Gallery Focus
Print
or Reproduction?
by K J May
Harris House Fine Art
What, exactly, is an original print? This question frequently causes
confusion and sparks debate amongst present-day art lovers, collectors,
dealers, and even artists themselves.
Commercial art reproductions based on photographic processes have been
around for well over a century. The most common publishing method, offset
lithography, has been joined recently by giclee—digitally
reproduced images printed with inkjet—and these methods are well suited to
posters, book illustration and advertising art. Unfortunately, the art markets
have been flooded in the last thirty years or so, with costly yet ultimately
worthless reproductions posing as limited edition prints.
This confusion has been created by art publishers, investors, and
ambitious artists with an eye to making large profits from an uninformed
public—a public who are under the impression that if it’s signed and numbered
and comes with a certificate, it is not only worth paying a high price for, but
will appreciate in value as well. In many cases, the artists themselves,
particularly those without a background in the methods of original printmaking,
have been led to believe this as well.
Yet true printmaking—in its various forms—is as legitimate and exciting
a visual art form as any other original medium such as painting, drawing, and
sculpture. And, as with other art forms, the history of printmaking is rich
with accidental discovery, experimentation, improvement and mastery of
technique.
Traditional printing methods—relief (such as woodblock and linocut),
intaglio (such as etching, aquatint and drypoint), planographic (lithography and chromolithography) and
serigraph (silkscreen)—are still being practised today. Some artists adhere
closely to the time honoured methods of earlier masters, while others are
finding new means of expression through the blending of old and new. A
contemporary sensitivity with regards to environmental and health issues has
led to some innovative new techniques such as Polyester Plate Lithography and Solarplate etching.
Whatever route an artist chooses to go, it is heartening to know that
original art in the form of the print is making a comeback, is constantly
evolving and is available, affordably,
to the sophisticated collector who demands the real thing.
It is our hope that, through education, enthusiasm, and perhaps most
importantly, integrity, more artists will be encouraged to pursue traditional
printmaking methods as another form of artistic expression and offer, at the
same time, artwork that is both original and affordable, to a better informed
public.
For more
information, and for those interested in contemporary artists involved in
traditional printmaking techniques
http://printworkshopcentral.com
For
further reading on the fraudulent practice of selling art reproductions as
valuable prints, an excellent article
“The
———————————————————————————————————————————————
AVAILABLE
ARTWORK ARTISTS’ PROFILES CONTACT FINE ART HOME