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



Many visitors to Canada will be exposed to Inuit art (Eskimo art) sculptures while visiting the country. These are the splendid handmade sculptures carved 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 tourist areas popular with global visitors such as Banff, Inuit sculptures will be seen at various retail shops and displayed at some museums. Since Inuit art has been getting a growing number of international exposure, individuals might be seeing this Canadian fine art type at galleries and museums situated outside Canada too. As a result, it will be natural for lots of tourists and art collectors to decide that they want to purchase Inuit sculptures as nice mementos for their houses or as really special gifts for others. Assuming that the intent is to obtain an genuine piece of Inuit art instead of a low-cost traveler imitation, the question develops on how does one differentiate the genuine thing from the phonies?

It would be quite frustrating to bring home a piece only to discover later 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 fantastic artwork, then it can be safely presumed that any Inuit art piece bought from a local northern store or directly from an Inuit carver would be genuine. One would have to be more careful elsewhere in Canada, especially in tourist 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 offered.

The best places to look for Inuit sculptures to ensure credibility are always the trusted galleries that focus on Canadian Inuit art and Eskimo art. Some of these galleries have ads in the city tourist guides discovered in hotels.

Reputable Inuit art galleries are likewise listed in Inuit Art Quarterly publication which is devoted entirely to Inuit art. These galleries will generally be located in the downtown traveler areas of significant cities. 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 visite site tourist keepsakes such as t-shirts or postcards . These galleries will have only genuine Inuit art for sale as they do not deal with replicas or fakes . Simply to be even much safer, make certain that the piece you are interested in features a Canadian government Igloo tag accrediting that it was handcrafted by a Canadian Inuit artist. The Inuit sculpture may be signed by the carver either in English or Inuit syllabics however not all authentic pieces are signed. So understand that an anonymous piece may still be indeed authentic.

Some of these Inuit art galleries also have sites so you might go shopping and purchase genuine 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 concentrate on genuine Inuit art. Since of lower overheads, these online galleries are a great choice for purchasing Inuit art given that the rates are normally lower than those at street retail galleries. Obviously, like other shopping on the internet, one should be careful so when dealing with an online gallery, make sure that their pieces likewise feature the official Igloo tags to ensure authenticity.

Some traveler shops do carry genuine Inuit art as well as the other touristy souvenirs in order to cater to all types of tourists. Authentic Inuit sculpture is sculpted from stone and therefore must 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 store racks will look precisely like it.

Where it ends up being sites more difficult to identify authenticity are with the recreations that are likewise made from stone. This can be a real gray area to those not familiar with genuine Inuit art. They do have mass and might even have some type of tag indicating that it was handmade but if there are other pieces on the shelves that look too similar in detail, they are more than likely not genuine. If a seller declares that such as piece is genuine, ask to see the main Igloo tag that features it which will know on the artist, place where it was made and the year it was sculpted. Move on if the Igloo tag is not available. The authentic pieces with the accompanying official Igloo tags will always be the highest priced and are usually kept in a separate (perhaps even locked) rack within the shop.


Because Inuit art has been getting more and more worldwide exposure, individuals might be seeing this Canadian fine art form 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 terrific art work, then it can be safely presumed that any Inuit art piece bought from a local northern store or directly from an Inuit carver would be authentic. Reliable Inuit art galleries are also noted in Inuit Art Quarterly publication which is devoted totally to Inuit art. The Inuit sculpture may be signed by the carver either in English or Inuit syllabics however not all authentic pieces are signed. Some of these Inuit art galleries likewise have sites so you could go shopping and buy genuine Inuit art sculpture from house anywhere in the world.

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