Tips on The Best Ways To Buy and Purchase Genuine Canadian Inuit Art (Eskimo Art) Sculptures



Numerous visitors to Canada will be exposed to Inuit art (Eskimo art) sculptures while visiting the country. These are the stunning handmade sculptures sculpted from stone by the Inuit artists residing in the northern Arctic regions of Canada. While in some of the major 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 numerous retail stores and showed at some museums. Since Inuit art has been getting more and more worldwide exposure, people may be seeing this Canadian fine art form at galleries and museums located outside Canada too. As a result, it will be natural for many travelers and art collectors to choose that they want to acquire Inuit sculptures as good mementos for their homes or as very unique presents for others. Presuming that the intention is to acquire an genuine piece of Inuit art instead of a inexpensive tourist replica, the concern occurs on how does one tell apart the genuine thing from the fakes?

It would be quite disappointing to bring home a piece just to find out later on 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 art work, then it can be securely assumed that any Inuit art piece bought from a regional northern store or directly from an Inuit carver would be genuine. One would need to be more careful somewhere else in Canada, especially in tourist areas where all sorts of other Canadian keepsakes such as tee shirts, hockey jerseys, postcards, key chains, maple syrup, and other Native Canadian arts are sold.

The best locations to buy Inuit sculptures to ensure authenticity are always the reliable galleries that focus on Canadian Inuit art and Eskimo art. A few of these galleries have ads in the city tour guide found in hotels.

Reputable Inuit art galleries are also listed in Inuit Art Quarterly publication which adheres totally to Inuit art. These galleries will usually be found in the downtown traveler locations of major cities. When one walks into these galleries, one will see that there will be only Inuit art and maybe Native art however none of the other normal traveler mementos such as postcards or t-shirts . These galleries will have just genuine Inuit art for sale as they do not deal with phonies or imitations . Just to be even more secure, make certain that the piece you have an interest in comes with a Canadian federal government Igloo tag licensing that it was handmade by a Canadian Inuit artist. The Inuit sculpture may 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 certainly authentic.

A few of these Inuit art galleries also have sites so you might shop and buy genuine Inuit art sculpture from home throughout the world. In addition to these street retail specialty galleries, there are now trustworthy online galleries that also focus on genuine Inuit art. These online galleries are a good choice for purchasing Inuit art because the costs are usually lower than those at street retail galleries because of lower overheads. Of course, like any other shopping on the internet, one must beware so when dealing with an online gallery, ensure that their pieces also include the official Igloo tags to guarantee authenticity.

Some tourist stores do bring authentic Inuit art as well as the other touristy souvenirs in order to deal with all kinds of tourists. When shopping at these types of shops, it is possible to tell apart the real pieces from the recreations. Authentic Inuit sculpture is carved from stone and for that reason must have some weight or mass to it. Stone is also cold to the touch. A recreation made of plastic or resin from a mold will be much lighter in weight and will not be cold to the touch. A reproduction will often have a company name on it such as Wolf Originals or Boma and will never ever feature an artist's signature. An authentic Inuit sculpture is a one of a kind piece of artwork and nothing else on the shop shelves will look exactly like it. If there are duplicates of a specific piece with specific details, the piece is not genuine. It is most likely not genuine if a piece looks too ideal in information with absolute straight bottoms or sides. Obviously, if a piece includes a sticker suggesting that is was made in an Asian nation, then it is certainly a phony. There will likewise be a huge cost distinction in between authentic Kurt Criter pieces and the imitations.

This can be a real gray location to those unfamiliar with authentic Inuit art. If a seller declares that such as piece is authentic, ask to see the official Igloo tag that comes with it which will have details on the artist, place where it was made and the year it was carved. The genuine pieces with the accompanying official Igloo tags will constantly be the greatest priced and are typically kept in a different ( possibly even locked) shelf within the shop.


Because Inuit art has actually been getting more and more worldwide exposure, individuals may be seeing this Canadian great art form at museums and galleries located outside Canada too. 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 regional northern store or directly from an Inuit carver would be genuine. Trusted Inuit art galleries are also listed in Inuit Art Quarterly publication which is dedicated entirely 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 websites so you might go shopping and buy authentic Inuit art sculpture from home anywhere in the world.

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