HELPFUL INFORMATION
HOW TO BUY ARTWhether you are a casual buyer of art, buying to decorate, or building a collection, it is important that you understand what you are buying and know if you are getting value for your money.
This section describes the most common art products on the market and gives you some sense of their relative value. It is followed by a glossary of art terms.
ORIGINAL ART
Two broad categories of art on the market are: ORIGINAL art and REPRODUCTION. We will talk first about ORIGINAL ART. When we?? talk about original art we could be talking, for example, about an oil painting on canvas, an acrylic painting on canvas or paper, a mixed media painting on board, a pastel or charcoal drawing, a collage, sculpture, ceramic, etching, woodcut, linocut, serigraph, lithograph, or any of a number of media that involves the creation of a work of art by hand. The term, \"by hand\" more essentially defines original art than does the term \"one of a kind\". Forms of printmaking such as serigraphy, lithography and etching make it possible to produce multiple impressions of the same work. But because each print is produced by hand, they are indeed authentic originals. It is possible, then, to have a one-of-a-kind original or multiple originals.
We can generally expect to pay premium price for an original work. The artist spends many years learning and honing his craft as well as building a career and a reputation, often at great sacrifice. All of that plus the creative energy and time spent creating the particular work factor into the value and the price of the work. The biggest determining factor, however, is the reknown of the artist.
There are many \"generic\" type of oil paintings on the market that are very inexpensive. They are often the work of unknown artists or so-called \'starving artists\', many working under assumed names. There has been the emergence recently of certain multi-level art marketing operations that specialize in mass produced oil paintings and canvas transfers that resemble oil paintings. Some of these paintings are recreations of, or variations on, existing works by well known Black artists painted in an assembly-line type situation by hourly paid artists as far away as Asia. These are priced purely as a product and you can expect to pay anywhere from ?50 - ?900 (depending on framing) for one of them. They are fine for decorating but they will not hold any value over and above what was paid for them and they will not appreciate in value.
ORIGINAL PRINTS
In terms of a definition, we could say original prints are nearly identical multiple originals of a specific image or work of art. The process of creating prints by hand is a very painstaking and laborious one, and one which requires specialized training. Each print is individually hand pulled from a plate, block, stone or screen which was created by, or under the direction of, the artist.
The easiest way to understanding the basis of fine art printmaking is to recall a childhood pastime. Most of us have cut a potato in half and carved an image unto its surface. We then dipped that surface in ink or watercolors and pressed it against paper, leaving a reversed impression of the carving. The point of potato printing is much the same as the more technically complicated printmaking. Most fine art original prints are done in very limited editions and each one is signed by the artist (usually in pencil, because it is more permanent than ink). Also handwritten on each original print is the number of prints in the edition, together with the sequence number of that particular print.
The most popular forms of original prints are lithograph, serigraph, etching, woodcut, engraving and aquatint. Each of these is done with a different technique and each has a special identifiable quality.
What should you expect to pay? The price of an original hand-pulled print by an emerging artist will average around ?600. A newly released edition by a more established artist will run between ?1,000 to ?2,000, and you can expect to pay anywhere from ?4,000 to ?8,000 for an original print by a major artist such as Romare Bearden.
FORMS OF PRINTMAKING
Lithographs
The lithographic process is based on the chemical principle that oil (or grease) does not mix with water. The design is drawn with a greasy crayon, or brushed with a greasy ink, directly onto the smooth-grained surface of a stone or metal plate. The plate is then dampened with water, and inked. The ink clings only to the greasy crayon marks. When a sheet of paper is pressed against the stone or plate, the ink on the greasy parts is transferred onto the paper, thus forming the image.
Serigraphs
A serigraph is produced by screen printing. The process has been popularly known as silkscreen printing because screens were first made of silk. Today, however, screens can be made of paper, metal, or plastics. The screen is tightly stretched across a frame. The design is made by blocking out the entire screen, except for the area to be printed.
Paper is placed under the screen, ink is then pressed over the screen through the open or unblocked areas onto the paper below, thereby creating the original art image. Whenever a serigraph is printed in more than one color, a separate screen must be made for each color. Each color is applied separately through a screen blocked out to allow the color to fall only where wanted on the design.
Etchings
A metal plate is coated with an acid-resisting material called the \"ground\". The artist draws his design on the plate with a sharp needle which removes the ground wherever the needle touches it. When the plate is put in an acid bath, the exposed parts are etched (or eaten away). This produces sunken lines that receive or hold the ink for printing. The plate is wiped clean, leaving the ink in the sunken area. The plate, in contact with dampened paper, is passed through a roller press. This forces paper into the sunken areas to receive the ink, thereby forming the art image on the paper.
Woodcuts (and Linocuts)
This is the oldest known printing method. The design is drawn on a flat block of smooth hardwood. Then the surface around the lines or areas of the design is chiselled away, leaving the design in high relief. The block is inked and the paper is placed under it and rubbed, transferring the image to the paper. A separate block is used for each color. A linocut is made the same way except that linoleum is substituted for wood.
Original prints offer an affordable way to get our feet wet in starting to collect art. Printmaking is an artistic medium equal to any other and the relatively low cost of original prints enables most people of moderate means to own and cherish genuine works of art.
Browse our selection of original prints on avisca.com and our fine art web site aviscafineart.com.
REPRODUCTIONS
Reproductions constitute the second broad category of art on the market. A work will usually fall into one of the two categories: original or reproduction.
A reproduction is a duplication of an original work of art. Most reproductions are created using a commercial printing process known as offset lithography (hence the term \"offset print\" sometimes to describe them). Although we loosely use the word \"print\" to refer to any work on paper, it is important, as we have seen, to make the distinction between original print and offset print, and more importantly, to know the difference. The difference in terms of price can be a few hundred dollars.
Offset prints are collectible mainly for their aesthetic value and the meaning and pleasure they bring to the buyer. They are inexpensive to produce and the printing process lends itself to large editions (that is, the total number of prints produced). Typically the artist will produce anywhere from 1,000 to 4,000 each time, with the possibility of future reprints. These are known in the business as \"open edition\" prints.
The advantages of open edition prints are many. They are the least expensive art medium. They enable us to enjoy a wide variety of art, from masters to local artists, at prices we all can afford. We can bring art into our children\'s lives for a very small investment. They offer us many decorating options and we can change our wall hangings when we get tired of them at no great cost.
POSTERS
A poster is a reproduction of original artwork. What makes the reproduction a poster is the inclusion of copy (writing) as an essential part of the design. Posters were historically used to advertise, publicise, or commemorate something, for example, an exhibition. Artists sometimes utilize this art form to link their name to their work and to promote their name.
The average price of a full size offset print or poster is ?25 to ?40. Larger prints and prints signed by the artist can fetch up to ?80.
LIMITED EDITION REPRODUCTIONS
Artists sometimes make the decision to limit the number of reproductions they print of a work. This decision is usually a marketing decision and may come in part from the desire to create a premium product and satisfy the buyer\'s demand for an uncommon and exclusive product. The artist is also able to charge more for these prints. This sub-category of offset prints is referred to as \"limited edition\" or \"signed and numbered\" prints.
Once the decision to limit the edition (that is, total number printed), each print is individually numbered and signed by the artist. Sometimes the artist or publisher will issue a \"Certificate of Authenticity\" to accompany each print, attesting to the authenticity of the numbering and the signature.
There is a big market for limited edition offset prints because they offer the satisfaction of being among a relatively small number of people who will own that print - one numbered and signed by the artist!
Limited edition offset prints generally start at around ?80 but average about ?150. Prices may be related to the size of the edition as well as the demand for the particular artist\'s work. An artist who is \"hot\" may command ?200 to ?250 for his print when it is first released and increase the price as the available prints dwindle. Once the artist sells all the available prints to his distribution outlets (galleries, dealers), market forces and sellers can set the price as high as people are willing to pay.
We usually caution our customers against over-paying for limited edition reproductions because the idea of appreciation in the reproduction segment of the matket is largely illusionary and they tend not to hold their value on the resale, or secondary, market. Another consideration is their longevity. Limited edition offset prints, unlike original prints, are generally not produced on quality paper that would ensure the physical preservation of the work. Besides, for the asking price of some of these \'in demand\' limited edition reproductions, we may be able to acquire an original print by an established artist or a painting by a promising young artist.
THE LANGUAGE OF PRINTS
Below are some of the common terms in general use in the field of prints.
Acid-free Paper: Paper product in which the acidic content of the fibers used to form the paper has been neutralized. It is the acid content in regular paper that over time causes yellowing and brittling. This more expensive paper is sometimes used in printing limited edition prints.
Artist\'s Proof: A print outside of the regular numbered edition but printed at the same time, or after the regular edition from the plate or screens, without changes. Usually about 10% of the edition total is reserved as Artist\'s Proof. These prints are identified by one of the following markings: \'Artist\'s Proof\' (or A.P.); \'H.C.\' for the French Hors de Commerce, literally, \'Out of Trade\'. H.C.\'s were usually used for entering shows, exhibits, etc. and as samples. Today, however, since people have begun to acquire and collect them, these prints now generally find their way to the market through regular channels and are sold at a premium.
Cancelled Plate: After an edition is printed, the plate is frequently scratched or otherwise defaced in order to prevent further printings.
Certificate of Authenticity: A piece of paper which sometimes accompany limited edition prints. It may contain information such as the printing process used, the edition size, the year of printing, the title, the artist\'s name and it is sometimes signed by the publisher or the artist.
Edition: The total number of prints made of a specific image.
Hand Signing and Numbering: Signing and numbering is a relatively modern practice. It is usually one way the artist authenticates a limited edition print. The most common method used today is to record on the left side of the print the size of the edition and the number of the particular print. For example, 11/150 means that there were 150 prints in the edition of which this number is 11. The signature usually appears at the right margin of the print.
Remarque: A small personalized drawing with the artist\'s initials usually near the pencilled signature in the margin of the print.