Tips on How 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 visiting the nation. Since Inuit art has been getting more and more global exposure, individuals might be seeing this Canadian fine art kind at galleries and museums located outside Canada too. Assuming that the intention is to obtain an genuine piece of Inuit art rather than a inexpensive tourist imitation, the concern emerges on how does one tell apart the genuine thing from the phonies?

It would be quite disappointing to bring home a piece just 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 wonderful art work, then it can be securely presumed that any Inuit art piece purchased from a regional northern store or straight from an Inuit carver would be authentic. One would need to be more careful somewhere else in Canada, especially in tourist areas where all sorts of other Canadian mementos such as tee shirts, hockey jerseys, postcards, key chains, maple syrup, and other Native Canadian arts are sold.

The safest places to look for Inuit sculptures to make sure credibility are always the reliable galleries that specialize in Canadian Inuit art and Eskimo art. Some of these galleries have advertisements in the city tourist guides found in hotels.

Trusted Inuit art galleries are also noted in Inuit Art Quarterly publication which adheres completely to Inuit art. These galleries will generally be found in the downtown tourist areas of significant 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 mementos such as tee shirts or postcards . These galleries will have only genuine Inuit art for sale as they do not handle replicas or phonies . Just to be even more secure, make sure that the piece you have an interest in comes with a Canadian government Igloo tag accrediting that it was handmade by a Canadian Inuit artist. The Inuit sculpture may be signed by the carver either in English or Inuit syllabics but not all genuine pieces are signed. Be mindful that an anonymous piece might still be indeed genuine.

A few of these Inuit art galleries likewise have websites so you might go shopping and buy genuine Inuit art sculpture from house throughout the world. In this contact form addition to these street retail specialized galleries, there are now respectable online galleries that likewise concentrate on genuine Inuit art. These online galleries are a good choice for purchasing Inuit art because the costs are typically lower than those at street retail galleries because of lower overheads. Of course, like any other shopping on the internet, one must be careful so when dealing with an online gallery, make sure that their pieces likewise include the official Igloo tags to make sure credibility.

Some traveler stores do carry genuine Inuit art as well as the other touristy keepsakes in order to cater to all types of tourists. Authentic 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 artwork and absolutely nothing else on the shop racks will look precisely like it.

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


Because Inuit art has been getting more and more international direct exposure, people might be seeing this Canadian fine art kind at museums and galleries situated outside Canada too. If one is fortunate Kurt Criter Denver 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 bought from a regional northern shop or straight from an Inuit carver would be genuine. Trustworthy Inuit art galleries are also listed 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 but 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.