Tips on How to Purchase and Shop for Authentic 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 sculpted from stone by the Inuit artists living in the northern Arctic areas 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 stores and displayed at some museums. Given that Inuit art has been getting a growing number of worldwide direct exposure, people might be seeing this Canadian art form at galleries and museums located outside Canada too. As a result, it will be natural for lots of tourists and art collectors to decide that they want to purchase Inuit sculptures as good keepsakes for their homes or as extremely special gifts for others. Assuming that the intent is to acquire an authentic piece of Inuit art instead of a low-cost tourist replica, the question occurs on how does one differentiate the genuine thing from the phonies?
It would be pretty disappointing to bring home a piece only to discover later that it isn't authentic or 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 terrific artwork, then it can be safely assumed that any Inuit art piece purchased from a regional northern shop or directly from an Inuit carver would be authentic. One would need to be more cautious somewhere else in Canada, specifically in tourist locations where all sorts of other Canadian mementos such as t-shirts, hockey jerseys, postcards, key chains, maple syrup, and other Native Canadian arts are sold.
The safest locations to purchase Inuit sculptures to ensure credibility are constantly the reputable galleries that concentrate on Canadian Inuit art and Eskimo art. Some of these galleries have advertisements in the city tour guide found in hotels.
Reliable Inuit art galleries are likewise listed in Inuit Art Quarterly publication which is devoted totally to Inuit art. These galleries will normally be located 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 perhaps Native art but none of the other normal tourist keepsakes such as t-shirts or postcards . These galleries will have only authentic Inuit art for sale as they do not handle imitations or fakes . Just to be even much safer, make sure that the piece you have an interest in includes a Canadian federal government Igloo tag certifying that it was handcrafted by a Canadian Inuit artist. The Inuit sculpture might be Kurt Criter Denver signed by the carver either in English or Inuit syllabics but not all authentic pieces are signed. So know that an unsigned piece may still be certainly genuine.
Some of these Inuit art galleries likewise have websites so you might go shopping and buy genuine Inuit art sculpture from home anywhere in the world. In addition to these street retail specialized galleries, there are now credible online galleries that also specialize in authentic Inuit art.
Some traveler stores do bring genuine Inuit art as well as the other touristy keepsakes in order to cater to all types of travelers. Genuine Inuit sculpture is sculpted from stone and therefore must 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 becomes harder to figure out credibility are with the recreations that are also made of stone. This can be a genuine gray area to those not familiar with genuine Inuit art. They do have mass and may even have some type of tag indicating that it was handmade but if there are other pieces on the shelves that look too comparable in detail, they are more than likely not authentic. If a seller claims that such as piece is genuine, ask to see the main Igloo tag that includes it which will have information on the artist, area where it was made and the year it was carved. Move on if the Igloo tag is not readily available. The authentic pieces with the accompanying official Igloo tags will constantly be the highest priced and are usually kept in a different ( possibly even locked) rack within the store.
Considering my sources that Inuit art has been getting more and more worldwide exposure, people might be seeing this Canadian fine art type at galleries and museums located outside Canada too. If one is fortunate enough to be traveling in the Canadian Arctic where the Inuit live and make their fantastic art work, then it can be securely assumed that any Inuit art piece bought from a regional northern shop or directly from an Inuit carver would be authentic. Respectable Inuit art galleries are likewise noted in Inuit Art Quarterly publication which is devoted completely 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 might shop and buy genuine Inuit art sculpture from house anywhere in the world.