|
|
What Is a Limited-Edition Investment Print?
Copyrighted Material by Robert Devere | All Righths Reserved
Salon versus Exhibition Print
A limited-edition investment print (also called a salon print) is not an exhibition print. A standard exhibition print (also called a display print) is a photographic image in any size that is primarily exhibited for the purpose of promoting the photographer's work and his or her name to the general public. Display prints may or may not be offered for sale, are not limited to a specific number of copies, nor are they regulated by a quantity control process or validation number. Limited-edition salon prints, unlike standard exhibition prints, are photographic prints that are created, exhibited and marketed as fine art photographs in limited editions to enhance their value for collectors and investors of fine art images. Limited-edition prints must meet certain criteria.
The Image Produced Must Be the Artist's Original Work
This seems obvious at first. An image produced by an artist is original work. Right? Not necessarily. If an artist finds a 'public domain' image, subjects it to a photo-editing application and alters it digitally, the revised image is not an original work. Unfortunately, the buyer has no way of knowing whether the artist produced an original work or an altered work. That's why the integrity of the artist is of paramount importance. How do you judge or evaluate an artist's integrity? You ensure that a Certificate of Authenticity is always provided by the artist to the buyer of his or her work and, somewhere within the certificate, it states that the image is the artist's "original" work.
The Image Must Be Limited to a Specific Number of Copies
The image must be limited to a specific number of copies beyond which no other copies are ever produced. If a limited-edition set of 200 images is produced of a particular photograph, there can never be another copy numbered 201. Unfortunately, there are some unscrupulous photographers who make monumental efforts to mislead or work around such limits. These few misguided photographers tarnish the reputations of honest photographers and damage the trust that collectors of limited-edition prints place in all of us. For this reason, these photographers and their scams should be publicly exposed whenever possible.
Not all photographers agree to what "limited edition" means. Limited-edition prints have been standard in printmaking from the nineteenth century onwards. A limit to the print run was crucial, as many traditional and older printmaking techniques could only produce a limited number of best quality impressions. This can be as few as ten or twenty for prints that had to be developed by hand (darkroom printing), but more commonly would be limited to about 100 or 200 reproductions. Print runs of over 500 are regarded as dubious by the serious art market for original prints because the larger the quantity, the less valuable is each print within the same set.
A limited-edition print is normally hand signed and numbered by the artist in the form of 14/100. The first number is the number of the print itself; the second number is the number of overall prints the artist will ever produce of that image. The lower the second number is, the more valuable and collectible the limited editions are likely to be. Collectors and other patrons of the arts want to know that their image is one of only a hundred or two hundred in the entire world.
The purchaser of limited-edition prints must exercise some caution, as some photographers consider a limited-edition set of a particular image to mean 100 or 200 8" x 10" signed and numbered prints. The same image printed on 11" x 14" photo paper is considered a separate edition, as is another printing on 16" x 20" photo paper. You can readily see the problem.
Let's suppose a photographer produces a limited edition of 200 8" x 10" prints; another limited edition of 200 11" x 14" prints; and yet another limited edition of 200 16" x 20" prints... of the same image. When the purchaser buys an 8" x 10" print, the print is numbered, let's say, 14/200 (meaning the 14th print out of a set of 200 8" x 10" prints). The purchaser believes he or she is buying print number 14 out of a limited-edition set of only 200 of the same image. In fact, there are 600 prints of the same image available for circulation... they're just in different sizes. It's the image that's important; not the size of the print. In actuality, the buyer purchased one of 600 identical images. One in 200 represents a certain value; one in 600 represents a lesser value.
In some states, the law does not authoritatively define "limited edition"; in other states, it is more strictly defined, but there's still ambiguity in that an artist may determine what a limited-edition work is. When it comes to exhibiting and marketing photographic work, always take the high road and clearly spell out to the buyer what "limited edition" means: The image is produced as an original work, and the image (not the size of the print) is limited to a specific number of copies, beyond which no other copies are ever produced.
The Image Must Be Signed by the Artist in His or Her Own Hand
The artist's signature is not impressed upon the print by a signature stamp or other marking device. Most buyers of consumer art, artwork and photos that are purchased from department stores for covering a bare wall or decorating hallways, do not expect the work to contain the artist's signature. In fact, stock art, as it is referred to, almost never contains a signature. If it does, the signature is copied along with the artwork. Limited-edition prints, however, are purchased by investors and serious art collectors who expect returns (an increase in value over time) on their purchases; therefore, they also expect that the artwork contains the artist's personal autograph.
Buyers of limited-edition prints demand that the artist's original autograph appears somewhere on the print. In other words, 200 copies of a particular image may be reproduced from the original image (negative or digital file), but each copy of the 200 prints must be signed by the artist individually. The signature on each print is an original autograph of the artist.
The Artist Must Provide to the Buyer a Certificate of Authenticity
A Certificate of Authenticity is signed by the artist and attests to the total number of images that are available for circulation.
CAUTION: Do NOT purchase limited-edition prints that are not accompanied by Certificates of Authenticity. I always include certificates that show the maximum number of prints of a specific image that will ever be in circulation, and give uncontested legal ownership of the issue-numbered print to the buyer.
The Certificate of Authenticity is a simple, but legally binding, piece of paper. It obligates the artist or photographer to specific expectations by the buyer of the artwork. Most artists provide the total number of images in a specific photographic format; for example, "print number 32/200 in the 8 x 10 format" (that is, there are 200 copies of this particular image in an 8" x 10" format and this image is number 32). Most experienced investors and collectors will NOT purchase the image. They are well aware that the Certificate of Authenticity excludes limitations to this image being reproduced in other format sizes. By defining a limited-edition print as simply "print number 32/200" (that is, there are only 200 prints of this image in the entire world), you can be sure that you are receiving the best investment for your money because there can never be a print of this particular image in any other limited-edition format or print size. The restriction to distribution is limited to the image and not the size of the print.
Optionally, the Artist May Include a Hidden Mark in the Image
An optional hidden mark within the image area of a limited-edition print is characteristic to the specifically numbered print; that is, each print carries its own identifiable mark. The hidden mark is used for authentication purposes (only the photographer or artist and the buyer knows the mark and its location). Limited-edition prints that carry hidden marks differentiates the original artwork from frauds and thus protects the buyer's investment from devaluation due to unauthorized copies that may be illegally distributed into the marketplace. It is a "best practice" to always include a hidden mark in any limited-edition print that is sold to collectors of limited-edition works and other patrons of the arts.
|
|
|
|
|