What is a Fine Art Print?

One of our specialties here at Drake Appraisals is the valuation of fine art prints. So, what is a fine art print?

The term "fine art print" (or Original Print) refers to a work of art that was conceived by the artist as a print and was printed directly from the original matrix (relief block, etching plate, lithographic stone, etc.)

A fine art print can be made using any number of printing methods, from etching to lithography or monotype to relief, provided that the image created did not exist prior to the print being made. 

For example, Roy Lichtenstein's Aspen Winter Jazz Poster is considered an original print, as it is a serigraph poster of an image that did not exist prior to the first print being created with the original screens.

On the other hand, Roy Lichtenstein's Cow Going Abstract serigraphs, which come to auction quite often, are not considered original prints because they are based on paintings that were done earlier in his career. In the The Prints of Roy Lichtenstein: A Catalogue Raisonné 1948-1997, Mary Corlett lists the series of prints in an appendix as "Limited Edition Reproductions." The fact that Lichtenstein authorized the prints to be made and even hand-signed many of them does not change this.

Artworks deemed "original prints" often have higher values. Some original linocut prints by Picasso can realize hundreds of thousands of dollars at auction, while even the highest quality reproductions of those prints will generally have only decorative value.

That said, many reproductions can still have considerable value. In the above example, the Aspen poster and the Cow Going Abstract triptych can bring roughly similar results at auction.