I have many friends who love art. They visit exhibitions and read art reviews. But surprisingly few of them own art. Many of them can afford to, to varying degrees, but for some reason it just doesn’t really occur to them that owning it may be an option. Art can sometimes feel like it belongs in museums, not in the home; and that it is just the preserve of millionaires. I also have artist friends, some established, many who are just starting their careers, making art in precarious circumstances – the experience of the vast majority of artists. Many make prints as an important part of their art. So there are these two groups of people, artists and art appreciators, and a gap that shouldn’t be there. Over the last five years I have invited many of my art-loving friends to Multiplied, a fair hosted by Christie’s with a focus on editions, encompassing printmaking, photography and multiples, made by prominent contemporary artists as well emerging talent. It is a vibrant place to see art and to meet the artists and galleries that make it all happen.
The word edition is a catch-all phrase for any art object made in multiple impressions, using methods which can be very ancient to the very latest cutting-edge technology. Making editions has always been attractive to artists for all sorts of reasons. Printmaking for example, offers a range of aesthetic qualities that aren’t available in other media: the wiry line of an etched mark, the expressive gouge of a woodcut, the bright commercial gloss of a screen print, or the menagerie of effects available with digital technology. The rule of thumb is that editions are made in small limited runs. Each impression is numbered with its own number followed by the overall edition size, and signed by the artist. After the edition has been made the matrix is destroyed, allowing for no further examples to be made. The quality of an edition is judged on the degree to which the artist has used a method or technology to realise their creative ends in a way that couldn’t have been achieved in any medium.
Courtesy of Made in Arts London
So, if you have never acquired a piece of art, what do you need to know? First of all, art fairs and auction houses are the best places to see what is out there and to get a sense of prices. Art fairs have the advantage that more galleries can be seen in one visit than would take a year to get to otherwise.
Auction houses are an extraordinary resource, too. The Prints and Multiples sales at Christie’s feature works from old masters such as Rembrandt and Goya, right up to modern and contemporary works by Picasso, Warhol and Hirst. Pre-sale auction views are open to the public for free.
Looking at art requires an open mind – the best collectors are characterised by their curiosity about the world and other people. Having an eye only on the potential investment return of a work of art, though not in itself a bad reason, is very limiting.
This will be less relevant to new editions, but should be checked nonetheless when a work is delivered – works on paper are fragile and, if incorrectly handled, can easily be creased or soiled.
If dipping into the secondary market, at auction or online, then condition is a really important consideration. It may be that several impressions of an edition, say a Marilyn screenprint by Andy Warhol, come up on the market in the course of a year. Tracking the results may reveal some disparity in the prices. Although these variations may be the result of market forces (ie who was bidding on a particular day and how much they wanted it), condition will often play a part, with the impression in the best, original condition getting a premium price.
The best collectors are characterised by their curiosity about the world and other people. Having an eye only on investment return is very limiting
An important point to consider is that a 50-year-old work on paper will almost never be pristine, so it is about getting as good condition as is available. And this is why it is important to buy from a reputable source, from specialists who can help to make this kind of comparative judgement, based on their experience of seeing other examples. Auction catalogues should give a brief description of the main condition issues, and an in depth condition report and detailed images are usually available on request. But there is nothing like going to see the work face to face.
At Multiplied many of my friends did end up finding something they loved and bought their first ever work of art. They now have something which will not only give them pleasure, but they have also contributed to the cultural economy, sustaining the next generation of artists. So come on, why not take the plunge too? Here are five artists showing at this year’s show worth your particular attention:
Julia Dault
Julia Dault is a Toronto-born artist widely acclaimed for her richly-textured paintings, using unusual materials such as pleather, silk and spandex. Multiplied will present Julia’s first graphic edition created during her residency with Dundee Contemporary Arts. This residency was supported by Below Another Sky, an international programme supporting new work in print by artists who are from Commonwealth countries. Her series, Holograms, playfully repeats six elements across four prints, generating compositions that hint at the limitless possibilities found within a set of rules and restrictions.
Adham Faramawy
Adham’s work explores the complex interaction between technology and cultural identity in an age where experiences are constantly mediated by screens. He will be bringing the striking digital photographic print Feel Good to Multiplied, for which he won the Royal Academy of Arts’ Keeper’s Print Prize.
Annalaura Masciavè
Annalaura Masciavè’s work is inspired by the increasing absence of the physical ‘unknown’ as a result of technological advancements. She photographs objects commonly identified with the concepts of movement, exploration, discovery and freedom and then digitally manipulates them to create abstract compositions. At Multiplied she will present new editions, which use sail masts and the sky to create unique, beguiling images.
Sean Mackaoui
Sean Mackaoui’s latest project, Unchained, is a series of 15 prints. Comprising collages made from incongruous advertisements, newspaper and magazine cuttings, they offer an intriguing and often humourous exploration of love and attraction. Unchained is a collaborative project between Sean, Benveniste Contemporary and publisher Tamsin Wilkinson Editions.
Sonia Boyce
Coming to prominence in the early 1980s as a key figure in Black British Art, Sonia Boyce is now internationally renowned. Iniva will be bringing two fine examples of Sonia’s work to Multiplied – the lithograph Good Morning Freedom and the Rivington Place Portfolio. Sonia was one of six international artists to contribute new work to the portfolio in 2007, sold to support the arts venue Rivington Place in London.
Murray Macaulay is the director of Multiplied and a senior prints specialist at Christie’s. Multiplied is hosted by Christie’s South Kensington from 16-18 October. For more info, visit christies.com/multiplied
