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Collecting Old Master, Modern, & Contemporary
Fine Prints: Discovering an Accessible Way to Fine Art
To the uninitiated, prints may seem to be unworthy
of a serious collector's attention. After all, a print is not an original
work of art, right?
That may describe mass-market reproductions, but
fine prints are a completely different story. A high-quality fine print is
something to be cherished for its rarity and craftsmanship. Many are
surprisingly valuable -- and extremely collectable.
Consider the story of a gentleman I met recently who
had inherited a set of fine prints by the naturalist artist
John James Audubon.
He wasn't personally interested in the prints - for years they remained on
loan to a California museum. Then one day he decided to see how they might
fare at auction. Having no idea what the prints might be worth, he brought
them to Butterfields last summer. We estimated this complete bound
portfolio of 50 hand-colored lithographs known
as Audubon's "Quadrupeds of North America," was worth
$10-15,000. When we offered the set for sale in October 2000, it
"hammered" for $55,000. (Such was the client's surprise that he
telephoned me three times to confirm the selling price!)
Judith Eurich, Director of Fine Prints, Butterfields
WHAT IS A FINE PRINT?
A fine print is the result of a joint collaboration
between a print workshop and an artist. Generally the artist has created
an original piece of art for this purpose and is personally involved
throughout the printing process. It's from this artwork that each
individual print, or "impression," is hand-printed, often by the
master printer at the workshop.
There are several other hallmarks that distinguish
fine prints from mass-market prints. Most important, the print run, or
"edition," is limited. Print runs range from as few as 25
impressions to 150 or slightly more. Once the edition is complete, the
artist hand signs each impression and places an edition number (typically
found in the lower-left corner of the print). An edition number of
"22/75" would indicate that this print is the twenty-second
impression out of a total edition of 75 prints.
Sometimes a "proof" is offered for sale.
This is an impression that's printed prior to the standard edition of
prints. An Artist's Proof (A/P) print is one of usually ten impressions
that are given personally to the artist. Other proofs, which can number as
few as one or two impressions, include a Printer's Proof (for the master
printmaker), a Publication Proof (for the print shop), and Presentation
Proofs (typically given to someone by the artist as a gift).
Contrast this limited, handcrafted approach to
mass-market prints: The latter are typically a photo-mechanical
reproduction of some work of art, often churned out in the hundreds or
thousands using automated offset printing presses -- like the kind that
print billboard posters and stationary. And while, in some instances, the
artist may be brought in to sign an "edition number" or a
"certificate of authenticity," this approach hardly compares to
the conscientious creation, and subsequent value, accorded to many fine
prints.
ANOTHER REALM OF APPRECIATION
As an example, almost any poster shop can sell you a
$20 reproduction of a work by the Dutch artist
M.C. Escher. By
comparison, in October 2000, Butterfields offered a beautiful lithograph
of Escher's "Still Life with Mirror," created in 1934 in a small
hand-printed edition of just 24 impressions. This print had not come up at
auction since 1984, when it sold at Sotheby's for $11,000. The combination
of the print's rarity, sheer beauty and peerless condition drew the
world's serious Escher collectors to the auction. We were extremely
pleased to offer this rare print, and to establish a new international
auction record of $20,000 for it.
Fortunately for many of us, fine prints can still be
found for even just a few hundred dollars. Even at this price, the right
print is more than a pleasure to own and view: It can also be a fine
investment.
And keep in mind that even for some of the most
sophisticated collectors, fine prints are not just a poor man's
alternative to original art. They understand that a high quality print is
undoubtedly a work of art in its own right -- not only for the image
portrayed, but also for the craft that goes into its making. Certainly,
this is something that many of history's most renowned artists -- from
Rembrandt to
Francisco de Goya, from
Pablo Picasso to
Andy Warhol -- have understood, by choosing
to participate in the creation of fine prints. It affords another realm of
appreciation for a favorite artist's work.
THE ORIGINS OF FINE PRINTMAKING
European printmaking traces its origins to the
1500s. The first rudimentary printmakers were actually silversmiths who
printed their metal engravings -- on swords, breastplates, belt buckles,
and so forth -- by coating the metal with ink or paint, and then
transferring the image, using pressure, to paper or fabric.
Some of the earliest fine art printmakers were also
silversmiths, or grew up among them. For instance,
Albrecht Dürer, the
great 16th-Century German printmaker, was the son of a silversmith. He
went on the be one of the most important printmakers of all time, and many
scholars would agree that his work has never been surpassed in terms of
beauty, execution, and innovation.
Dürer worked in engraving and a bit in etching, two
of the most common techniques in fine printmaking. Other related and
different printmaking methods that followed include woodcutting,
lithography, mezzotint,
and silkscreen. (These and other techniques are
explained near the end of this article; see Glossary
of Fine Printing Terminology ).
THE THREE GREAT PERIODS OF FINE PRINTMAKING
Fine prints are generally categorized in one of
three periods: Old Master, Modern, and Contemporary.
Old Master fine prints date back as early as the
16th Century, when
Albrecht Dürer, Martin Schoengauer, and Marantonio
Raimondi were experimenting with engraving, woodcut,
and some etching techniques. By the 17th Century,
artists such as Lucas van
Leyden, Jacques Callot, and even Rembrandt
employed these same techniques, often with more consistent and
higher-quality results. Through the 18th and 19th Centuries, etching
became the predominant printmaking method, as shown in prints by Charles
Meryon,
Francisco de Goya,
Giovanni Battista Piranesi, and others.
The age of Modern prints dates from the late 19th
Century through the early to mid-20th Century. During this period,
printmaking was embraced as an art form by Picasso, Matisse, Chagall,
Escher and others -- who made great strides with new
techniques (such as lithography) while continuing to work with some old
ones (including woodcuts).
By the mid-20th Century, Contemporary artists
emerged, many of whom delved into a wide range of techniques -- including lithography,
etching, linocuts, and woodcuts
-- and also explored the boundaries of what we define as art. As with some
of the great printmaking artists who preceded them, the best-known
Contemporary artists are also well-known for their work on canvas and
other media, and include
Roy Lichtenstein,
Andy Warhol,
Sam Francis, and
Jasper Johns.
Many experts, including myself, are watching with
interest as contemporary artists such as Francisco Clemente and
David Hockney experiment with digital printmaking. Such prints are generated
directly from a computer to an ink jet, thermal transfer, or other kind of
digital printer. The collectability of digital prints is still very much
in dispute, most importantly because the jury's still out on whether
digital prints will hold their colors over time -- or fade dramatically,
taking their value with them.
COLLECTING FINE PRINTS: GETTING STARTED
Prints offer great opportunities for anyone
interested in building a collection of fine art. Even the most respected
auction houses and dealers often sell beautiful works for under $1,000 --
far less than you would pay for an original painting of comparable origin,
rarity, and condition.
For instance, few of us could afford to buy a
Roy Lichtenstein painting that could easily fetch $80,000 or more. But it's
still possible to acquire a fantastic Lichtenstein print at auction for
less than $10,000. For lesser-known artists, superb values can be found
for a lot less. No matter what end of the scale your budget may fall, just
do the math and you'll realize that for the price of a single painting,
you could be cultivating a noteworthy collection of fine prints.
As with any art, there are two cardinal rules to
follow. First, buy what you love. Second, know what you're buying.
Even if
you're new to fine prints, the first rule should come naturally. As for
the second, there are lots of ways you can educate yourself. The Internet,
of course, is awash with sources of information, some better than others (www.printforum.com
is a great place to start). Many universities and community colleges offer
art appreciation and history classes that focus on prints. Auction
previews are also a good learning opportunity: They're a chance to see the
works up close, and often you'll find knowledgeable people who can provide
information. And there are many fine books available on the subject,
including:
- "Looking at Prints, Drawings and
Watercolours: A Guide to Technical Terms," by Paul Goldman;
- "How
Prints Look: Photographs With Commentary," edited by William
Ivins (1987), paperback;
- "Prints
and People," by A. Hyatt Mayor
(1980), paperback;
- "Prints
of the Twentieth Century," by Riva
Castleman (1988), paperback;
- "Prints
and the Print Market: A Handbook for Buyers, Collectors, and
Connoisseurs," by
Theodore Donson (1977), paperback.
Perhaps the most helpful relationship you can
cultivate is with a trustworthy auction house or dealer. Butterfields,
for example, frequently assist customers in starting a collection that
matches their tastes and budgets. In the process, I try to impart the
information that each customer needs to make a wise choice -- even if that
choice is to pass on a piece he or she might have been eyeing.
THINGS TO LOOK FOR
Many things can affect the value of an individual
fine print. Among the most obvious are the period, the artist and the
rarity. With each of these factors, while educating yourself is always
important, you'll ultimately need to entrust yourself to an expert.
Condition is certainly important, too: A print in
mint condition can be worth at least twice that of a poor condition print
from the same edition. Reputable auction houses and dealers will provide
you with an unbiased "condition report" that details any known
issues, and which rates the print. A formal "provenance" (which
details the history of ownership) is less common with prints than with
paintings, although the auction house or dealer will often have records of
a print's ownership. Old Master prints usually have the benefit of a
collector's stamp on the back, and at Butterfields we have cataloged
records of such stamps to aid us with identification and verification.
Surprisingly, a frame and matte rarely contribute to
a print's value -- although a poorly executed matting can have a serious
negative impact. For instance, sometimes I'll come across prints that have
been glued to a backboard, or worse, glued between two mattes like a
sandwich. Anything like this that physically impacts the original print
can dramatically reduce its value, and might require professional
conservation. Fading is another problem, especially for color prints
(which should never be exposed to direct sunlight); once faded, a print's
value can be halved. "Foxing," small pinpoints of mold on the
surface of the print, is evidence that the print was exposed to
excessively high humidity -- yet another problem that may require
conservation.
Forgeries are rare, but they do exist. There's not
much the untrained person -- especially someone just starting out
collecting -- can do to detect a good fake. The best defense against such
a misfortune is to work with a well-established auction house or dealer.
At Butterfields, for instance, we always stand behind each piece we sell,
in the most unlikely event that we ever sold a piece that turned out not
to be what it was purported to be.
Finally, if you own a fine print that you're
interested in selling at auction, you'll want expert help to establish a
value. Prospective sellers are always welcome to send in photos of their
fine prints to Butterfields. And once a month -- in both San Francisco and
L.A. -- we have clinics where you can bring in a piece that you are
interested in consigning to us, for a free auction appraisal.
ABOUT THE EXPERT
After more than a decade with the Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco,
Judith Eurich joined Butterfield & Butterfield in 1995 as a specialist
in the Prints department.
From 1981 to 1992, she was on the Curatorial staff
of Prints, Drawings and 19th Century Photographs for the Achenbach
Foundation for Graphic Arts at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco.
Ms. Eurich has also lectured and taught about prints
at the Academy of Art College, the Hearst Art Gallery at St. Mary's
College in Moraga and the University of California Extension in San
Francisco. In addition, she has contributed to the updated four-volume
catalogue raisonne of Pablo Picasso's paintings, drawings, and sculptures
from 1917 to 1929.
SELECTED GLOSSARY OF FINE
PRINTING TERMINOLOGY
Aquatint -- A variety of etching widely used
by printmakers to achieve a broad range of tonal values. The process is
called "aquatint" because finished prints often resemble
watercolor drawings or wash drawings. The technique consists of exposing a
copperplate to acid through a layer of granulated resin or sugar. The acid
bites away the plate only in the interstices between the resin or sugar
grains, leaving an evenly pitted surface that yields broad areas of tone
when the grains are removed and the plate is printed. An infinite number
of tones can be achieved by exposing various parts of the plate to acid
baths of different strengths for different periods of time. Etched or
engraved lines are often used with aquatint to achieve greater definition
of form.
Chromolithography -- Lithography produced in
color. Popular in 19th-Century American prints, particularly Carrier and
Ives.
Drypoint -- A type of engraving method in
which the design to be printed is scratched directly into a copperplate or
steel plate with a sharply pointed instrument. Lines in a dry point print
are characterized by a soft fuzziness caused by ink printed from a burr, a
rough ridge of metal thrown up on each side of the furrow of the dry point
line. The course of the line, however, is often abruptly angular when
changing directions, because the metal of the plate continually resists
the engraving point.
Engraving -- The act,
process or art of producing by cutting, on metal or wood, or occasionally
stone, either with incised or relief designs. Most commonly refers to
metal engraving, the technique of making prints from metal plates into
which a design has been incised with a cutting tool called a burin. Modern
examples are almost invariably made from copperplates; hence, the process
is also called copperplate engraving. Another term for the process, line
engraving, derives from the fact that this technique reproduces only
linear marks. Tone and shading, however, can be suggested by making
parallel lines or crosshatching.
Here is an explanation of the difference between
metal and wood engraving:
- In working on metal (steel plate, copperplate),
the lines that are intended to appear black are incised, the plate is
then covered with ink, which is then cleaned off, so that the paper
when pressed firmly on to the plate, only receives impressions from
the engraved lines, the ink having remained in these, while it was
wiped off from the surface portions. The untouched surface then
appears as white areas on the resulting print.
- In working with wood (a piece of wood block), the
process is reversed. The lines that are to print black are left, only
the spaces that are to be white are cut away, leaving the lines
prominent, which, when inked with a roller, are transferred under the
press to the paper. As a result, black lines, however fine, are
readily produced on metal plate, whereas on the wood block, they can
only be obtained by cutting away the wood on each side, leaving the
line.
Engravings on steel are usually of much finer
quality the engravings made on wood.
Etching -- A process of
engraving in which the incised lines are produced by the biting of an acid
or mordant. The surface of the metal is covered with thin coat of wax,
asphalt, or varnish, which is scratched with the etching needle where
lines are desired, and the exposed part subjected to acid.
Etching-Ground -- The coating of wax or
varnish on a plate prepared for etching.
Etching Needle -- the needle-like steel
implement used by etchers for tracing the lines through the etching
ground.
Intaglio -- In the visual arts, one of the
four major classes of printmaking techniques, distinguished from the other
three methods (relief printing, stenciling, and lithography) by the fact
that the ink forming the design is printed only from recessed areas of the
plate. Etching, aquatint, drypoint, and engraving are all examples of
intaglio printmaking.
Linocut -- A type of
relief print, made by cutting into a linoleum surface.
Lithography -- The
art or operation of producing printed matter from a flat lithographic
stone (or plate) on which a drawing, design or transfer has been made in a
soapy ink or by other suitable method. The stone is dampened on those
portions on which the design is not to appear, preventing them from taking
the printing ink, so that a reproduction on paper may be accomplished in a
manner very similar to printing from type or engraved plates.
Mezzotint -- A type
of copperplate engraving in which the entire surface of the plate is
slightly roughened, after which the drawing is traced, and then the
portions intended to show high lights and middle lights are scraped or
burnished while the shadows are strengthened. A mezzotint is characterized
by an even graduation of tones, resembling those of a photograph (which is
why it's also called mezzotint engraving).
Alternate definition: A method of engraving a metal
plate by systematically and evenly pricking its entire surface with
innumerable small holes that will hold ink and, when printed, produce
large areas of tone. The term mezzotint (from the Italian mezza tinta, or
"halftone") derives from the capability of the process to
produce soft, subtle gradations of tone. Used alone, however, mezzotint
designs are often indistinct; consequently, engraved or etched lines are
introduced to give the design greater definition.
Photoetching, Photoaquatint (Photochemical
Engraving) -- A process of producing an engraved block or plate for
printing, as by photographing the original on metal and etching away the
metal in those portions unaffected by the light.
Photogravure -- The act or process of
producing an intaglio plate for printing in which there are no sharp
incised lines, but varying depressions that result in a range of dark,
shadows, and white. A photogravure also refers to a photographically
sensitive film that has been printed from a negative is laid on a metal
plate, and developed and bitten in with a mordant, producing a plate that
may be printed from like a copperplate.
Photolithography -- The art, process, or
operation of producing on stone or metal, largely by photographic means, a
printing surface from which impressions may be taken by a lithographic
process.
Relief printing -- One of the primary
printmaking techniques, which uses a raised or embossed design, or relief,
on a block to create prints. Here, the ink lies on top of the relief
before being transferred to paper.
Serigraph -- Another term for a stencil
print.
Silkscreen -- A type
of stencil print where the stencil is attached to a fine screen, which
serves as a support.
Stencil printing -- One of the primary
printmaking techniques. Here, ink is applied over a stencil, or cut out,
to transfer the image of the stencil to paper. The first stencil prints
were called pochoirs.
Woodcut -- An
incised or relief design cut into a block of wood. See Engraving, above.
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