Tips on The Best Ways To Buy and Buy Authentic Canadian Inuit Art (Eskimo Art) Sculptures

Many visitors to Canada will be exposed to Inuit art (Eskimo art) sculptures while touring the country. These are the splendid handmade sculptures sculpted from stone by the Inuit artists residing in the northern Arctic regions of Canada. While in some of the major Canadian cities (Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, Ottawa, and Quebec City) or other traveler areas popular with international visitors such as Banff, Inuit sculptures will be seen at various retail stores and displayed at some museums. Considering that Inuit art has been getting more and more international exposure, people may be seeing this Canadian art type at galleries and museums situated outside Canada too. As a result, it will be natural for lots of tourists and art collectors to choose that they want to acquire Inuit sculptures as nice souvenirs for their houses or as very distinct gifts for others. Assuming that the intent is to get an genuine piece of Inuit art rather than a inexpensive traveler imitation, the question develops on how does one tell apart the genuine thing from the phonies?

It would be pretty frustrating to bring home a piece just to learn later that it isn't genuine or perhaps 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 safely presumed that any Inuit art piece bought from a local northern shop or straight from an Inuit carver would be authentic. One would have to be more mindful in other places in Canada, specifically in traveler locations where all sorts of other Canadian souvenirs such as tee shirts, hockey jerseys, postcards, essential chains, maple syrup, and other Native Canadian arts are sold.

The most safe places to purchase Inuit sculptures to ensure credibility are always the reliable galleries that specialize in Canadian Inuit art and Eskimo art. Some of these galleries have ads in the city tour guide discovered in hotels.

Reliable Inuit art galleries are also noted in Inuit Art Quarterly magazine which is devoted totally to Inuit art. These galleries will usually be found in the downtown tourist locations of major cities. When one strolls into these galleries, one will see that there will be only Inuit art and perhaps Native art but none of the other usual look at this website traveler souvenirs such as postcards or t-shirts . These galleries will have only authentic Inuit art for sale as they do not handle phonies or replicas . Simply to be even much safer, ensure that the piece you have an interest in features a Canadian government Igloo tag certifying 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 authentic pieces are signed. Be conscious that an anonymous piece might still be undoubtedly authentic.

Some of these Inuit art galleries also have sites so you could shop and purchase genuine Inuit art sculpture from house anywhere in the world. In addition to these street retail specialty galleries, there are now reputable online galleries that also specialize in authentic Inuit art.

Some tourist shops do bring genuine Inuit art as well as the other touristy mementos in order to cater to all types of tourists. Authentic Inuit sculpture is carved from Kurt Criter Denver stone and for that reason should 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 store shelves will look exactly 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 authentic, ask to see the main Igloo tag that comes with it which will have info on the artist, place where it was made and the year it was carved. The genuine pieces with the accompanying authorities Igloo tags will constantly be the highest priced and are usually kept in a different ( possibly even locked) shelf within the shop.


Considering that Inuit art has been getting more and more international exposure, people might be seeing this Canadian fine art type at galleries and museums located outside Canada too. If one is lucky enough to be traveling in the Canadian Arctic where the Inuit live and make their fantastic art work, then it can be safely presumed that any Inuit art piece purchased from a local northern shop or directly from an Inuit carver would be genuine. Trustworthy Inuit art galleries are likewise noted in Inuit Art Quarterly https://kurtcriter.wordpress.com/ magazine which is devoted entirely 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 likewise have sites so you could shop and purchase genuine Inuit art sculpture from house anywhere in the world.