Tips on How to Buy and Look For 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. These are the spectacular handmade sculptures sculpted from stone by the Inuit artists living in the northern Arctic regions of Canada. While in some of the significant Canadian cities (Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, Ottawa, and Quebec City) or other tourist areas popular with global visitors such as Banff, Inuit sculptures will be seen at numerous retail shops and displayed at some museums. Because Inuit art has been getting increasingly more global direct exposure, individuals 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 decide that they wish to buy Inuit sculptures as nice mementos for their homes or as very unique gifts for others. Presuming that the objective is to obtain an authentic piece of Inuit art instead of a low-cost traveler imitation, the concern occurs on how does one differentiate the real thing from the phonies?

It would be quite frustrating to bring home a piece just to discover later that it isn't genuine or even made in Canada. If one is fortunate enough to be traveling in the Canadian Arctic where the Inuit live and make their terrific art work, then it can be safely presumed that any Inuit art piece bought from a local northern shop or directly from an Inuit carver would be genuine. One would need to be more cautious in other places in Canada, specifically in tourist locations where all sorts of other Canadian souvenirs such as tee shirts, hockey jerseys, postcards, essential chains, maple syrup, and other Native Canadian arts are offered.

The best places to buy Inuit sculptures to guarantee authenticity are constantly the respectable galleries that specialize in Canadian Inuit art and Eskimo art. Some of these galleries have ads in the city tour guide found in hotels.

Reputable Inuit art galleries are also listed in Inuit Art Quarterly publication which is devoted totally 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 tourist 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 websites so you could go shopping and purchase genuine Inuit art sculpture from home throughout the world. In addition to these street retail specialty galleries, there are now reliable online galleries that also specialize in authentic Inuit art. Because of lower overheads, these online galleries are a great basics alternative for buying Inuit art because the costs are generally lower than those at street retail galleries. Of course, like other shopping on the internet, one must be careful so when dealing with an online gallery, ensure that their pieces likewise feature the official Igloo tags to ensure authenticity.

Some tourist shops do bring authentic Inuit art as well as the other touristy mementos in order to cater to all types of tourists. Authentic Inuit sculpture is carved from stone and therefore ought to have some weight or mass to it. An authentic Inuit sculpture is a one of a kind piece of artwork and nothing else on the store shelves will look precisely like it.

This can be a genuine gray location to those unfamiliar with genuine Inuit art. If a seller claims that such as piece is genuine, ask to see the official Igloo tag that comes with it which will have information on the artist, area 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 normally kept in a different ( possibly even locked) rack within the shop.


Because Inuit art has actually been getting more and more global exposure, people may be seeing this Canadian fine art form at galleries and museums located outside Canada too. If one is fortunate enough to be taking a trip 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 acquired from a local northern store or directly from an Inuit carver would be genuine. Reputable Inuit art galleries are also listed in Inuit Art Quarterly magazine which is dedicated entirely to Inuit art. The Inuit sculpture might be signed by the carver either in English or Inuit syllabics however not all genuine pieces are signed. Some of these Inuit art galleries likewise have sites so you could go shopping and buy Kurt Criter genuine Inuit art sculpture from home anywhere in the world.

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