Tips on How to Purchase and Look For Genuine Canadian Inuit Art (Eskimo Art) Sculptures



Many visitors to Canada will be exposed to Inuit art (Eskimo art) sculptures while touring the country. Since Inuit art has been getting more and more international direct exposure, individuals might be seeing this Canadian great art type at galleries and museums located outside Canada too. Assuming that the intent is to get an genuine piece of Inuit art rather than a cheap tourist replica, the concern occurs on how does one tell apart the genuine thing from the phonies?

It would be pretty disappointing to bring home a piece just to discover later that it isn't really genuine and even made in Canada. If one is lucky enough to be taking a trip in the Canadian Arctic where the Inuit live and make their fantastic artwork, then it can be securely presumed that any Inuit art piece purchased from a regional northern store or directly from an Inuit carver would be genuine. One would have to be more careful in other places in Canada, specifically in tourist locations where all sorts of other Canadian souvenirs 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 guarantee credibility are constantly the credible galleries that concentrate on Canadian Inuit art and Eskimo art. A few of these galleries have ads in the city tour guide discovered in hotels.

Credible Inuit art galleries are likewise noted in Inuit Art Quarterly magazine which is dedicated totally to Inuit art. When one walks into these galleries, one will see that there will be only Inuit art and perhaps Native art but none of the other usual tourist keepsakes such as postcards or tee shirts . The Inuit sculpture might be signed by the carver either in English or Inuit syllabics however not all authentic pieces are signed.

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

Some tourist stores do bring genuine 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 for that reason ought to have some weight or mass to it. An authentic Inuit sculpture is a one of a kind piece of art work and absolutely nothing else on the shop racks will look exactly like it.

Where it ends up being more difficult to identify authenticity are with the recreations that are likewise 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 kind of tag indicating that it was handcrafted but if there are other pieces on the shelves that look too similar in https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ken_Criter detail, they are most likely not authentic. If a seller claims that such as piece is genuine, 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 sculpted. Move on if the Igloo tag is not available. The authentic pieces with the accompanying official Igloo tags will constantly be the greatest priced and are normally kept in a different ( possibly even locked) rack within the shop.


Given that Inuit art has actually been getting more and more global exposure, individuals may be seeing this Canadian fine art form at museums and galleries located outside Canada too. 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 assumed that any Inuit art piece bought from a local northern shop or directly from an Inuit carver would be genuine. Reputable Inuit art galleries are likewise noted in Inuit Art Quarterly publication which is devoted 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 sites so you could shop and purchase genuine Inuit art sculpture from house anywhere in the world.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *