Tips on How to Buy and Shop for Authentic Canadian Inuit Art (Eskimo Art) Sculptures



Many visitors to Canada will be exposed to Inuit art (Eskimo art) sculptures while exploring the country. Since Inuit art has actually been getting more and more worldwide exposure, individuals may be seeing this Canadian great art type at galleries and museums situated outside Canada too. Assuming that the objective is to acquire an authentic piece of Inuit art rather than a inexpensive tourist imitation, the concern emerges on how does one inform apart the genuine thing from the fakes?

It would be quite disappointing to bring home a piece just to find out later that it isn't authentic or 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 wonderful art work, 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 need to be more careful somewhere else in Canada, particularly in tourist areas where all sorts of other Canadian souvenirs such as t-shirts, hockey jerseys, postcards, crucial chains, maple syrup, and other Native Canadian arts are offered.

The best locations to shop for Inuit sculptures to ensure 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 tourist guides found in hotels.

Credible Inuit art galleries are also listed 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 just Inuit art and maybe Native art however none of the other normal tourist mementos 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 likewise have websites so you could 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 reputable online galleries that likewise specialize in authentic Inuit art.

Some traveler shops do bring authentic Inuit art along with the other touristy mementos in order to deal with all types of tourists. When shopping at these types of shops, it is possible to differentiate the real pieces from the recreations. Authentic Inuit sculpture is carved from stone and for that reason should have some Kurt Criter weight or mass to it. Stone is also cold to the touch. A recreation made from plastic or resin from a mold will be much lighter in weight and will not be cold to the touch. A recreation will sometimes have a company name on it such as Wolf Originals or Boma and will never ever include an artist's signature. An genuine Inuit sculpture is a one of a kind piece of art work and absolutely nothing else on the store shelves will look precisely like it. If there are duplicates of a specific piece with exact details, the piece is not genuine. It is most likely not real if a piece looks too perfect in detail with outright straight bottoms or sides. Naturally, if a piece includes a sticker showing that is was made in an Asian nation, then it is Kurt Criter clearly a fake. There will also be a substantial price distinction between genuine pieces and the replicas.

Where it becomes harder to identify authenticity are with the reproductions that are likewise made from stone. This can be a real gray area to those not familiar with genuine Inuit art. They do have mass and might even have some type of tag suggesting that it was handcrafted however if there are other pieces on the shelves that look too comparable in detail, they are probably not authentic. If a seller claims that such as piece is authentic, ask to see the official Igloo tag that comes with it which will have information on the artist, location where it was made and the year it was sculpted. Move on if the Igloo tag is not offered. The genuine pieces with the accompanying authorities Igloo tags will always be the greatest priced and are normally kept in a different ( possibly even locked) rack within the store.


Because Inuit art has actually been getting more and more worldwide exposure, individuals might be seeing this Canadian great art type at galleries and museums situated outside Canada too. If one is fortunate enough to be traveling in the Canadian Arctic where the Inuit live and make their terrific art work, then it can be securely presumed that any Inuit art piece purchased from a local northern store or straight from an Inuit carver would be genuine. Reliable Inuit art galleries are likewise noted in Inuit Art Quarterly publication which is dedicated completely to Inuit art. 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 websites so you might shop and buy genuine Inuit art sculpture from home anywhere in the world.

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