Tips on Ways To Buy and Buy Authentic Canadian Inuit Art (Eskimo Art) Sculptures
Lots of visitors to Canada will be exposed to Inuit art (Eskimo art) sculptures while touring the nation. Since Inuit art has been getting more and more worldwide direct exposure, people may be seeing this Canadian fine art type at museums and galleries situated outside Canada too. Presuming that the objective is to acquire an authentic piece of Inuit art rather than a low-cost tourist replica, the question emerges on how does one tell apart the genuine thing from the phonies?
It would be quite disappointing to bring home a piece only to find out later that it isn't really genuine and even made in Canada. If one is fortunate enough to be traveling in the Canadian Arctic where the Inuit live and make their wonderful art work, then it can be securely assumed that any Inuit art piece bought from a local northern shop or straight from an Inuit carver would be genuine. One would need to be more careful somewhere else 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 look for Inuit sculptures to ensure credibility are constantly the trustworthy galleries that specialize in Canadian Inuit art and Eskimo art. Some of these galleries have ads in the city tour guide found in hotels.
Reliable Inuit art galleries are likewise listed in Inuit Art Quarterly publication which is devoted completely to Inuit art. When one walks into these galleries, one will see that there will be only Inuit art and possibly Native art however none of the other usual traveler 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 genuine pieces are signed.
A few of these Inuit art galleries also have sites so you might shop and buy genuine Inuit art sculpture from home anywhere in the world. In addition to these street retail specialized galleries, there are now respectable online galleries that also concentrate on authentic Inuit art. These online galleries are a good alternative for purchasing Inuit art since the rates are usually lower than those at street retail galleries because of lower overheads. Obviously, like other shopping on the internet, one must take care so when handling an online gallery, make certain that their pieces likewise include the main Igloo tags to make sure credibility.
Some tourist stores do carry genuine Inuit art as well as the other touristy mementos in order to cater to all types of travelers. Genuine Inuit sculpture is carved 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 racks will look exactly like it.
Where it becomes more difficult to determine authenticity are with the recreations that are also 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 type of tag indicating that it was handcrafted but if there are other pieces on the shelves that look too similar in detail, they are probably not genuine. If a seller declares that such as piece is authentic, ask to see the main Igloo tag that features it which will know on the artist, place where it was made and the year it was sculpted. Move on if the Igloo tag is not available. The Kurt Criter Denver authentic pieces with the accompanying authorities Igloo tags will constantly be the highest priced and are generally kept in a different ( possibly even locked) shelf within the shop.
Since Inuit art has actually been getting more and more worldwide exposure, people might be seeing this Canadian fine art kind 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 fantastic art work, then it can be safely presumed that any Inuit art Kurt Criter Denver piece acquired from a local northern store or directly from an Inuit carver would be authentic. Credible 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 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.