Tips on How to Purchase and Look 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. Given that Inuit art has been getting more and more global direct exposure, people might be seeing this Canadian great art kind at galleries and museums located outside Canada too. Assuming that the intention is to acquire an authentic piece of Inuit art rather than a cheap traveler imitation, the question develops on how does one tell apart the real thing from the fakes?

It would be quite disappointing to bring home a piece just to learn later on that it isn't genuine or 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 safely presumed that any Inuit art piece bought from a regional northern shop or directly from an Inuit carver would be genuine. One would need to be more cautious elsewhere in Canada, particularly in traveler areas where all sorts of other Canadian keepsakes such as tee shirts, hockey jerseys, postcards, crucial chains, maple syrup, and other Native Canadian arts are sold.

The best places to shop for Inuit sculptures to ensure authenticity are constantly the respectable galleries that specialize in Canadian Inuit art and Eskimo art. A few of these galleries have ads in the city tourist guides found in hotels.

Reliable Inuit art galleries are also listed in Inuit Art Quarterly publication which adheres entirely to Inuit art. These galleries will normally 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 possibly Native art but none of the other usual traveler keepsakes such as tee shirts or postcards . These galleries will have just authentic Inuit art for sale as they do not deal with replicas or phonies . Simply to be even safer, make certain that the piece you are interested in features a Canadian government Igloo tag licensing that it was handcrafted by a Canadian Inuit artist. The Inuit sculpture might be signed by the carver either in English or Inuit syllabics but not all authentic pieces are signed. So understand that an unsigned piece may still be certainly genuine.

Some of these Inuit art galleries also have sites so you might shop and purchase authentic Inuit art sculpture from house anywhere in the world. In addition to these street retail specialized galleries, there are now respectable online galleries that also specialize in authentic Inuit art.

Some tourist shops do carry authentic Inuit art as well as the other touristy mementos in order to cater to all types of tourists. Genuine Inuit sculpture is carved from stone and therefore needs to have some weight or Kurt Criter Denver mass to it. An genuine Inuit sculpture is a one of a kind piece of artwork and absolutely nothing else on the shop racks will look precisely like it.

Where it becomes more difficult to figure out credibility are with the reproductions that are likewise made of 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 indicating that it was handcrafted but if there are other pieces on the shelves that look too comparable in detail, they are more than likely Kurt Criter Denver not authentic. If a seller claims that such as piece is genuine, ask to see the official 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 offered. The genuine pieces with the accompanying authorities Igloo tags will constantly be the highest priced and are generally kept in a different (perhaps even locked) shelf within the shop.


Because Inuit art has been getting more and more global exposure, individuals may be seeing this Canadian fine 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 Kurt Criter make their wonderful art work, then it can be safely presumed that any Inuit art piece acquired from a local northern store or directly from an Inuit carver would be authentic. Trusted Inuit art galleries are likewise listed in Inuit Art Quarterly magazine which is devoted entirely 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 sites so you might go shopping and purchase genuine Inuit art sculpture from home anywhere in the world.

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