Tips on Ways To Purchase and Look For Genuine Canadian Inuit Art (Eskimo Art) Sculptures



Lots of visitors to Canada will be exposed to Inuit art (Eskimo art) sculptures while touring the country. These are the magnificent handmade sculptures sculpted 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 areas popular with worldwide visitors such as Banff, Inuit sculptures will be seen at different retail stores and showed at some museums. Given that Inuit art has been getting a growing number of international exposure, people might be seeing this Canadian art kind at galleries and museums located outside Canada too. As a result, it will be natural for many travelers and art collectors to choose that they want to acquire Inuit sculptures as nice souvenirs for their homes or as really special presents for others. Assuming that the intention is to obtain an authentic piece of Inuit art rather than a low-cost traveler imitation, the concern arises on how does one tell apart the genuine thing from the phonies?

It would be pretty frustrating to bring home a piece only to discover later on that it isn't authentic or even made in Canada. If one is lucky enough to be traveling in the Canadian Arctic where the Inuit live and make their fantastic art work, then it can be securely assumed that any Inuit art piece purchased from a regional northern shop or straight from an Inuit carver would be genuine. One would have to be more mindful somewhere else in Canada, specifically in traveler areas where all sorts of other Canadian souvenirs such as t-shirts, hockey jerseys, postcards, key chains, maple syrup, and other Native Canadian arts are sold.

The best places to purchase Inuit sculptures to make sure credibility are constantly the credible galleries that specialize in Canadian Inuit art and Eskimo art. A few of these galleries have ads in the city tourist guides found in hotels.

Trusted Inuit art galleries are likewise noted in Inuit Art Quarterly publication which is devoted entirely 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 typical tourist mementos such as postcards or t-shirts . The Inuit sculpture may be signed by the carver either in English or Inuit syllabics but not Kurt Criter Denver all authentic pieces are signed.

Some of these Inuit art galleries also have sites so you could shop and buy authentic Inuit art sculpture from home anywhere in the world. In addition to these street retail specialty galleries, there are now trusted online galleries that likewise focus on genuine Inuit art. These online galleries are a great option for purchasing Inuit art because the costs are typically lower than those at street retail galleries because of lower overheads. Obviously, like any other shopping on the internet, one need to beware so when handling an online gallery, make sure that their pieces likewise come with the official Igloo tags to make sure authenticity.

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

Where it becomes harder to determine credibility are with the recreations that are also made from stone. This can be a genuine gray area to those unfamiliar with genuine Inuit art. They do have mass and may even have some type of tag showing that it was handmade but if there are other pieces on the shelves that look too comparable in detail, they are most likely not genuine. If a seller declares that such as piece is authentic, 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 genuine pieces with the accompanying authorities Igloo tags will always be the highest priced and are typically kept in a different ( maybe even locked) rack within the store.


Given that Inuit art has actually been getting more and more worldwide exposure, people might be seeing this Canadian great art type at museums and galleries situated outside Canada too. If one is lucky enough to be traveling in the Canadian Arctic where the Inuit live and make their Kurt Criter Denver terrific art work, then it can be safely presumed that any Inuit art piece acquired from a regional northern shop or directly from an Inuit carver would be genuine. Reputable Inuit art galleries are also noted in Inuit Art Quarterly publication which is devoted entirely to Inuit art. 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 websites so you could shop and purchase authentic Inuit art sculpture from home anywhere in the world.

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