Tips on How to Purchase and Look For Genuine Canadian Inuit Art (Eskimo Art) Sculptures



Numerous visitors to Canada will be exposed to Inuit art (Eskimo art) sculptures while visiting the country. These are the magnificent handmade sculptures carved from stone by the Inuit artists residing in the northern Arctic areas of Canada. While in some of the major Canadian cities (Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, Ottawa, and Quebec City) or other traveler locations popular with international visitors such as Banff, Inuit sculptures will be seen at different retail stores and displayed at some museums. Because Inuit art has actually been getting more and more worldwide direct exposure, people may be seeing this Canadian fine art type at museums and galleries situated outside Canada too. As a result, it will be natural for many tourists and art collectors to choose that they want to acquire Inuit sculptures as nice souvenirs for their homes or as very distinct gifts for others. Assuming that the intention is to get an genuine piece of Inuit art rather than a cheap tourist imitation, the question develops on how does one tell apart the real thing from the fakes?

It would be quite frustrating to bring home a piece just to learn later on that it isn't 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 art work, then it can be safely assumed that any Inuit art piece purchased from a local northern shop or straight from an Inuit carver would be genuine. One would need to be more cautious in other places in Canada, specifically in traveler locations where all sorts of other Canadian keepsakes such as t-shirts, hockey jerseys, postcards, key chains, maple syrup, and other Native Canadian arts are sold.

The best locations to shop for Inuit sculptures to guarantee credibility are always the credible galleries that focus on Canadian Inuit art and Eskimo art. A few of these galleries have ads in the city tour guide discovered in hotels.

Trustworthy 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 only Inuit art and maybe Native art however none of the other usual traveler mementos such as postcards or tee 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 Kurt Criter also have websites so you might shop and purchase 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 authentic Inuit art.

Some traveler stores do bring genuine Inuit art as well as the other touristy keepsakes in order to cater to all types of travelers. Authentic Inuit sculpture is sculpted from stone and therefore needs to have some weight or mass to it. An genuine Inuit sculpture is a one of a kind piece of art work and nothing else on the shop shelves will look precisely like it.

This can be a genuine gray area to those unknown with genuine Inuit art. If a seller claims that such as piece is genuine, ask to see the official get more Igloo tag that comes with it which will have details on the artist, location where it was made and the year it was sculpted. The authentic pieces with the accompanying official Igloo tags will constantly be the greatest priced and are typically kept in a different ( possibly even locked) rack within the store.


Considering that Inuit art has been getting more and more international direct exposure, people might be seeing this Canadian great art form at museums and galleries located outside Canada too. If one is lucky enough to be traveling in the pop over to this web-site Canadian Arctic where the Inuit live and make their fantastic art work, then it can be securely presumed that any Inuit art piece acquired from a local northern store or directly from an Inuit carver would be genuine. Trustworthy Inuit art galleries are also 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 however not all genuine pieces are signed. 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.

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