As art advisors, we often get questions about how to build and display an art collection. There’s a lot to cover on this topic, so we’re beginning a new Collector’s Series that reveals our best practices on all things relevant to collecting: how to properly light art in your home, investment insight, and much more. If you have any topics that you would like us to cover, drop us a line via socials or email!
The Resilience of Prints and Multiples
While the print sector has long been bedeviled by popular misconceptions about the originality of prints, the category seems poised for an image rehaul. We’ve just returned from the 2024 edition of the IFPDA print fair, a favorite of ours on the fair circuit. We have a particular affinity for works on paper, and we love this fair because it spans over five hundred years of art history and celebrates a rich spectrum of printmaking techniques. It features everything from 16th-century woodcuts- like the imposing Titian mural presented by David Tunick- to modernist multiples- like the Chagall lithographs presented by Gilden’s Art Gallery. It’s also the perfect venue to showcase innovative manipulations of the genre, like Judy Pfaff’s Boba, composed of 28 intaglio prints adorned with dots of resin that mimic boba pearls.
Despite the fair’s move to February this year, a mere four months after the last edition, the floor was flooded with eager attendees- an indication of the brimming enthusiasm for printmaking in recent years. Big market movers have ventured into the sector since the turn of the decade. David Zwirner, for example, opened their fine art publishing arm, Utopia Editions, in 2021, while Hauser and Wirth launched a new gallery space for prints and editions last September. While the art market witnessed a decline in overall sales value in 2023, it also saw an increase in sales volume. The discrepancy can be explained by the surging interest in the prints and multiples sector, which experienced an 18% increase in overall sales. Both emerging and experienced collectors, it seems, are looking to multiples as resilient investments, likely to retain their desirability and multiply in value.
If you’re looking to invest in prints this year, we’ve included some of the standout pieces from the fair below. Get in touch if something catches your eye!
