Tips on The Best Ways To Purchase and Look For Genuine Canadian Inuit Art (Eskimo Art) Sculptures

Numerous visitors to Canada will be exposed to Inuit art (Eskimo art) sculptures while touring the nation. These are the splendid handmade sculptures carved from stone by the Inuit artists living 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 international visitors such as Banff, Inuit sculptures will be seen at numerous retail shops and displayed at some museums. Since Inuit art has been getting a growing number of global direct exposure, people might be seeing this Canadian fine art form at museums and galleries situated outside Canada too. As a result, it will be natural for lots of tourists and art collectors to choose that they want to buy Inuit sculptures as good souvenirs for their houses or as very special presents for others. Presuming that the intent is to obtain an authentic piece of Inuit art rather than a cheap traveler replica, the question arises on how does one differentiate the real thing from the fakes?

It would be quite frustrating to bring home a piece just to discover later that it isn't really authentic or perhaps 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 art work, then it can be safely presumed that any Inuit art piece bought from a regional northern store or directly from an Inuit carver would be authentic. One would need to be more careful in other places in Canada, especially in tourist locations where all sorts of other Canadian souvenirs such as t-shirts, hockey jerseys, postcards, key chains, maple syrup, and other Native Canadian arts are offered.

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

Credible Inuit art galleries are likewise listed in Inuit Art Quarterly magazine which is devoted completely to Inuit art. When one walks into these galleries, one will see that there will be only Inuit art and perhaps Native art however none of the other normal tourist souvenirs such as postcards or tee shirts . 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 useful reference have websites so you might go shopping and purchase authentic Inuit art sculpture from house anywhere in the world. In addition to these street retail specialty galleries, there are now reputable online galleries that likewise specialize in genuine Inuit art.

Some tourist shops do carry genuine Inuit art as well as the other touristy souvenirs in order to cater to all types of travelers. Genuine Inuit sculpture is sculpted 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 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 authentic, ask to see the main 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 genuine pieces with the accompanying authorities Igloo tags will always be the greatest priced and are usually kept in a separate ( maybe even locked) rack within the shop.


Since Inuit art has actually been getting more and more worldwide direct exposure, people may be seeing this Canadian fine art kind at museums and galleries situated 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 presumed that any Inuit art piece bought from a regional northern store or straight from an Inuit carver would be genuine. Trustworthy Inuit art galleries are likewise listed in Inuit Art Quarterly publication 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 websites so you might go shopping and purchase genuine Inuit art sculpture from home anywhere in the world.