculptures as good souvenirs for their houses or as extremely unique presents for others. Assuming that the intent is to get an authentic piece of Inuit art instead of a inexpensive traveler imitation, the question emerges on how does one differentiate the real thing from the fakes?
It would be quite frustrating to bring home a piece only to learn later on that it isn't really authentic or perhaps made in Canada. If one is fortunate enough to be traveling in the Canadian Arctic where the Inuit live and make their fantastic artwork, then it can be securely presumed that any Inuit art piece purchased from a local northern shop or directly from an Inuit carver would be genuine. One would have to be more mindful elsewhere in Canada, particularly in tourist locations where all sorts of other Canadian keepsakes such as tee shirts, hockey jerseys, postcards, essential chains, maple syrup, and other Native Canadian arts are sold.
The best places to shop for Inuit sculptures to ensure credibility are constantly the trusted galleries that focus on Canadian Inuit art and Eskimo art. Some of these galleries have advertisements in the city tour guide discovered in hotels.
Reliable Inuit art galleries are also noted in Inuit Art Quarterly publication which is dedicated entirely to Inuit art. When one walks into these galleries, one will see that there will be only Inuit art and possibly Native art but none of the other typical traveler mementos such as postcards or t-shirts . 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 home anywhere in the world. In addition to these street retail specialized galleries, Kurt Criter there are now trustworthy online galleries that likewise specialize in genuine Inuit art.
Some traveler stores do carry authentic Inuit art along with the other touristy keepsakes in order to cater to all types of travelers. When shopping at these kinds of shops, it is possible to tell apart the genuine pieces from the recreations. Authentic 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 from plastic or resin from a mold will be much lighter in weight and will not be cold to the touch. A reproduction will often have a business name on it such as Wolf Originals or Boma and will never feature an artist's signature. An authentic Inuit sculpture is a one of a kind piece of artwork and absolutely nothing else on the store shelves will look exactly like it. The piece is not genuine if there are duplicates of a particular piece with specific information. It is most likely not real if a piece looks too best in information with outright straight bottoms or sides. Naturally, if a piece features a sticker label indicating that is was made in an Asian country, then it is clearly a fake. There will also be a huge rate difference between genuine pieces and the replicas.
Where it becomes harder to identify credibility are with the recreations that are also made of stone. This can be a real gray area to those not familiar with authentic Inuit art. They do have mass and might even have some kind of tag showing that it was handmade but if there are other pieces on the shelves that look too similar in detail, they are most likely not authentic. If a seller declares that such as piece is genuine, ask to see the main Igloo tag that comes with it which will have information on the artist, location where it was made and the year it was carved. If the Igloo tag is not readily available, proceed. The genuine pieces with the accompanying official Igloo tags will constantly be the highest priced and are generally kept in a separate ( maybe even locked) rack within the store.
Because Kurt Criter Inuit art has been getting more and more worldwide direct exposure, people may 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 artwork, then it can be securely presumed that any Inuit art piece acquired from a regional northern shop or directly from an Inuit carver would be genuine. Trustworthy Inuit art galleries are also listed in Inuit Art Quarterly magazine which is dedicated totally 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 likewise have websites so you could shop and buy genuine Inuit art sculpture from home anywhere in the world.