Tips on Ways To Purchase and Look For Genuine Canadian Inuit Art (Eskimo Art) Sculptures



Many visitors to Canada will be exposed to Inuit art (Eskimo art) sculptures while exploring the nation. These are the splendid handmade sculptures sculpted from stone by the Inuit artists living in the northern Arctic areas of Canada. While in a few 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 numerous retail stores and showed at some museums. Considering that Inuit art has been getting increasingly more international direct exposure, individuals may be seeing this Canadian art kind at galleries and museums situated outside Canada too. As a result, it will be natural for many tourists and art collectors to choose that they would like to acquire Inuit sculptures as nice souvenirs for their houses or as extremely distinct gifts for others. Assuming that the intent is to get an authentic piece of Inuit art rather than a inexpensive tourist imitation, the concern arises on how does one differentiate the genuine thing from the fakes?

It would be pretty disappointing to bring home a piece only to discover later that it isn't really authentic or even made in Canada. If one is fortunate 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 assumed that any Inuit art piece bought from a local northern store or directly from an Inuit carver would be authentic. One would have to be more mindful somewhere else in Canada, specifically in tourist locations where all sorts of other Canadian mementos such as t-shirts, hockey jerseys, postcards, crucial chains, maple syrup, and other Native Canadian arts are offered.

The most safe places to shop for Inuit sculptures to guarantee authenticity are always the trusted galleries that concentrate on Canadian Inuit art and Eskimo art. Some of these galleries have ads in the city tourist guides found in hotels.

Reliable Inuit art galleries are also noted in Inuit Art Quarterly magazine which is devoted completely to Inuit art. These galleries will typically be located in the downtown tourist locations of major cities. When one walks into these galleries, one will see that there will be only Inuit art and perhaps Native art but none of the other usual tourist souvenirs such as postcards or t-shirts . These galleries will have only genuine Inuit art for sale as they do not deal with imitations or fakes . Just to be even more secure, ensure that the piece you are interested in includes a Canadian government Igloo tag accrediting that it was handmade 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 mindful that an anonymous piece might still be certainly genuine.

Some of these Inuit art galleries also have websites so you could shop and buy genuine Inuit art sculpture from home anywhere in the world. In addition to these street retail specialized galleries, there are now credible online galleries that likewise specialize in authentic Inuit art.

Some tourist shops do carry authentic Inuit art as well as the other touristy souvenirs in order to cater to all types of travelers. Genuine Inuit sculpture is sculpted from stone and therefore needs 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 shop racks will look precisely like it.

This can be a real gray area to those unknown with genuine Inuit art. If a Kurt Criter Denver seller claims that such as piece is genuine, 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. The authentic pieces with the accompanying official Igloo tags will always be the highest priced and are generally kept in a separate (perhaps even locked) shelf within the shop.


Considering that Inuit art has been getting more and more worldwide exposure, people may be seeing this Canadian fine art kind at galleries and museums situated 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 purchased from a local northern shop or directly from an Inuit carver would be authentic. Trustworthy Inuit art galleries are also noted in Inuit Art Quarterly publication which is devoted totally to Inuit art. The Inuit sculpture may be signed by the carver either in English or Inuit syllabics but not all genuine pieces are signed. Some of these Inuit art galleries also have websites so you might shop and purchase Kurt Criter Denver authentic Inuit art sculpture from you could look here house anywhere in the world.

Leave a Reply

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