Tips on How to Buy and Shop for Genuine 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 magnificent handmade sculptures sculpted from stone by the Inuit artists living in the northern Arctic areas of Canada. While in a few of the major Canadian cities (Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, Ottawa, and Quebec City) or other traveler locations popular with worldwide visitors such as Banff, Inuit sculptures will be seen at numerous retail shops and displayed at some museums. Because Inuit art has actually been getting more and more worldwide direct exposure, people may be seeing this Canadian art type at museums and galleries located outside Canada too. As a result, it will be natural for lots of tourists and art collectors to choose that they wish to acquire Inuit sculptures as great souvenirs for their homes or as extremely special presents for others. Presuming that the intention is to obtain an authentic piece of Inuit art instead of a low-cost traveler imitation, the question occurs on how does one differentiate the real thing from the fakes?

It would be pretty disappointing to bring home a piece just to learn later that it isn't genuine or perhaps made in Canada. If one is lucky enough to be traveling in the Canadian Arctic where the Inuit live and make their wonderful artwork, then it can be securely presumed that any Inuit art piece bought from a regional northern shop or straight from an Inuit carver would be authentic. One would have to be more careful elsewhere in Canada, especially in traveler areas 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 buy Inuit sculptures to make sure authenticity are always the credible galleries that specialize in Canadian Inuit art and Eskimo art. A few of these galleries have ads in the city tourist guides discovered in hotels.

Credible Inuit art galleries are likewise listed in Inuit Art Quarterly publication which is devoted entirely to Inuit art. When one strolls into these galleries, one will see that there will be only Inuit art and possibly Native art but none of the other usual traveler mementos such as tee shirts or postcards . The Inuit sculpture might be signed by the carver either in English or Inuit syllabics but not all authentic pieces are signed.

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

Some tourist shops do bring authentic Inuit art as well as the other touristy mementos in order to cater to all types of travelers. Authentic 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 absolutely nothing else on the store shelves will look exactly like it.

This can be a real gray area to those unknown with authentic Inuit art. If a seller declares that such as piece is authentic, ask to see the main Igloo tag that comes with it which will have info on the artist, location where it was browse around this site made and the year it was sculpted. The authentic pieces with the accompanying authorities Igloo tags will always be the greatest priced and are normally kept in a separate ( maybe even locked) shelf within the shop.


Considering that Inuit art has been getting more and more global exposure, individuals may be seeing this Canadian fine art form at museums and galleries situated outside Canada too. If one is lucky enough to be taking a trip in the Canadian Arctic where the Inuit live and make their wonderful artwork, then it can be securely presumed that any Inuit art piece purchased from a local northern shop or straight from an Inuit carver would be authentic. Reliable Inuit art galleries are also 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 sites so you could shop and buy authentic Inuit art sculpture from house anywhere in the world.

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