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



Lots of visitors to Canada will be exposed to Inuit art (Eskimo art) sculptures while exploring the country. These are the spectacular 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 locations popular with global visitors such as Banff, Inuit sculptures will be seen at numerous retail stores and showed at some museums. Considering that Inuit art has been getting increasingly more worldwide direct exposure, individuals might be seeing this Canadian fine art form at galleries and museums located outside Canada too. As a result, it will be natural for numerous travelers and art collectors to choose that they wish to purchase Inuit sculptures as great keepsakes for their homes or as extremely unique presents for others. Assuming that the objective is to get an authentic piece of Inuit art rather than a cheap traveler replica, the concern develops on how does one tell apart the genuine thing from the fakes?

It would be pretty disappointing to bring home a piece only to find out later on 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 wonderful artwork, 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. One would have to be more careful elsewhere in Canada, particularly in tourist areas where all sorts of other Canadian souvenirs such as tee shirts, hockey jerseys, postcards, crucial chains, maple syrup, and other Native Canadian arts are sold.

The safest locations to purchase Inuit sculptures to make sure credibility are constantly the respectable galleries that concentrate on Canadian Inuit art and Eskimo art. Some of these galleries have ads in the city tour guide found in hotels.

Trustworthy Inuit art galleries are also noted in Inuit Art Quarterly magazine which is devoted entirely to Inuit art. When one strolls into these galleries, one will see that there will be only Inuit art and possibly Native art but none of the other typical traveler keepsakes such as postcards or t-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 likewise have sites so you could shop and buy genuine Inuit art sculpture from home anywhere in the world. In addition to these street retail specialized galleries, there are now trusted online galleries that also specialize in authentic Inuit art.

Some tourist stores do bring authentic Inuit art as well as the other touristy mementos in order to cater to all types of tourists. Genuine Inuit sculpture is sculpted from stone and for that reason 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 shop racks will look exactly like it.

Where it ends up being harder to determine credibility are with the reproductions that are also made from stone. This can be a real gray area to those not familiar with authentic Inuit art. They do have mass and may even have some kind of tag indicating that click for more it was handmade however if there are other pieces on Kurt Criter the shelves that look too similar in detail, they are most likely not genuine. If a seller declares that such as piece is genuine, 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 available. The genuine pieces with the accompanying authorities Igloo tags will always be the greatest priced and are typically kept in a different ( possibly even locked) shelf within the shop.


Because Inuit art has actually been getting more and more global direct exposure, people might be seeing this Canadian fine art form at museums and galleries located outside Canada too. If one is lucky enough to be taking a trip in the Canadian Arctic where the Inuit live and make their wonderful art work, then it can be securely presumed that any Inuit art piece bought from a regional northern store or straight from an Inuit carver would be genuine. Reputable Inuit art galleries are also noted in Inuit Art Quarterly magazine which is devoted totally to Inuit art. 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 also have sites so you might shop and purchase authentic Inuit art sculpture from home anywhere in the world.

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