Tips on The Best Ways To Buy and Shop for Genuine 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 splendid handmade sculptures sculpted from stone by the Inuit artists living in the northern Arctic regions of Canada. While in some of the major 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 different retail shops and displayed at some museums. Given that Inuit art has been getting more and more international exposure, people may be seeing this Canadian art type at museums and galleries situated outside Canada too. As a result, it will be natural for lots of tourists and art collectors to decide that they wish to purchase Inuit sculptures as great keepsakes for their houses or as very unique presents for others. Presuming that the intention is to get an genuine piece of Inuit art instead of a cheap tourist imitation, the question arises on how does one tell apart the genuine thing from the fakes?

It would be pretty frustrating to bring home a piece just to discover later that it isn't authentic or perhaps made in Canada. If one is lucky enough to be taking a trip in the Canadian Arctic where the Inuit live and make their terrific art work, then it can be safely presumed that any Inuit art piece bought from a regional northern shop or straight from an Inuit carver would be genuine. One would need to be more mindful elsewhere in Canada, specifically in traveler areas where all sorts of other Canadian keepsakes such as t-shirts, hockey jerseys, postcards, key chains, maple syrup, and other Native Canadian arts are offered.

The most safe locations to buy Inuit sculptures to ensure authenticity are constantly the respectable galleries that specialize in Canadian Inuit art and Eskimo art. A few of these galleries have advertisements in the city tourist guides discovered in hotels.

Reliable Inuit art galleries are also noted in Inuit Art Quarterly publication which is devoted totally to Inuit art. When one walks into these galleries, one will see that there will be only Inuit art and perhaps Native art however none of the other typical traveler mementos such as postcards or tee 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 websites so you could go shopping and purchase genuine Inuit art sculpture from house anywhere in the world. In addition to these street retail specialty galleries, there are now trusted online galleries that likewise specialize in genuine Inuit art.

Some tourist shops do carry authentic Inuit art as well as the other touristy souvenirs in order to cater to all types of tourists. Authentic Inuit sculpture is sculpted from stone and for that reason should have some weight or mass to it. An genuine Inuit sculpture is a one of a kind piece of art work and absolutely nothing else on the shop shelves will look exactly like it.

Where it ends up being more difficult to identify authenticity important source 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 type of tag indicating 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 a seller declares that such as piece is genuine, ask to see the main Igloo tag that includes it which will have information on the artist, place where it was made and the year it was carved. Move on if the Igloo tag is not offered. The authentic pieces with the accompanying authorities Igloo tags will constantly be the greatest priced and are usually kept in a separate (perhaps even locked) rack within the shop.


Since Inuit art has actually been getting more and more international direct exposure, people might be seeing this Canadian fine art form 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 acquired from a regional northern store or directly from an Inuit carver would be authentic. Credible Inuit art galleries are also listed 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 however not all genuine pieces are signed. Some of these Inuit art galleries likewise have websites so you could go shopping and purchase authentic Inuit art sculpture from home anywhere in the world.

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