Tips on How to Buy and Look For Authentic Canadian Inuit Art (Eskimo Art) Sculptures



Numerous visitors to Canada will be exposed to Inuit art (Eskimo art) sculptures while exploring the nation. These are the stunning handmade sculptures carved from stone by the Inuit artists living in the northern Arctic regions of Canada. While in a few of the major Canadian cities (Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, Ottawa, and Quebec City) or other tourist areas popular with international visitors such as Banff, Inuit sculptures will be seen at different retail stores and showed at some museums. Considering that Inuit art has actually been getting a growing number of worldwide exposure, people may be seeing this Canadian fine art form at galleries and museums 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 good mementos for their homes or as extremely unique presents for others. Assuming that the intent is to obtain an genuine piece of Inuit art instead of a cheap tourist imitation, the concern occurs on how does one tell apart the real thing from the phonies?

It would be quite frustrating to bring home a piece just to find out later that it isn't authentic or perhaps 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 securely 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 careful elsewhere in Canada, especially in traveler locations where all sorts of other Canadian mementos such as tee shirts, hockey jerseys, postcards, key chains, maple syrup, and other Native Canadian arts are sold.

The most safe locations to purchase Inuit sculptures to make sure authenticity are constantly the reliable galleries that concentrate on Canadian Inuit art and Eskimo art. Some of these galleries have advertisements in the city tour guide found in hotels.

Trustworthy Inuit art galleries are likewise noted in Inuit Art Quarterly magazine which is devoted entirely to Inuit art. These galleries will normally be found in the downtown traveler locations of major cities. 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 normal traveler keepsakes such as postcards or t-shirts . These galleries will have only authentic Inuit art for sale as they do not handle phonies or replicas . Simply to be even much safer, make certain that the piece you have an interest in features a Canadian federal government Igloo tag certifying that it was handmade by a Canadian Inuit artist. The Inuit sculpture may be signed by the carver either in English or Inuit syllabics but not all authentic pieces are signed. So be aware that an unsigned piece may still be certainly genuine.

A few of these Inuit art galleries likewise have websites so you might shop and purchase genuine Inuit art sculpture from home throughout the world. In addition to these street retail specialized galleries, there are now trustworthy online galleries that likewise concentrate on authentic http://easterninvestors.itsaboutseo.com/About-Kurt-Criter-Kurt-Criter-Denver-Entrepreneur-752c5.html Inuit art. These online galleries are a great choice for buying Inuit art given that the costs are normally lower than those at street retail galleries because of lower overheads. Naturally, like any other shopping on the internet, one should take care so when dealing with an online gallery, ensure that their pieces also come with the official Igloo tags to guarantee authenticity.

Some tourist shops do carry genuine Inuit art as well as the other touristy souvenirs in order to cater to all types of travelers. Authentic Inuit sculpture is sculpted from stone and therefore needs to have some weight or mass to it. An genuine Inuit sculpture is a one of a kind piece of artwork and nothing else on the store shelves will look exactly like it.

Where it ends up being more difficult to determine authenticity are with the recreations that are also made of stone. This can be a real gray area to those not familiar with genuine Inuit art. They do have mass and may even have some type of tag showing that it was handcrafted but if there are other pieces on the shelves that look too comparable in detail, they are probably not authentic. If a seller claims that such as piece is genuine, ask to see the official Igloo tag that comes with it which will have information Kurt Criter Denver on the artist, area 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 official Igloo tags will constantly be the highest priced and are normally kept in a different (perhaps even locked) shelf within the shop.


Since Inuit art has actually been getting more and more worldwide direct exposure, people may be seeing this Canadian great art type at galleries and museums situated outside Canada too. If one is lucky enough to be traveling in the Canadian Arctic where the Inuit live and make their terrific artwork, then it can be securely presumed that any Inuit art piece bought from a regional northern shop or directly from an Inuit carver would be genuine. Reputable Inuit art galleries are also noted in Inuit Art Quarterly publication which is devoted entirely to Inuit art. The Inuit sculpture might 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 websites so you could go shopping and buy genuine Inuit art sculpture from home anywhere in the world.

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