Tips on How to Buy and Buy 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 spectacular handmade sculptures carved from stone by the Inuit artists living in the northern Arctic regions of Canada. While in a few of the significant Canadian cities (Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, Ottawa, and Quebec City) or other tourist areas popular with global visitors such as Banff, Inuit sculptures will be seen at different retail stores and showed at some museums. Since Inuit art has actually been getting increasingly more international exposure, individuals may be seeing this Canadian fine art type at galleries and museums situated outside Canada too. As a result, it will be natural for numerous travelers and art collectors to choose that they want to purchase Inuit sculptures as nice keepsakes for their houses or as really special presents for others. Presuming that the objective is to get an genuine piece of Inuit art instead of a cheap tourist imitation, the concern occurs on how does one tell apart the real thing from the fakes?

It would be pretty disappointing to bring home a piece only to find out later that it isn't authentic and even made in Canada. If one is fortunate enough to be traveling in the Canadian Arctic where the Inuit live and make their fantastic artwork, then it can be safely presumed that any Inuit art piece purchased from a local northern store or straight from an Inuit carver would be genuine. One would need to be more mindful elsewhere in Canada, especially in traveler 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 most safe places to look for Inuit sculptures to make sure credibility are always the reliable galleries that focus 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 also noted in Inuit Art Quarterly publication which is devoted entirely to Inuit art. These galleries will generally be found in the downtown tourist locations of major cities. When one strolls into these galleries, one will see that there will be only Inuit art and perhaps Native art however none of the other usual tourist mementos such as postcards or tee shirts . These galleries will have only authentic Inuit art for sale as they do not deal with phonies or imitations . Simply to be even more secure, make certain that the piece you have an interest in includes a Canadian government Igloo tag certifying that it was handcrafted by a Canadian Inuit artist. The Inuit sculpture might be signed by the carver either in English or Inuit syllabics however not all authentic pieces are signed. Be aware that an anonymous piece may still be undoubtedly genuine.

Some of these Inuit art galleries likewise have websites so you might go shopping and buy authentic Inuit art sculpture from house anywhere in the world. In addition to these street retail specialized galleries, there are now trustworthy online galleries that likewise focus on authentic Inuit art. These online galleries are a great choice for purchasing Inuit art given that the costs are usually lower than those at street retail galleries because of lower overheads. Naturally, like any other shopping on the internet, one need to beware so when handling an online gallery, make sure that their pieces likewise come with the official Igloo tags to guarantee credibility.

Some traveler shops do carry genuine Inuit art as well as the other touristy mementos in order to cater to all types of tourists. Authentic Inuit visit sculpture is sculpted from stone and for that reason must have some weight or mass to it. An authentic Inuit sculpture is a one of a kind piece of art work and nothing else on the shop shelves will look precisely like it.

Where it ends up being harder to figure out credibility are with the recreations that are also made from stone. This can be a real gray area to those unfamiliar with authentic Inuit art. They do have mass and may even have some kind of tag showing that it was handcrafted however if there are other pieces on the shelves that look too comparable in detail, they are most likely not genuine. If a seller claims that such as piece is genuine, ask to see the main Igloo tag that comes with it which will know on the artist, location 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 typically kept in a separate ( maybe even locked) shelf within the store.


Because Inuit art has actually been getting more and more worldwide direct exposure, people might be Kurt Criter seeing this Canadian fine art form at galleries and museums situated outside Canada too. If one is fortunate enough to be taking a trip in the Canadian Arctic where the Inuit live and make their wonderful artwork, then it can be safely assumed that any Inuit art piece acquired from a regional northern store or straight from an Inuit carver would be authentic. Trustworthy Inuit art galleries are likewise noted in Inuit Art Quarterly publication which is dedicated totally to Inuit art. The Inuit sculpture may be signed by the carver either in English or Inuit syllabics but not all authentic pieces are signed. Some of these Inuit art galleries also have websites so you might shop and buy genuine Inuit art sculpture from house anywhere in the world.

Leave a Reply

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