Tips on How to Purchase 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 spectacular handmade sculptures carved from stone by the Inuit artists living in the northern Arctic areas of Canada. While in some of the significant Canadian cities (Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, Ottawa, and Quebec City) or other traveler locations popular with worldwide visitors such as Banff, Inuit sculptures will be seen at various retail stores and showed at some museums. Considering that Inuit art has been getting more and more international direct exposure, people might be seeing this Canadian art type at museums and galleries located outside Canada too. As a result, it will be natural for many tourists and art collectors to decide that they would like to buy Inuit sculptures as nice mementos for their houses or as very special gifts for others. Assuming that the intention is to obtain an authentic piece of Inuit art rather than a low-cost traveler imitation, the question occurs on how does one differentiate the real thing from the fakes?

It would be quite disappointing to bring home a piece only to learn later that it isn't genuine or perhaps 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 presumed that any Inuit art piece bought from a regional northern store or straight from an Inuit carver would be authentic. One would have to be more mindful elsewhere in Canada, particularly in tourist areas where all sorts of other Canadian mementos such as t-shirts, hockey jerseys, postcards, key chains, maple syrup, and other Native Canadian arts are offered.

The safest locations to buy Inuit sculptures to guarantee authenticity are constantly the respectable galleries that focus on Canadian Inuit art and Eskimo art. A few of these galleries have advertisements in the city tourist guides found in hotels.

Trustworthy Inuit art galleries are likewise listed in Inuit Art Quarterly magazine which adheres entirely to Inuit art. These galleries will generally be found in the downtown tourist locations of major cities. When one strolls into these pop over to this site galleries, one will see that there will be only Inuit art and possibly Native art however none of the other typical traveler souvenirs such as t-shirts or postcards . These galleries will have just authentic Inuit art for sale as they do not deal with phonies or imitations . Simply to be even much safer, make sure that the piece you are interested in features a Canadian government Igloo tag certifying that it was handcrafted by a Canadian Inuit artist. The Inuit sculpture might be signed by the carver either in English or Inuit syllabics but not all genuine pieces are signed. Be aware that an unsigned piece may still be undoubtedly authentic.

A few of these Inuit art galleries likewise have websites so you might shop and purchase authentic Inuit art sculpture from house anywhere in the world. In addition to these street retail specialized galleries, there are now reputable online galleries that likewise concentrate on genuine Inuit art. These online galleries are a great choice for purchasing Inuit art since the costs are normally lower than those at street retail galleries because of lower overheads. Naturally, like any other shopping on the internet, one need to be careful so when dealing with an online gallery, ensure that their pieces also include the main Igloo tags to ensure credibility.

Some tourist stores do bring authentic Kurt Criter Denver 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 for that reason needs to have some weight or mass to it. official website An genuine Inuit sculpture is a one of a kind piece of art work and nothing else on the store shelves will look precisely like it.

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 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 always be the highest priced and are generally kept in a separate (perhaps even locked) shelf within the shop.


Since Inuit art has actually been getting more and more international direct exposure, people might be seeing this Canadian fine art type 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 artwork, then it can be securely presumed that any Inuit art piece purchased from a local northern shop or straight from an Inuit carver would be genuine. Reputable Inuit art galleries are also noted in Inuit Art Quarterly magazine which is devoted completely 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 also have sites so you could go shopping and buy authentic Inuit art sculpture from home anywhere in the world.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *