Tips on Ways To Purchase and Shop for Authentic Canadian Inuit Art (Eskimo Art) Sculptures

Lots of visitors to Canada will be exposed to Inuit art (Eskimo art) sculptures while exploring the country. These are the splendid handmade sculptures carved from stone by the Inuit artists residing in the northern Arctic regions of Canada. While in some of the significant Canadian cities (Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, Ottawa, and Quebec City) or other tourist areas popular with global visitors such as Banff, Inuit sculptures will be seen at various retail stores and showed at some museums. Because Inuit art has actually been getting more and more worldwide direct exposure, people may be seeing this Canadian art kind at galleries and museums situated outside Canada too. As a result, it will be natural for lots of tourists and art collectors to decide that they wish to acquire Inuit sculptures as nice mementos for their houses or as really special gifts for others. Assuming that the objective is to get an genuine piece of Inuit art instead of a cheap tourist imitation, the question develops on how does one differentiate the genuine thing from the phonies?

It would be quite frustrating to bring home a piece just to discover later that it isn't authentic or even 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 safely assumed that any Inuit art piece bought from a regional northern shop or directly from an Inuit carver would be authentic. One would need to be more mindful somewhere else in Canada, particularly in tourist areas where all sorts of other Canadian keepsakes such as t-shirts, hockey jerseys, postcards, crucial chains, maple syrup, and other Native Canadian arts are sold.

The safest locations to shop for Inuit sculptures to ensure credibility are always the credible galleries that focus on Canadian Inuit art and Eskimo art. Some of these galleries have advertisements in the city tour guide found in hotels.

Respectable Inuit art galleries are also noted in Inuit Art Quarterly magazine which adheres completely to Inuit art. These galleries will typically be found in the downtown traveler areas of significant cities. When one walks into these galleries, one will see that there will be just Inuit art and maybe Native art however none of the other typical traveler mementos such as postcards or tee shirts . These galleries will have only genuine Inuit art for sale as they do not handle imitations or phonies . Simply to be even much safer, make sure that the piece you have an interest in includes a Canadian federal 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 genuine pieces are signed. So understand that an anonymous piece may still be undoubtedly authentic.

Some of these Inuit art galleries also have websites so you could shop and buy genuine Inuit art sculpture from house anywhere in the world. In addition to these street retail specialized galleries, there are now trustworthy online galleries that likewise specialize in genuine Inuit art.

Some tourist stores do carry genuine 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 ought to have some weight or mass to it. An genuine Inuit sculpture is a one of a kind piece of artwork and absolutely nothing else on the store racks will look precisely like it.

This can be a real gray area to those unfamiliar with genuine click here for more info Inuit art. If a seller declares that such as piece is genuine, ask to see the main Igloo tag that comes with it which will have information on the artist, location where it was made and the year it was carved. The authentic pieces with the accompanying authorities Igloo tags will constantly be the greatest priced and are generally kept in a different (perhaps even locked) shelf within the store.


Because Inuit art has been getting more and more worldwide exposure, people may be seeing this Canadian fine art form 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 wonderful artwork, then it can be safely assumed that any Inuit art piece purchased from a regional northern shop or straight from an Inuit carver would be genuine. Credible 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 also have websites so you could go shopping and purchase authentic Inuit art sculpture from home anywhere in the world.