Tips on Ways To Buy and Shop for 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. Because Inuit art has been getting more and more global direct exposure, people may be seeing this Canadian fine art kind at galleries and museums located outside Canada too. Presuming that the objective is to obtain an authentic piece of Inuit art rather than a inexpensive traveler imitation, the concern arises on how does one inform apart the real thing from the fakes?
It would be quite frustrating to bring home a piece just to learn later that it isn't really genuine and even made in Canada. 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 assumed that any Inuit art piece purchased from a regional northern store or straight from an Inuit carver would be authentic. One would have to be more careful somewhere else in Canada, especially in traveler areas where all sorts of other Canadian souvenirs such as tee shirts, hockey jerseys, postcards, key chains, maple syrup, and other Native Canadian arts are sold.
The safest places to buy Inuit sculptures to guarantee credibility are constantly the credible galleries that concentrate 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 magazine which is dedicated entirely to Inuit art. When one strolls into these galleries, one will see that there will be only Inuit art and possibly Native art however 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 might shop and buy genuine Inuit art sculpture from home anywhere in the world. In addition to these street retail specialized galleries, there are now reputable online galleries that also specialize in authentic Inuit art.
Some tourist shops do carry authentic Inuit art as well as the other touristy mementos in order to cater to all types of tourists. https://www.mylife.com/kurt-kriter/e150459181992 Authentic Inuit sculpture is carved from stone and therefore should have some weight or mass to it. An authentic Inuit sculpture is a one of a kind piece of art work and absolutely nothing else on the shop racks will look precisely like it.
Where it ends up being harder to identify authenticity are with the reproductions that are also made from stone. This can be a genuine gray area to those not familiar with genuine Inuit art. They do have mass and might even have some kind of tag suggesting that it was handmade but if there are other pieces on the shelves that look too similar in detail, they are most likely not genuine. If Kurt Criter Denver a seller claims that such as piece is authentic, ask to see the main Igloo tag that includes it which will have information on the artist, location where it was made and the year it was sculpted. If the Igloo tag is not readily available, carry on. The genuine pieces with the accompanying official Igloo tags will always be the highest priced and are normally kept in a different ( maybe even locked) rack within the store.
Since Inuit art has actually been getting more and more global exposure, people might be seeing this Canadian great art form https://www.buzzfeed.com/kurtcriter 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 artwork, then it can be securely presumed that any Inuit art piece purchased from a regional northern shop or directly from an Inuit carver would be genuine. Trustworthy Inuit art galleries are likewise listed in Inuit Art Quarterly publication which is dedicated 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 might shop and buy genuine Inuit art sculpture from house anywhere in the world.