Tips on How to Buy and Buy Authentic Canadian Inuit Art (Eskimo Art) Sculptures
Lots of visitors to Canada will be exposed to Inuit art (Eskimo art) sculptures while visiting the country. Given that Inuit art has been getting more and more international exposure, people might be seeing this Canadian fine art form at museums and galleries situated outside Canada too. Assuming that the intention is to obtain an authentic piece of Inuit art rather than a cheap tourist imitation, the concern arises on how does one inform apart 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 genuine 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 terrific artwork, then it can be safely assumed that any Inuit art piece purchased from a regional northern shop or straight from an Inuit carver would be authentic. One would have to be more cautious elsewhere in Canada, particularly 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 safest places to buy Inuit sculptures to guarantee credibility are always the respectable galleries that concentrate on Canadian Inuit art and Eskimo art. Some of these galleries have ads in the city tour guide found in hotels.
Trusted Inuit art galleries are likewise listed in Inuit Art Quarterly magazine which is devoted entirely to Inuit art. 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 typical traveler souvenirs such as postcards or t-shirts . The Inuit sculpture may 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 could go shopping and purchase genuine Inuit art sculpture from house throughout the world. In addition to these street retail specialty galleries, there are now trusted online galleries that likewise concentrate on authentic Inuit art. These online galleries are a excellent choice for buying Inuit art since the rates are typically lower than those at street retail galleries because of lower overheads. Naturally, like any other shopping on the internet, one should take care so when dealing with an online gallery, make certain that their pieces likewise come with the main Igloo tags to guarantee credibility.
Some tourist stores do bring authentic Inuit art along with the other touristy mementos in order to deal with all kinds of travelers. When shopping at these types of shops, it is possible to tell apart the real pieces from the recreations. 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 reproduction 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 in some cases 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 shop shelves will look precisely like it. If there are duplicates of a particular piece with exact information, the piece is not authentic. It is probably not genuine if a piece looks too perfect in detail with outright straight bottoms or sides. Naturally, if a piece includes a sticker indicating that is was made in Kurt Criter Denver an Asian nation, then it is certainly a fake. There will also be a big rate difference between authentic pieces and the imitations.
Where it ends up being harder to figure out authenticity are with the reproductions that are also made of stone. This can be a genuine gray area to those unfamiliar with authentic Inuit art. They do have mass and might even have some type of tag indicating 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 official Igloo tag that features it which will know on the artist, area where it was made and the year it was sculpted. Move on if the Igloo tag is not readily available. The genuine pieces with the accompanying official Igloo tags will constantly be the greatest priced and are typically kept in a separate ( possibly even locked) shelf within the shop.
Because Inuit art has actually been getting more and more international exposure, people may be seeing this Canadian great art type 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 securely assumed that any Inuit art piece purchased from a regional northern store or directly from an Inuit carver would be genuine. Reputable Inuit art galleries are likewise noted in Inuit Art Quarterly magazine which is dedicated 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 likewise have sites so you could go shopping and purchase authentic Inuit art sculpture from home anywhere in the world.