Tips on Ways 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 exploring the country. These are the magnificent handmade sculptures carved 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 traveler areas popular with international visitors such as Banff, Inuit sculptures will be seen at various retail stores and showed at some museums. Considering that Inuit art has actually been getting increasingly more international exposure, individuals may be seeing this Canadian fine art form at galleries and museums situated outside Canada too. As a result, it will be natural for many tourists and art collectors to choose that they would like to acquire Inuit sculptures as good keepsakes for their houses or as really distinct gifts for others. Presuming that the intention is to acquire an genuine piece of Inuit art rather than a inexpensive traveler replica, the question arises on how does one differentiate the genuine thing from the fakes?

It would be pretty frustrating to bring home a piece only to find out later on that it isn't authentic or even made in Canada. If one is fortunate enough to be traveling in the Canadian Arctic where the Inuit live and make their wonderful art work, then it can be safely assumed that any Inuit art piece bought from a regional northern store or straight from an Inuit carver would be genuine. One would have to be more cautious in other places in Canada, specifically in tourist areas where all sorts of other Canadian keepsakes such as tee shirts, hockey jerseys, postcards, key chains, maple syrup, and other Native Canadian arts are sold.

The safest locations to shop for Inuit sculptures to make sure credibility are constantly the reliable galleries that focus on Canadian Inuit art and Eskimo art. Some of these galleries have ads in the city tour guide discovered in hotels.

Credible Inuit art galleries are also listed in Inuit Art Quarterly publication which is devoted totally to Inuit art. When one strolls into these galleries, one will see that there will be only Inuit art and maybe Native art but none of the other usual tourist souvenirs such as t-shirts or postcards . 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 also have sites so you could shop and buy 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 focus on genuine Inuit art. Due to the fact that of lower overheads, these online galleries are a great choice for buying Inuit art because the costs are normally lower than those at street retail galleries. Obviously, like any other shopping on the internet, one must beware so when handling an online gallery, ensure that their pieces also feature the main Igloo tags to make sure credibility.

Some traveler shops do bring genuine Inuit art in addition to the other touristy keepsakes in order to accommodate all kinds of travelers. When shopping at these types of shops, it is possible to differentiate the genuine pieces from the reproductions. Authentic Inuit sculpture is sculpted from stone and therefore must have some weight or mass to it. Stone is also cold to the touch. A recreation made of plastic or resin from a mold will be much lighter in weight and will not be cold to the touch. A reproduction will sometimes have a company name on it such as Wolf Originals or Boma and will never include an artist's signature. An authentic Inuit sculpture is a one of a kind piece of art work and absolutely nothing else on the store shelves will look precisely like it. If there are duplicates of a certain piece with exact information, the piece is not authentic. It is most likely not genuine if a piece looks too perfect in detail with outright straight bottoms or sides. Naturally, if a piece features a sticker label indicating that is was made in an Asian nation, then it is obviously a phony. There will also be a big rate distinction between genuine pieces and the replicas.

This can be a genuine gray location to those unfamiliar with authentic Inuit art. If a seller claims that such as piece is authentic, ask to see the official 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 authorities Igloo tags will constantly be the highest priced and are typically kept in a different (perhaps even locked) rack within the shop.


Because Inuit art has been getting more and more worldwide direct exposure, people might be seeing this Canadian great art type at galleries and museums located outside Canada too. 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 presumed that any Inuit art piece purchased from a local northern store or straight from an Inuit carver would be authentic. Credible Inuit art galleries are likewise noted in Inuit Art Quarterly publication which is devoted totally to Inuit art. The Inuit sculpture might be signed by the carver either in English or Inuit syllabics but not all authentic Kurt Criter Denver pieces are signed. Some of these Inuit art galleries also have sites so you could shop and purchase genuine Inuit art sculpture from home anywhere in the world.

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