Tips on The Best Ways To Buy and Look For Authentic 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 spectacular handmade sculptures sculpted 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 traveler areas popular with worldwide visitors such as Banff, Inuit sculptures will be seen at numerous retail stores and showed at some museums. Because Inuit art has been getting a growing number of international 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 tourists and art collectors to decide that they wish to buy Inuit sculptures as good keepsakes for their houses or as really special presents for others. Presuming that the intention is to obtain an genuine piece of Inuit art instead of a low-cost traveler imitation, 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 find out later on that it isn't genuine or perhaps made in Canada. If one is lucky enough to be traveling in the Canadian Arctic where the Inuit live and make their terrific artwork, then it can be safely presumed that any Inuit art piece purchased from a regional northern store or straight from an Inuit carver would be genuine. One would have to be more careful in other places in Canada, specifically in traveler areas where all sorts of other Canadian keepsakes such as t-shirts, hockey jerseys, postcards, key chains, maple syrup, and other Native Canadian arts are offered.

The safest locations to shop for Inuit sculptures to guarantee credibility are constantly the respectable galleries that specialize in Canadian Inuit art and Eskimo art. Some of these galleries have ads in the city tourist guides discovered in hotels.

Credible Inuit art galleries are also noted in Inuit Art Quarterly magazine which is devoted entirely to Inuit art. These galleries will usually be found in the downtown traveler locations of significant cities. When one walks into these galleries, one will see that there will be just Inuit art and perhaps Native art however none of the other usual tourist mementos such as t-shirts or postcards . These galleries will have Click Here just authentic Inuit art for sale as they do not deal with imitations or phonies . Simply to be even more secure, make certain that the piece you have an interest in includes a Canadian federal government Igloo tag certifying that it was handcrafted by a Canadian Inuit artist. The Inuit sculpture may 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 authentic.

Some of these Inuit art galleries you can find out more likewise have sites so you might go shopping 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 also specialize in genuine Inuit art.

Some traveler stores do bring 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 for that reason should have some weight or mass to it. An authentic Inuit sculpture is a one of a kind piece of art work and absolutely nothing else on the shop shelves will look exactly like it.

This can be a genuine gray location to those unknown with genuine Inuit art. If a seller declares that such as piece is genuine, ask to see the main Igloo tag that comes with it which will have info on the artist, area where it was made and the year it was sculpted. The genuine pieces with the accompanying official Igloo tags will always be the greatest priced and are generally kept in a different ( possibly even locked) rack within the shop.


Because Inuit art has actually been getting more and more international direct exposure, people 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 terrific art work, then it can be safely assumed that any Inuit art piece purchased from a local northern shop or directly from an Inuit carver would be authentic. Trusted Inuit art galleries are likewise noted in Inuit Art Quarterly publication which is devoted completely to Inuit art. The Inuit sculpture may 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 sites so you might shop and purchase genuine Inuit art sculpture from home anywhere in the world.