What makes a good investment art piece?

As a beginning collector, you may find yourself wondering HOW you can determine whether the work you are interested in is a good investment. Multiple criteria will determine this important choice for you

Artist

As I previously established in an earlier post, for investment purposes it is wise to collect an established artist (see Who Should We Collect).

Artistic and Historical Significance

This criterion includes originality and creativity. When you are considering a work, ask yourself:

-Is the print an exceptional example of the artist’s work?

-Is it one of the artist’s signature styles?

-Is it one of the pinnacles of the artist's achievement in that style or with respect to his/her output in general?

-How does it relate to other works within that artist’s oeuvre?

-Does it relate to other artworks by other contemporaries of that artist and seem to be "of the moment"?

-Has the print been widely exhibited?

-Is it included in important books and catalogues about the artist?

Pablo Picasso, Le Repas Frugal, 1904, Original Etching

A good example of historical significance is this Pablo Picasso “Le Repas Frugal”. This etching was created early in Picasso’s career, and marks a pivotal moment between Picasso’s Blue and Rose periods.

Image

This is where the aesthetics come into play, and determines the demand for a print. There are multiple sub-criteria in this category, including expressiveness, emotional power, humor, complexity or creative economy of line.

There are also Technical considerations to take into account:

-How was the print produced?

-Does it display superior craftsmanship or technical excellence?

You may also hear a print be described as a “strong impression,” this literally means that the impression left on the paper was a “good pull” or a good press of the image.

Condition

This is especially pertinent to a print. Works on paper are delicate and can easily be damaged by mishandling, poor framing, exposure to strong light and of course the passage of time. But paper is much more resistant than we would imagine. When you look at a Rembrandt etching which is 400 years old and still in very good condition, you can realize that well preserved print can last for almost ever. Of course, the prints in good condition are more sought after by collectors and therefore their prices are higher.

Badly Damaged Etching, Artist Unknown

It is always important to determine the whole condition of a print including margins (full or not), stains, fading, etc..

A frame can be beautiful but can hide defects which can make the print of a much lesser value than the marked price.

Rarity

The international art market decides the price of a print, based on the principle of supply and demand. Original prints may exist in multiples, but they are still extremely limited. Considering an edition of 50 spread in the whole world you can easily do the math! If a certain print is in demand and the supply is no longer there, the price will go up. The rarity of a piece usually makes it more desirable and more valuable.

You should ask yourself:

-How large is the edition?

-Are there any variations within the edition?

-Has this artist produced many prints or very few?

I am often asked if the number of the edition also determines the value, and the answer is no, with a few exceptions. To the art market the number values are all the same so number 11/200 is the same as 199/200. Some people can value lower numbers, and or special numbers but this not relevant. Other exceptions are the proofs and special editions aside from the regular edition. These can be more valuable, because they can be seen as special.

Signature

Plate Signed

A signature by hand is important because we always prefer to see the direct intervention of the artist on an original print, although that does not mean that a print MUST be signed to be original. Some print editions are unsigned and still very expensive, a good example of this is Renoir's Enfant Au Biscuit, which was never signed but is still considered extremely valuable.

Hand Signed

Sometimes the signature is in the plate or stone. Sometimes the print is estate signed or estate stamped, meaning it bares the stamp of the Warhol Estate as an example. When researching a print it is very good to consult the catalogue raisonné for that artist, as it will help you determine how the specific edition was signed, if ever.

Pierre Auguste Renoir, Enfant au Biscuit, circa 1898-99, Original Lithograph

Provenance

The provenance is the history of ownership. If a piece was owned by a prestigious collector or famous individual it might be viewed as more valuable. But this is rather true for unique works whose traceability is much easier. Usually the provenance of most prints in the market is unknown and this does not affect their value.

What Artists are the best to Collect for Investment?

There are essentially two kinds of artists that you can collect:

Artists we KNOW, and Artists we FEEL.

Artists We Know

"Artists we know" are artists who have established themselves in the art market. If we were to liken these to stocks, these established artists would be considered “Blue Chips.” Obvious examples of these artists would be longtime recognized artists: Picasso, Chagall, Matisse, Warhol, Lichtenstein, etc. But also more and more living artists like David Hockney, Damien Hirst, Gerhard Richter, Peter Doig, Lucian Freud, Robert Indiana, Christo, etc.

Woman admiring Pablo Picasso prints at the MET Museum, New York

ArtistsWe Feel

"Artists we feel" are just that, artists that perhaps have not yet established themselves in the art scene, but we feel they are something special, and have great potential. These artists are comparable to a stock market “Start-up.” Of course there is no guarantee that these artists will ever reach Museum Status, but that is not why we invest in these artists, we invest in them because their works speaks to us on a visceral level, and we feel them with our hearts and souls.

Unknown Artist Exhibition, Los Angeles

Artists we know vs. Artists we feel

There is nothing wrong with spending some money on the artists we feel and love, just to have the pleasure of seeing them on our walls. My recommendation is to keep these kinds of investments low enough to enjoy without losing a lot, as money is hard earned, and a substantial price should only be paid for REAL VALUE with a strong future potential. If your purpose of collecting is investing then GO WITH WHAT YOU KNOW!

 Andy Warhol, Moonwalk, 1987 Screenprint

Why Should We Collect Original Prints?

 Affordability

The first and probably the most obvious reason for us to collect original prints is that they are simply more affordable than other mediums. The affordability also lends itself to better quality and quantity. For the same price as a small painting by an unknown or minor artist, you might be able to collect an important print by a major internationally famous artist such as Picasso, Chagall, Matisse, etc.

Picasso Exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City 2010

A Picasso painting recently broke the world record and sold for more than 106 Million dollars, but you could acquire a museum quality Picasso graphic for under $20K.

You get more for your money, and the prospect of owning an original work by a master is more attainable than you realize.

Opportunity to Collect a Museum Quality Master

Picasso Exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City 2010

Although just about every significant museum of modern art today acquires prints, one of the best examples of the benefits of print collecting was provided by Norton Simon, the industrialist and founder of his eponymous museum, who hoarded Picasso prints like they were going out of style. He acquired 710 Picasso prints but only five Picasso paintings. Clearly, he didn’t do it because, unlike many print collectors, they were the only Picassos he could afford, but rather because the print medium, especially in the hands of Picasso, the greatest print innovator of all time, gave rise to unique and breathtakingly beautiful artistic expressions.

Availability

Picasso Exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City 2010

It is also good to note that because the original print medium is a medium of limited editions, the availability of these master prints is much better, although many popular or exceptional editions can be increasingly difficult to come by.

What is an Original Graphic Print?

Fine Art collecting can be an enjoyable and lucrative enterprise, but it can be easy to get lost in the process (no pun intended). As a new collector it may seem intimidating and somewhat confusing.

You might ask: How can a print be an original and valuable?

Many people confuse the print medium as a medium of copies, and though there are prints that are indeed copies after paintings or after pieces, the various print mediums are simply another method of creation for an artist. An artist chooses to create in a specific medium: drawing, sculpture, photography, film, painting or printmaking. Even within these mediums there are a plethora of media in which the work is created; for example a painting could be an acrylic, oil, tempera or gouache…or even a variety of these.

Within the print medium there are likewise various processes to attain the desired image. A graphic print is a term used to describe a print made by lithography, silk-screening, etching, aquatint, drypoint engraving, woodcut or linocut. An artist uses these printmaking methods as a vehicle of expression, and draws or paints directly on the plate or screen. Printmaking is much more involved than it sounds because the artist also must take into consideration that whatever he/she draws in the plate will be backwards once it is printed on paper. In addition to drawing in reverse, the finished print often requires multiple plates or screens to add specific hues and saturation to the final look.

Graphic prints are considered to be “original multiples,” as the finished print is the only manifestation of such work. Usually an artist makes a limited run or edition of these prints, and often they are ‘signed and numbered’ which means they are numbered sequentially and hand-signed by the artist.

Limited Editions have a stated limit of prints in the edition, and in fact the screen or plate is usually destroyed or damaged in a fashion that would make a posthumous (after death) re-print impossible. There are some editions that have an unknown or unlimited quantity of prints, and you will always find these to be of lesser value (basic supply and demand rules apply). The lower the edition size, the more difficult it may be to find said work, and thus its valuation is most likely higher.

A good rule of thumb with acquiring an original print is to find something in good condition, signed, with a low edition size.

Printmaking Methods:

 

Aquatint: A process for producing tone etchings, so named because the finished print resembles watercolor drawings in quality. The ordinary bitten line of etching is combined with a delicate tone or tint produced by etching the copper plate with acid through a protective resist. This resist, or ground, is laid by flooding the copper plate with dissolved powdered resin, or by inserting the copper plate in a dust box. Using the dust box method, the coating of resin dust has to be fastened to the plate by heating it. From this stage on the process is similar to etching. Those parts of the design which are to be left white are protected with an acid resistant material such as varnish, or are "stopped out", and the rest of the plate is bitten. Varying tonal effects are achieved by repeated varnishing and immersion. After preparation of the plate, the edition is pulled as would be in other etching techniques.

Drypoint, Drypoint Engraving:  A process of engraving upon a copper plate with a burin, scoring deeply into the plate, creating a furrow bordered by rough, upturned edges (the burr), which hold the ink. In line engraving, the slight burr made by the burin is removed, but in drypoint engraving the burr is left. Therefore, prints taken from a drypoint engraving have a special velvety black line.
 

Etching:  A process by which graphics are taken from a metal plate, on which the drawing is bitten with acid into the surface of the plate. A clean polished copper plate (or occasionally zinc or steel), is covered with a thin coating of acid-resisting etching ground. The drawing to be reproduced is either traced onto the blackened surface of the grounded plate, or is drawn directly onto the surface, using the burin, which exposes the metal in the drawn areas. The edges and back of the plate are then coated with an acid-resistant varnish and it is then immersed in a bath of acid which attacks the metal where it is exposed. When the lightest parts are bitten to the artist's liking, the plate is taken out of the acid and the work stopped out with varnish. The process can then be repeated until the work is completed to the artist's satisfaction. The ground and varnish are then removed with a solvent and the plate is then inked. Ink is applied to the entire surface and then carefully rubbed off, leaving the ink in the bitten areas. Impressions are made on damp paper, which is forced into the ink filled lines as the paper and plate are put through a pressure press.
 

Linocut: The full term is linoleum cut. A surface printing process similar to woodcutting. The image is dug into the linoleum (linoleum is a hard, smooth washable floor covering made of a mixture of ground cork, wood, and linseed oil) with the areas not to be printed being cut away. The block is then inked and paper is pressed down on the linoleum. Colors can be added by using different blocks, or altering the one block and re-inking.

Lithography: A surface printing process based on the mutual incompatibility of grease and water. (derived from the Greek term lithos meaning stone and grapho, meaning to write.) A greasy crayon is used to draw the design on the surface of a porous stone, usually a fine-grained limestone block (referred to as a plate). More modern methods use disposable aluminum plates instead of the original limestone blocks. The stone is then thoroughly wetted and an oil based ink rolled across its surface. Where the greasy design has repelled the water, the ink will adhere. Paper is then pressed onto the stone. Each print in the edition typically requires re-wetting and re-inking the stone or plate for each color resulting in a layering effect to create depth and texture.

Silkscreen or Serigraph: A printing process which involves the use of various screens or stencils. The design is drawn on the screen (at one time silk was the general material of choice, before technology provided better materials at less cost) and is either cut out (stencil) or stopped out with varnish. Ink or paint is then wiped or squeegee across the screen, and penetrates to the paper placed immediately below the screen. Different colors usually require the use of different screens, with the many colors being built up on the paper with each successive squeegee of ink or paint.

Woodcut: One of the earliest forms of printmaking, in which the design is carved in wood, with the areas not to be printed being cut away. The block is then inked and paper is pressed down on the woodblock. Colors can be added by using different blocks, or altering the one block and re-inking.

MOCA: What do the next 30 years hold?

Celebrating its 30-year-anniversary the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art has compiled an admirable retrospective that superlatively tributes a rich artistic history starting from post World War II to the present, but from a perspective that is uniquely L.A. Like looking back through old school yearbooks, the expansive exhibition in two parts, highlights artists like: Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol, Jean Michel Basquiat, Sam Francis, Robert Rauchenberg, Edward Rucha, Antoni Tapies, Ellsworth Kelly, and Barnett Newman, to name a few from our gallery collection. Impressive hardly begins to describe this compendium, and the breadth of influence of the MOCA has never been so pronounced.

This leaves an interesting question at hand: How will the MOCA fair over the NEXT 30 years?

It’s no secret that the last year has been turbulent for the museum and its trustees, filled with messy financial predicaments and exigent correlating choices, the most recent being the appointment of Jeffrey Deitch as the new Museum Director. When the museum board announced in January that the infamous SoHo Art Dealer was to take over the position, the public reacted with grave apprehensions that his market-oriented approach might take the museum out of the frying pan and into the fire.

There have been ample critiques of Deitch’s eligibility including the latest ethical accusations and censure of his plan to consolidate any unsold works from Deitch Project with his private collection. In response to the uproar over his intimation that he would continue to sell works from his private collection after beginning his post on June1st, the museum board released this statement: "The trustees understand that Jeffrey is a collector and that he may occasionally sell works from his private collection from time to time in compliance with his employment contract, and the museum's and the AAM and AAMD guidelines.”

There is no doubt that Mr. Deitch is about to become a tremendously powerful man in the art-world. Once a VP of Citibank, and a Harvard MBA grad, it is evident that he was hand-picked for his abilities as a businessman over his curatorial aptitude, although he has proven proficiency in both. Deitch is no dummy, he knows the inner workings of art and money, artists and collectors, institutions and the public, and most of all he offers a different approach. In spite of the current denigration over his collection (bear in mind most Museum Directors have private collections, but few are scrutinized for them), Jeffrey Deitch has the real possibility of turning the museum around. He has everything he needs to lead the Museum into its next 30 years. Now all he needs is the public.

~Vanessa Villegas
http://www.denisbloch.com/