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

Numerous visitors to Canada will be exposed to Inuit art (Eskimo art) sculptures while exploring the nation. Since Inuit art has been getting more and more worldwide direct exposure, people may be seeing this Canadian fine art form at museums and galleries situated outside Canada too. Assuming that the intention is to acquire an genuine piece of Inuit art rather than a low-cost tourist imitation, the question occurs on how does one inform apart the real thing from the phonies?

It would be pretty frustrating to bring home a piece just to discover later on that it isn't authentic or even made in Canada. If one is lucky enough to be taking a trip in the Canadian Arctic where the Inuit live and make their fantastic artwork, then it can be safely assumed that any Inuit art piece purchased from a local northern shop or straight from an Inuit carver would be authentic. One would have to be more mindful somewhere else in Canada, especially in tourist areas where all sorts of other Canadian keepsakes such as tee shirts, hockey jerseys, postcards, essential chains, maple syrup, and other Native Canadian arts are offered.

The most safe places to purchase Inuit sculptures to guarantee credibility are constantly the respectable 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.

Reliable Inuit art galleries are likewise noted in Inuit Art Quarterly publication which adheres entirely to Inuit art. These galleries will usually 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 normal traveler mementos such as t-shirts or postcards . These galleries will have just authentic Inuit art for sale as they do not deal with replicas or fakes . Simply to be even safer, make sure that the piece you have an interest in comes with a Canadian government Igloo tag certifying that it was handcrafted by a Canadian Inuit artist. The Inuit sculpture may be signed by the carver either in English or Inuit syllabics however not all authentic pieces are signed. Be conscious that an anonymous piece may still be indeed authentic.

Some of these Inuit art galleries likewise have sites so you might shop and purchase authentic Inuit art sculpture from home anywhere in the world. In addition to these street retail specialized galleries, there are now reliable online galleries that also specialize in authentic Inuit art.

Some tourist stores do bring genuine Inuit art as well as the other touristy souvenirs in order to cater to all types of tourists. Authentic Inuit sculpture is carved 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 nothing else on the store racks will look precisely like it.

This can be a real gray area to those unknown with authentic 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 details on the artist, place where it was made and the year it was sculpted. The genuine pieces with the accompanying official Igloo tags will constantly be the highest priced and are generally kept in a separate (perhaps even locked) rack within the store.


Since Inuit art has actually been getting more and more international direct exposure, people might be seeing this Canadian great art form at galleries and museums situated outside Canada too. If one is lucky enough to be taking a trip in the Canadian additional resources 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 regional northern store or straight from an Inuit carver would be authentic. Trusted Inuit art galleries are likewise listed in Inuit Art Quarterly publication which is devoted totally to Inuit art. The Inuit sculpture may be signed by the carver either in English or Inuit syllabics however not all authentic pieces are signed. Some of these Inuit art galleries also have sites so you might shop and purchase genuine Inuit art sculpture from home anywhere in the world.