What Is the Pencil Mark at the Bottom of an Art Print?

Collecting Guide: 11 key things to know well-nigh Prints & Multiples

From woodcuts to lithographs, originals vs editions, the importance of different types of paper, and much more than likewise. Illustrated with standout works offered at Christie's

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A impress is any work of fine art made in multiple iterations, created through a transfer process. There are many different types of prints, and the process is constantly evolving, just the four best-known techniques are etching, lithography, screenprint and woodcut.

Etching: Using an etching needle, an artist scratches an image onto a metal plate covered with wax. This plate is then submerged in acid, which eats into the metal exposed by the scratched lines. The longer the plate is left in the acid, the deeper and darker the line will be. The plate is cleaned, inked, and cleaned again, leaving only the incised lines filled with ink. Dampened paper and a protective textile are placed over the plate, which is squeezed through an etching press — the pressure forcing the paper into the etched lines to pick upward the ink. The image is printed in reverse, and an indentation, known equally the 'plate marker', is left by the plate'due south edges.

Etching has oftentimes been used to achieve extremely delicate black and white images, from the Old Master menstruation through to modern times. Rembrandt famously used this technique to achieve atmospheric furnishings, and Lucian Freud continued the tradition into the 21st century.

Lucian Freud (1922-2011), Garden in Winter, 1997-1999. Carving, on Somerset Textured White newspaper. Image: 30⅛ x 23⅜ in (765 x 594 mm). Sheet: 38⅝ x 30¼ in (983 x 768 mm). Judge: $forty,000-60,000. Offered in Prints and Multiples on 22 April, New York

Lithography: The creative person draws onto stone using a grease-based medium — normally special lithographic crayons, or greasy ink known as tusche. The stone is and then treated with a chemical solution that ensures the image will attract press ink, and that blank areas repel ink and concenter water. A solvent 'fixes' the paradigm, and the surface is dampened with water. Oil-based ink is so applied to the stone with a roller, adhering only to the image. Finally, the stone is placed on a lithographic press and covered with damp paper and lath — a force per unit area bar ensuring force is evenly applied beyond the image. The epitome is printed in contrary, with separate stones used for circuitous images of multiple colours.

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (1864-1901), Jane Avril, 1899. Lithograph in colors, on wove paper. Canvass: 21⅝ x 14⅝ in (549 x 372 mm). Estimate: $30,000-50,000. Offered in Prints and Multiples on 22 Apr 2022 at Christie's New York

Lithography opened upwards printmaking to artists otherwise reluctant to larn the technical skills needed to create woodcuts or etchings, since many of the same tools, such every bit brushes and pencils, can be used. Lithography was first made famous by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec in the 19th century, but has been embraced by many of the major artists of the Post-War period, including Pablo Picasso, Joan Miró, David Hockney and Jasper Johns.

Screenprint: An epitome is cut into a sheet of newspaper or plastic moving-picture show, creating a stencil. This stencil is then placed in a frame, which has a layer of fine mesh stretched across information technology, forming a 'screen'. A sail of paper is placed below the screen, and ink is pushed through the stencil from to a higher place, using a safe bract or duster. Only cutting-out portions of the stencil print. In addition to stencils, a photographic prototype can be reproduced on the screen using light-sensitive gelatins. This was a hugely important innovation for Andy Warhol and other members of the Pop generation, who would advisable commercial photographs and popular images in tandem with the technique.

Andy Warhol (1928-1987), Truck, 1985. The consummate set of 4 screenprints in colors, on Lenox Museum Board, each signed in pencil and numbered 51⁄60 (there were likewise fifteen artist'south proof sets), published by the Bundesverband des Deutschen Güterfernverkehrs, Frankfurt am Main, in collaboration with Hermann Wünsche, Bonn. Each Sheet: 39¼ x 39¼ in (k x thousand mm). Estimate: $80,000-120,000. Offered in Prints and Multiples on 22 April 2022 at Christie's in New York

Woodcut: An image is sketched on a block of wood before the surface is carved into with gouging tools. The resulting raised portions of the block are then coated in ink using a roller. A sheet of paper is placed on top and pressure is practical, leaving an impression of the block's raised areas in reverse. Woodcut is the oldest printmaking process. It was of item interest to the German language Expressionists including Ernst Ludwig Kirchner, and it continues to be relevant today — artists such as Donald Judd, Damien Hirst and Helen Frankenthaler have all used information technology.

Donald Judd (1928-1994),Untitled: one impress, 1988. Woodcut in cadmium red, on Okawara paper. Prototype: 15⅝ x 23½ in (397 10 597 mm). Canvass: 23½ ten 31½ in (597 10 800 mm). Estimate: $15,000-20,000. Offered in Prints and Multiples on 22 April 2022 at Christie'southward in New York

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• Is a impress more than than simply a copy of an original?

Although printmaking involves reproducing an paradigm, a impress is more than merely a copy of an original. Fine fine art prints are something else entirely, resulting from a shut collaboration between the artist and the print studio. Printers — the people who work with the artist to produce an edition — are highly skilled technicians, and are often artists in their own right.

Yayoi Kusama (B. 1929), Pumpkin (White T), 1992. Screenprint, on wove paper. Image: 28¼ x 23⅝ in (718 x 600 mm). Canvass: 32⅝ x 27½ in (829 x 699 mm). Estimate: $40,000-60,000. Offered in Prints and Multiples on 22 April 2022 at Christie's in New York

Prints are not fabricated in large production runs intended solely for commercial sale. A express number (known as an edition) are produced, with prescribed routes for initial sale — either through the artist, a commercial gallery or a publisher. As a result they are true works of art, and as of import to the artist as drawings or other works on paper.

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• Why do artists make prints?

Artists make prints for a variety of reasons. They might be drawn to the collaborative nature of the print studio, or the potential for innovation the medium offers, or for a print'southward potential to certificate each stage of a creative procedure. Prints can offer a completely different artistic outlet to the artist's main working method.

Jasper Johns (B. 1930), Corpse and Mirror, 1976. Screenprint in colors, on Nishinouchi Kizuki Kozo paper watermark Corpse and Mirror. Epitome: 36½ x 47 in (927 x 1194 mm). Sheet: 42⅞ x 53 in (1089 ten 1346 mm). Estimate: $100,000-150,000. Offered in Prints and Multiples on 22 April 2022 at Christie's in New York

Lucian Freud would create etchings just in black and white post-obit his days in the painting studio, while Ellsworth Kelly applied the same fastidious understanding of colour and form to his editioned work. Some artists consistently make prints for their entire career — Jasper Johns and Pablo Picasso are famously prolific examples —while others come to printmaking in bursts of activity, such every bit Barnett Newman. Typically these periods can exist aligned to working with a particular print workshop.

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• Originals vs. editions and multiples — what exercise I demand to know?

An 'original' print is technically a unique work given it is by and large produced as a limited number of impressions (collectively known equally an edition), and each print is given an edition number, typically written equally a fraction — for example, 24/l. The number to the right of the slash indicates the edition size (in this example, 50), while the figure to the left is the individual print'southward number.

A proof number

An artist may also produce a limited number of creative person's proofs, often marked A/P, that are identical in nature to the standard edition. Hither once again, fractions may be used to indicate the full number of proofs, and the print number (east.g. A/P i/4). Other proofs may exist made at an before stage, as the creative person and printer develop an image or examination different compositions. These are known every bit state proofs, trial proofs or colour proofs. These can be unique, with differences in color combinations, paper types or size. Andy Warhol started to sell his trial proofs every bit unique color-combinations separate from the edition, and they're now some of the most coveted works in his print market.

When the image is perfected, a proof is made and signed B.A.T. (an abbreviation of the French bon à tirer, or 'gear up to print'). The rest of the edition is matched to this paradigm, which is unique and traditionally kept by the printer.

Christie's defines an 'original print' as a limited-edition print past an artist that conforms to other prints in their catalogue raisonné, or matches other confirmed examples of the print by the artist. Our catalogue entries will always explain how we accept reached the conclusion that a print is an accurate original. We give the artist's proper name, the championship of the work, what type of print it is (e.g. a lithograph, etching or screenprint), and the year it was made. Finally, we indicate how the work is numbered, and whether it is from the standard edition or a proof. Nosotros also list where applicable in the literature field the appropriate catalogue raisonné numbers for the piece.

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• How important are the unlike types of paper used in prints?

A sign of a truthful impress specialist is not only their involvement in technique but also their obsession with paper. Our cataloguing information volition depict what type of paper a print is on, and will describe a watermark if information technology's present.

The choice of paper is an important role of the printmaking process considering it can directly influence the nature of what the printed epitome looks similar. Johns is famous for having pushed for higher quality, heavier paper for his prints, while Warhol loved cheaper, thinner paper for his Soup Canprints from the 1960s to emphasise that they were meant to exist enjoyed past the masses.

Andy Warhol (1928-1987), Pepper Pot, from Campbell'south Soup I, 1968. Screenprint in colors, on smooth wove paper. Image: 31⅞ ten 18⅞ in (810 ten 480 mm). Canvas: 35 x 23 in (889 x 584 mm). Judge: $xv,000-20,000. Offered in Prints and Multiples on 22 Apr 2022 at Christie'due south in New York

Our condition report also notes whether an item is the full canvas or with full margins, which ways that the newspaper has not been trimmed in some fashion, itself an outcome that affects the value.

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• Do dissimilar printmaking studios make a difference in terms of price and quality?

Christie's cataloguing also indicates where a work was published — namely the studio where a print was made. These workshops can be huge product studios with large-scale equipment or small-scale operations with simply a few employees. Some really famous names to pay attention to for Post-War and Contemporary prints are ULAE in West Islip, Long Isle Tyler Graphics in Mountain Kisco, Gemini Yard.E.L. in L.A., and Paragon Press in London. That's just a small option, however, and we are always finding out about new studios.

Robert Rauschenberg (1925-2008), Bellini #2, 1987. Intaglio in colors, on Arches newspaper. Sheet: 58⅝ x 37⅜ in (1489 x 946 mm). Estimate: $12,000-xviii,000. Offered in Prints and Multiples on 22 April 2022 in Christie's New York

There are studios that have been historically of import both for the technical development of printmaking and for the piece of work that was produced there — Tyler Graphics is a famous example. Equally a result, many collectors follow a item studio and collect many of the publications that have been produced there.

Some printers and publishers apply a blindstamp which is an embossed, inked or stamped mark in the paper to mark that an edition was printed at their studio.

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• Are all prints signed? What does it mean if I notice a print without an artist'southward signature?

The majority of the prints sold at Christie's are signed — though not all prints are issued with a signature. Warhol and Picasso both stamp-signed some of their prints, and some larger portfolio editions were merely signed on the title page. Don't be alarmed if a print is just initialled. It doesn't mean that it is worth less — indeed, some artists only initial their prints, such as Richard Diebenkorn and Lucian Freud.

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• Which artists should I be following at auction?

A history of the greatest printmakers in art history would include some of the most significant artists of the past 500 years — from Albrecht Dürer to Rembrandt, Toulouse-Lautrec, Picasso, Warhol and Johns. These artists were not simply interested in using printmaking to create iconic images, but advanced the medium through innovation. Picasso invented totally new ways of printing; Warhol pushed the printers he worked with throughout his career; and Johns continues to create new and exciting prints in his 80s.

Equally a result, the history of printmaking is also a timeline of technological change and reinvention — from the emergence of bones engraving techniques in the 15th century to digital printing in the 21st.

David Hockney (B. 1937), Untitled No. 329, fromA Bigger Book: Art Edition A, 2010. Digital print in colors, on archival paper. Image: 17¼ x 12⅞ in (438 ten 327 mm). Sheet: 22 x sixteen⅞ in (559 ten 429 mm). Estimate: $15,000 – 20,000. Offered in Prints and Multiples on 22 April 2022 at Christie's in New York

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• How do prints sit down inside a broader collection?

The role of prints in a drove can be as multifaceted as prints themselves. They can be a mode of edifice a more comprehensive collection that tells a more consummate story nigh an artist's practice — often featuring themes and compositions found in paintings or sculptures. For case, prints by Picasso and Johns evidence an development of different subjects, but as well reveal the growth of their skill as printmakers over the grade of their careers.

Prints can too present the opportunity to own an authentic and iconic subject field without a seven-figure price tag fastened to information technology. Prints can too be a great style to get started — a way to accustom yourself with styles and artists in the same mode as other mediums simply at a dissimilar price point.

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• How should I care for my print?

How yous frame your print is the nearly of import long-term decision y'all brand when it comes to caring for and keeping the piece. Make sure you lot go to a reputable framer: information technology'southward worth paying for a print to be properly mounted using the right materials, and many are not as expensive equally y'all might think.

Cy Twombly (1928-2011), No. 9, from Natural History Part I: Mushrooms, 1974. Lithograph, grano-lithograph and collotype in colors with collage and hand-coloring in crayon, on Rives Couronne paper. Canvas: 29¾ 10 21⅞ in (756 x 556 mm). Guess: $7,000 – x,000. Offered in Prints and Multiples on 22 April 2022 at Christie'due south in New York

3 primal tips: if a impress has vivid colours, don't hang it in directly sunlight; ensure a print is kept away from any source of moisture; don't trim the sheet to try to fit it in a smaller frame. Framing is something our team is happy to discuss with you — we're very used to being asked these questions.

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• What sort of communication can I expect from Christie'south specialists?

Editions are sold throughout the year at Christie's. Nosotros concur sales in New York in March and July aslope sales in Post-War and Contemporary Art that focus on lower-priced prints by the greats of post-war and gimmicky art. Our dedicated prints sales in April and October in New York and March and September in London are an opportunity to view the broadest range of works in our market. We also concord a number of online sales each yr with all sorts of subjects, ranging from sales past artist or portfolio to thematic sales devoted to particular time periods or compositions.

The specialists who work in Christie'southward Prints & Multiples department are ever happy to explain more about the medium. Our public views in the Christie's galleries offer a great opportunity to become to know us, and give you the gamble to meet the huge range of works we offer in person. Unlike a museum, we're ever happy to have a piece of work out of its frame to enable y'all to take a closer expect at it. A print specialist can discuss condition in forepart of the object itself, and elaborate on the nature of that particular edition. We dear sharing our passion with others.

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Source: https://www.christies.com/features/Prints-Collecting-Guide-7471-1.aspx

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