Tips on How to Purchase and Purchase Authentic Canadian Inuit Art (Eskimo Art) Sculptures



Many visitors to Canada will be exposed to Inuit art (Eskimo art) sculptures while touring the country. These are the magnificent handmade sculptures sculpted from stone by the Inuit artists living in the northern Arctic regions of Canada. While in some of the significant Canadian cities (Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, Ottawa, and Quebec City) or other traveler locations popular with international visitors such as Banff, Inuit sculptures will be seen at numerous retail stores and displayed at some museums. Because Inuit art has been getting increasingly more international exposure, individuals might be seeing this Canadian art type at galleries and museums located outside Canada too. As a result, it will be natural for many tourists and art collectors to choose that they want to acquire Inuit sculptures as good mementos for their houses or as extremely unique gifts for others. Assuming that the objective is to acquire an genuine piece of Inuit art rather than a cheap tourist replica, the question arises on how does one differentiate the genuine thing from the phonies?

It would be quite disappointing to bring home a piece just to discover later on that it isn't authentic or even made in Canada. If one is fortunate enough to be traveling in the Canadian Arctic where the Inuit live and make their terrific artwork, then it can be securely assumed that any Inuit art piece purchased from a local northern shop or directly from an Inuit carver would be genuine. One would have to be more cautious somewhere else in Canada, especially in tourist areas where all sorts of other Canadian keepsakes such as tee shirts, hockey jerseys, postcards, key chains, maple syrup, and other Native Canadian arts are sold.

The most safe places to purchase Inuit sculptures to make sure credibility are always the credible galleries that focus on Canadian Inuit art and Eskimo art. Some of these galleries have ads in the city tour guide discovered in hotels.

Respectable Inuit art galleries are likewise listed in Inuit Art Quarterly magazine which adheres totally to Inuit art. These galleries will usually be located in the downtown traveler areas of significant cities. When one strolls into these galleries, one will see that there will be just Inuit art and perhaps Native art however none of the other normal tourist souvenirs such as postcards or tee shirts . These galleries will have just authentic Inuit art for sale as they do not deal with imitations or fakes . Just to be even safer, make sure that the piece you have an interest in features a Canadian federal government Igloo tag licensing that it was handmade by a Canadian Inuit artist. The Inuit sculpture may be signed by the carver either in English or Inuit syllabics however not all genuine pieces are signed. So understand that an unsigned piece may still be look at this now undoubtedly authentic.

Some of these Inuit art galleries also have websites so you might go shopping and purchase authentic Inuit art sculpture from home anywhere in the world. In addition to these street retail specialized galleries, there are now reputable online galleries that likewise specialize in genuine Inuit art.

Some traveler shops do carry 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 should 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 precisely 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 might even have some kind of tag suggesting that it was handmade 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 authentic, ask to see the main Igloo tag that features it which will have information on the artist, place where it was made and the year it was carved. If the Igloo tag is not available, carry on. The authentic pieces with the accompanying official Igloo tags will constantly be the highest priced and are generally kept in a Kurt Criter Denver separate ( maybe even locked) rack within the shop.


Since Inuit art has been getting more and more international exposure, people might be seeing this Canadian great art type at museums and galleries located outside Canada too. If one is fortunate 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 purchased from a regional northern store or straight from an Inuit carver would be authentic. Reputable Inuit art galleries are likewise listed in Inuit Art Quarterly publication which is dedicated completely to Inuit art. 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 authentic Inuit art sculpture from home anywhere in the world.

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