Tips on Ways To Purchase and Buy Genuine Canadian Inuit Art (Eskimo Art) Sculptures

Lots of visitors to Canada will be exposed to Inuit art (Eskimo art) sculptures while exploring the nation. Because Inuit art has actually been getting more and more worldwide exposure, people may be seeing this Canadian fine art type at galleries and museums located outside Canada too. Assuming that the intent is to obtain an genuine piece of Inuit art rather than a inexpensive tourist imitation, the concern emerges on how does one inform apart the genuine thing from the phonies?

It would be quite disappointing to bring home a piece only to find out later on that it isn't authentic or perhaps made in Canada. If one is fortunate enough to be taking a trip in the Canadian Arctic where the Inuit live and make their terrific art work, then it can be securely assumed that any Inuit art piece bought from a regional northern store or directly from an Inuit carver would be genuine. One would have to be more mindful elsewhere in Canada, especially in tourist locations where all sorts of other Canadian mementos such as t-shirts, hockey jerseys, postcards, key chains, maple syrup, and other Native Canadian arts are offered.

The most safe locations to look for Inuit sculptures to ensure credibility are always the trustworthy galleries that specialize in Canadian Inuit art and Eskimo art. A few of these galleries have advertisements in the city tour guide discovered in hotels.

Credible Inuit art galleries are also noted in Inuit Art Quarterly magazine which is devoted completely to Inuit art. These galleries will normally be found in the downtown tourist locations of significant cities. When one walks into these galleries, one will see that there will be only Inuit art and perhaps Native art but none of the other usual tourist souvenirs such as t-shirts or postcards . These galleries will have just genuine Inuit art for sale as they do not handle fakes or replicas . Simply to be even much safer, make sure that the piece you have an interest in includes a Canadian 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. Be mindful that an anonymous piece might still be undoubtedly genuine.

A few of these Inuit art galleries likewise have sites so you might shop and buy genuine Inuit art sculpture from home anywhere in the world. In addition to these street retail specialized galleries, there are now respectable online galleries that also concentrate on authentic Inuit art. These online galleries are a great alternative for purchasing Inuit art because the costs are typically lower than those at street retail galleries because of lower overheads. Obviously, like any other shopping on the internet, one should beware so when handling an online gallery, make sure that their pieces also come with Kurt Criter the official Igloo tags to guarantee authenticity.

Some tourist shops do bring genuine Inuit art as well as the other touristy mementos in order to cater to all types of travelers. Authentic Inuit sculpture is carved from stone and therefore must 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 location to those unknown with authentic Inuit art. If a seller declares that such as piece is authentic, ask to see the main Igloo tag that comes with it which will have details on the artist, place where it was made and the year it was sculpted. The genuine pieces with the accompanying authorities Igloo tags will always be the greatest priced and are typically kept in a different (perhaps even locked) shelf within the shop.


Since Inuit art has been getting more and more international exposure, people might be seeing this Canadian fine art form at museums and galleries situated outside Canada too. If one is fortunate enough to be taking a trip 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 bought from a local northern store or straight from an Inuit carver would be authentic. Credible Inuit art galleries are also noted in Inuit Art Quarterly magazine which is dedicated entirely to Inuit art. The Inuit sculpture may be signed by the carver either in English or Inuit syllabics but not why not try these out all genuine pieces are signed. Some of these Inuit art galleries likewise have websites so you could shop and buy authentic Inuit art sculpture from house anywhere in the world.