Tips on The Best Ways To Purchase and Shop for Authentic 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 carved 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 tourist areas popular with worldwide visitors such as Banff, Inuit sculptures will be seen at different retail shops and showed at some museums. Given that Inuit art has actually been getting increasingly more worldwide direct exposure, people may be seeing this Canadian fine art type at museums and galleries situated outside Canada too. As a result, it will be natural for many travelers and art collectors to decide that they wish to purchase Inuit sculptures as nice souvenirs for their homes or as really distinct presents for others. Assuming that the objective is to get an genuine piece of Inuit art instead of a cheap traveler replica, the question arises on how does one tell apart the real thing from the phonies?

It would be quite frustrating to bring home a piece only to discover later that it isn't really authentic or perhaps 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 bought from a regional northern shop or straight from an Inuit carver would be genuine. One would have to be more careful in other places in Canada, particularly in traveler locations where all sorts of other Canadian souvenirs such as t-shirts, hockey jerseys, postcards, essential chains, maple syrup, and other Native Canadian arts are sold.

The safest places to look for Inuit sculptures to ensure authenticity are constantly the respectable galleries that concentrate on Canadian Inuit art and Eskimo art. A few of these galleries have advertisements in the city tour guide discovered in hotels.

Reliable Inuit art galleries are likewise listed in Inuit Art Quarterly magazine which is devoted completely to Inuit art. These galleries will generally be located in the downtown tourist areas of major cities. When one strolls into these galleries, one will see that there will be just Inuit check that art and possibly Native art however none of the other normal tourist keepsakes such as tee shirts or postcards . These galleries will have only genuine Inuit art for sale as they do not deal with phonies or replicas . Just to be even safer, make certain that the piece you are interested in features a Canadian government Igloo tag licensing that it was handmade by a Canadian Inuit artist. The Inuit sculpture might be http://journals.oregondigital.org/index.php/OURJ/user/viewPublicProfile/5504 signed by the carver either in English or Inuit syllabics however not all authentic pieces are signed. Be mindful that an anonymous piece may still be indeed authentic.

Some of these Inuit art galleries also have sites so you might go shopping and buy genuine Inuit art sculpture from house anywhere in the world. In addition to these street retail specialty galleries, there are now trusted online galleries that likewise specialize in genuine Inuit art.

Some traveler shops do bring genuine Inuit art as well as the other touristy souvenirs in order to cater to all types of tourists. Genuine Inuit sculpture is carved from stone and therefore ought to have some weight or mass to it. An genuine Inuit sculpture is a one of a kind piece of art work and nothing else on the store shelves will look precisely like it.

Where it ends up being harder to identify authenticity are with the reproductions that are also made of stone. This can be a genuine gray area to those unfamiliar with genuine 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 similar in detail, they are probably not genuine. If a seller declares that such as piece is authentic, ask to see the official Igloo tag that comes with it which will know on the artist, place 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 always be the greatest priced and are typically kept in a different (perhaps even locked) rack within the store.


Because Inuit art has actually been getting more and more worldwide direct exposure, people may be seeing this Canadian fine art form at galleries and museums 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 regional northern shop or straight from an Inuit carver would be genuine. Reputable Inuit art galleries are also noted in Inuit Art Quarterly magazine which is devoted completely to Inuit art. The Inuit sculpture may be Kurt Criter Denver 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 purchase genuine Inuit art sculpture from home anywhere in the world.

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