Are Fine Art Prints Collectible?
It is difficult to describe my artworks using commonly understood art definitions. When viewers discover the artworks are not paintings, rather they are photographic prints created using a water based inkjet printer on cotton etching rag, often referred to as a Giclee print or museum quality fine art paper, they seem to be uncertain of their validity as original artworks and their value. If these are photographic prints they can be produced endlessly, can’t they - and - if they are not paintings, what can we call them and thus how can we value the artwork - are often questions I am asked. Over the years I have sort answers from peers, academics and art gallery owners to try and create some degree of certainty around the way to describe the artwork and its artistic and commercial merits in the unregulated world of the art market and have not always been satisfied myself with the responses until recently.
In October, The Artling, a Singaporean online art gallery, published an article entitled “A Beginners Guide To Collecting Prints” by Stella Botes, an art writer and critic based in London, who works for Cristea Roberts Gallery, one of the foremost print galleries in Europe. This is the most authoritative article I have read on this topic, offering an historic perspective from the development of print making to the contemporary emergence of the digital print. Importantly the author develops a good case for fine art print collection as an emergent affordable trend in the art world.
Botes writes “ Prints are becoming ever more popular as a category for collectors, as auction houses see yearly rises in their prints and multiples categories. The medium offers a through-line in art history, from the early woodcuts of the 1500s to the digital prints of the 21st century, it is a category in which collectors can trace artistic movements and technique. There is an astonishing variety of work available in the printmaking category and, importantly, it often comes at a more accessible price point than unique works since it is part of a series. As such, a growing body of young or first-time collectors are making their first forays into collecting via printmaking. “
My work comes in limited editions depending on size. Works of 110cm wide are generally offered in editions of 5; any works less than 110cm in editions of 50. I do offer unique works on commission. Unique works, or monotypes as they are known, are prints created from an original edition print altered to satisfy a specific design element, in the process making a new unique artwork . Alterations can include changes in original artwork size and dimension, for example moving the image from landscape to portraiture in dimension or vice versa, increasing the size of the image in a way that alters the original artwork, even removing a part of the image. Importantly, I only create monotypes on request.
I hope this might give you some precise insights about how to think about fine art prints generally as collectibles. The article has certainly assisted me in viewing my work from a more historical perspective whilst opening up my creative thinking about it.
