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 nation. Because Inuit art has actually 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. Presuming that the intent is to acquire an authentic piece of Inuit art rather than a low-cost traveler replica, the concern arises on how does one tell apart the real thing from the fakes?

It would be pretty frustrating to bring home a piece just to learn later on that it isn't really genuine or even made in Canada. 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 safely assumed that any Inuit art piece purchased from a local northern store or directly from an Inuit carver would be authentic. One would have to be more cautious somewhere else in Canada, specifically in tourist locations where all sorts of other Canadian keepsakes such as tee shirts, hockey jerseys, postcards, essential chains, maple syrup, and other Native Canadian arts are sold.

The best places to look for Inuit sculptures to ensure authenticity are always the trusted galleries that focus on Canadian Inuit art and Eskimo art. Some of these galleries have advertisements in the city tourist guides discovered in hotels.

Respectable Inuit art galleries are likewise listed in Inuit Art Quarterly publication which is devoted entirely to Inuit art. 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 typical tourist mementos such as t-shirts or postcards . 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 sites so you might go shopping and purchase authentic Inuit art sculpture from home anywhere in the world. In addition to these street retail specialty galleries, there are now trustworthy online galleries that also specialize in authentic Inuit art.

Some tourist stores do bring authentic Inuit art as well as the other touristy souvenirs in order to cater to all types of travelers. Authentic Inuit sculpture is sculpted from stone and for that reason must have some weight or mass to it. An authentic Inuit sculpture is a one of a kind piece of artwork and absolutely nothing else on the store shelves will look precisely like it.

Where it becomes harder to figure out authenticity are with the recreations that are also made from stone. This can be a real gray area to those not familiar with genuine Inuit art. They do have mass and might even have some type of tag showing that it was handmade however if there are other pieces on the shelves that look too similar in detail, they are most likely not genuine. If a seller claims that such as piece is genuine, ask to see the official Igloo tag that features it which will have information on the artist, location where it was made and the year it was sculpted. If the Igloo tag is not available, carry on. The genuine pieces with the accompanying official Igloo tags will constantly be the highest priced and are generally 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 fine art type at museums and galleries located outside Canada too. If one is lucky enough to be taking a trip in the Canadian Arctic where the Inuit live and Kurt Criter Denver make their wonderful artwork, then it can be safely assumed that any Inuit art piece acquired from a regional northern store or straight from an Inuit carver would be genuine. Trusted Inuit art galleries are likewise noted 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 however not all genuine pieces are signed. Some of these Inuit art galleries likewise have sites so you might go shopping and purchase authentic Inuit art sculpture from home anywhere in the world.