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



Numerous visitors to Canada will be exposed to Inuit art (Eskimo art) sculptures while exploring the country. These are the spectacular handmade sculptures sculpted from stone by the Inuit artists residing 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 global visitors such as Banff, Inuit sculptures will be seen at numerous retail shops and showed at some museums. Because Inuit art has been getting a growing number of global direct exposure, individuals may be seeing this Canadian fine art type at galleries and museums located outside Canada too. As a result, it will be natural for lots of travelers and art collectors to choose that they would like to buy Inuit sculptures as great mementos for their homes or as very special presents for others. Presuming that the intention is to obtain an authentic piece of Inuit art rather than a low-cost tourist replica, the question arises on how does one differentiate the real thing from the fakes?

It would be pretty disappointing to bring home a piece only to find out later that it isn't authentic and even made in Canada. If one is fortunate enough to be traveling in the Canadian Arctic where the Inuit live and make their fantastic art work, then it can be securely presumed that any Inuit art piece purchased from a regional northern shop or directly from an Inuit carver would be authentic. One would need to be more careful somewhere else in Canada, specifically in tourist areas where all sorts of other Canadian mementos such as tee shirts, hockey jerseys, postcards, essential chains, maple syrup, and other Native Canadian arts are sold.

The most safe places to look for Inuit sculptures to make sure credibility are constantly the credible galleries that concentrate on Canadian Inuit art and Eskimo art. A few of these galleries have advertisements in the city tourist guides found in hotels.

Respectable Inuit art galleries are also listed in Inuit Art Quarterly publication which adheres completely to Inuit art. These galleries will normally 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 possibly Native art but none of the other usual tourist souvenirs such as postcards or tee shirts . These galleries will have only genuine Inuit art for sale as they do not deal with fakes or replicas . Simply to be even more secure, make sure that the piece you have an interest in comes with a Canadian federal government Igloo tag certifying 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 anonymous piece might still be indeed authentic.

A few of these Inuit art galleries also have sites so you could go shopping and purchase authentic Inuit art sculpture from home anywhere in the world. In addition to these street retail specialized galleries, there are now reputable online galleries that also concentrate on authentic Inuit art. Because of lower overheads, these online galleries are a great option for buying Inuit art since the costs are normally lower than those at street retail galleries. Naturally, like any other shopping on the internet, one must beware so when handling an online gallery, make certain that their pieces likewise include the official Igloo tags to make sure authenticity.

Some tourist shops do carry authentic Inuit art as well as the other touristy keepsakes in order to cater to all types of travelers. Genuine Inuit sculpture top article 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 absolutely nothing else on the store shelves will look precisely like it.

This can be a real gray area to those unfamiliar with genuine Inuit art. If a seller claims that such as piece is genuine, ask to see the main Igloo tag that comes with it which will have details on the artist, area where it was made and the year it was sculpted. The genuine pieces with the accompanying authorities Igloo tags will constantly be the highest priced and are usually kept in a separate ( maybe even locked) shelf within the shop.


Since Inuit art has actually been getting more and more global exposure, individuals might 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 wonderful artwork, then it can be safely assumed that any Inuit art piece acquired from a local northern store or straight from an Inuit carver would be genuine. Credible Inuit art galleries are likewise noted in Inuit Art Quarterly publication which is devoted 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 likewise have sites so you could go shopping and buy authentic Inuit art sculpture from house anywhere in the world.

Leave a Reply

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