Tips on The Best Ways To Buy and Shop for Genuine Canadian Inuit Art (Eskimo Art) Sculptures

Many visitors to Canada will be exposed to Inuit art (Eskimo art) sculptures while visiting the country. Given that Inuit art has been getting more and more international direct exposure, people might be seeing this Canadian great art form at museums and galleries situated outside Canada too. Assuming that the intent is to get an genuine piece of Inuit art rather than a inexpensive traveler imitation, the question arises on how does one tell apart the genuine thing from the phonies?

It would be quite disappointing to bring home a piece just to learn later on that it isn't genuine 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 wonderful artwork, then it can be safely assumed that any Inuit art piece bought from a regional northern store or directly from an Inuit carver would be genuine. One would need to be more mindful elsewhere in Canada, particularly in traveler areas where all sorts of other Canadian mementos such as t-shirts, hockey jerseys, postcards, essential chains, maple syrup, and other Native Canadian arts are sold.

The best places to look for Inuit sculptures to make sure authenticity are always the trustworthy galleries that concentrate on 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 likewise listed in Inuit Art Quarterly magazine which is devoted totally to Inuit art. These galleries will typically be located in the downtown traveler areas 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 postcards or t-shirts . These galleries will have only authentic Inuit art for sale as they do not handle imitations or fakes . Just to be even safer, make sure that the piece you have an interest in comes with a Canadian federal government Igloo tag accrediting 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 genuine pieces are signed. So understand that an anonymous piece may still be certainly genuine.

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. In addition to these street great site retail specialty galleries, there are now trustworthy online galleries that likewise specialize in authentic 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 tourists. Genuine Inuit sculpture is sculpted from stone and for that reason should have some weight or mass to it. An authentic Inuit sculpture is a one of a kind piece of art work and absolutely nothing else on the shop shelves will look exactly like it.

This can be a genuine gray location to those unfamiliar with genuine 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 sculpted. The authentic pieces with the accompanying authorities Igloo tags will constantly be the highest priced and are generally kept in a separate ( maybe even locked) rack within the store.


Because Inuit art has he said actually been getting more and more global direct exposure, individuals might be seeing this Canadian fine art type at museums and galleries situated outside Canada too. If one is lucky enough to be taking a trip in the Canadian Arctic where the Inuit live and make their wonderful art work, then it can be safely assumed that any Inuit art piece purchased from a regional northern store or directly from an Inuit carver would be authentic. Trusted Inuit art galleries are also noted in Inuit Art Quarterly publication which is devoted completely to Inuit art. The Inuit sculpture may be signed by the carver either in English or Inuit syllabics but not all authentic pieces are signed. Some of these Inuit art galleries likewise have sites so you could go shopping and buy authentic Inuit art sculpture from home anywhere in the world.