Buying Original Art
What is original art?
What makes a work of art original, is that the art work comes from the hand of the artist. That is to say that the artist is the creator of the physical and conceptual work of art. As the creator the artist holds the right of ownership to the work of art.
Isn't all art work original?
There are many ways to duplicate a work of art. Some artists will have an original work of art they created reproduced by a professional printer who will reproduce the art on an offset printing press similar to the process used for producing magazines and newspapers. This process can produce many copies from the original art work. This removes the artist from the printing process. To buy a work of art produced by this method, more than likely will not appreciate beyond what was paid for the piece. Some artists will work with a professional print making studio with professionally trained print makers.Working in collaboration with the artist, will produce an edition of prints. Usually between twenty and two hundred prints. Prints produced by a print making studio will have a smaller number of prints to an edition. Each individual print will be numbered and hand signed by the artist. Prints produced and published by a professional print making studio are more than likely to retain their purchase price and possibly grow in value depending on the popularity of the artist. Still other artists produce their own prints in their own studios. These artists have the greatest control over the print making process and handling of the finished prints. To buy directly from the artist or the artist's representative is the best way to guarantee the art work to be original, created by the hand of the artist. Works bought directly from the artist or art dealer working directly with the artist will have a greater chance of appreciating over the long term. Original works of art can and do make excellent investments. I also have a growing collection of prints by artists who I think are important not only as artists but also as print makers. I hope I have been some help in your understanding of fine art print collecting.
What is fake art?
There are as many ways to fake art as there are ways to create art work. Many artists themselves are not to particular about how there work is reproduced and sold on the open market. The artist Salvador Dali was not only a painter but a printmaker as well. Dali created many plates for use in producing prints, however Dali himself was not always in charge of the actual printing process and as a result such great numbers of prints were produced that the value of his printed art work is not likely to increase in value for quiet a long time if ever. It is known that Dali would have a whole truck load of paper delivered to him so that he could sign the sheets before they were sent to the printer.
There are also some art dealers who have become art forgers by replicating the printing plates of the artist that they represent and producing forged works of art in mass. I have personally bought art work from a family of art dealers who were convicted of art forgery and sent to prison. A way to tell if you are buying one of these prints is that the print is usually not signed, or the work is signed on the printing plate. Also the price asked for the print is usually much less than the price of other art works by that artist. Always look to see if a print is signed in pencil by the artist and possibly numbered as well. If the print is not signed by the artist always ask the dealer for a certificate of authenticity or COA. Another way to be sure you are buying a genuine art print is to buy from an art publisher. A good art publisher will always issue a COA and stand behind there artists work.
If you are planning on buying art work of a known artist it is a good idea that you find out as much as you can about the artist before you buy the art. Most well know artists will have most of there art work cataloged in a "Catalogues Raisonnes" which you can find in most of the larger libraries, or look the artist up on the web. Another good source of information on known artists are auction catalogs which are available from most auction houses.
When buying the work of artists who are no longer living you must rely on the reputation of the dealer selling that artists work. Always try to buy from an art dealer with a known reputation, the dealer should have a local listing and a registered business. There are many artists who's families and or estates have authorized the reproduction of the artists works. These art works will usually be marked with a stamp authorized by the estate or a stamp from the studio which was authorized to produce the art work.
© Ross D. Jahnig 98
The following are books which I recommend on these subjects.
Gallery
