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What Is the Investment Value of Original Art Prints?

A general answer to this question has been compiled from several sources: see The General View below.

The second answer is the answer of the artist.

The General View:

Will original art prints appreciate in value?

There can be no definitive answer to this question. Clearly, the most conservative advice is to buy prints because you enjoy them and you derive pleasure from seeing them in your home or office. If they do go up in value, so much the better.

Nevertheless, you should be aware that in the decades since World War II and especially in the past twenty years, original, limited edition graphics have consistently risen in value faster than the rate of inflation, and faster than nearly every other type of art.

There are many good reasons for believing that this is a lasting trend, and that print prices may climb even more steeply in the future. Here are several:

  • Creating fine, original prints is a slow and difficult process. Much skilled hand labor is involved in pulling each impression. The paper has to be dampened in the right degree or it will stick on the plate or repulse the ink. The pressure of the press must be just right.
  • Demand for fine graphics is growing faster than supply. Americans have become increasingly affluent, and also increasingly culture-conscious. Each year we attend more museum shows, buy more art books, take more courses... and have more sophisticated standards of what we would like to hang on our walls. This is not true only in the USA but also in Europe, Japan, and other countries. And the number of well-known artists has not increased proportionally.
  • Collecting fine original prints is an affordable way to own great works of art. For less than the cost of a mediocre oil painting you can own a museum-quality print by a tryly outstanding artist. More and more people are taking advantage of this.
  • It is important to understand that etchings are in between paintings and posters. Some color etchings can be very close to paintings, especially when they are printed in one-pull and in a limited edition.
  • A painting by Gauguin may not be affordable, a print may be, and a poster would be very inexpensive.

The Artist:

"Monetary investments are only one way to invest. Investments can be ideas that fulfill a need in us, and that may become more meaningful in time. When we love a piece of art, we are sensing that there is something in that piece that meets a need in us. Sometimes, in difficult times in our lives, we go back to memories, examples of people, or images that bring us inspiration or beauty. These are our 'life savers,' fulfilling the need of encouragement or help in a difficult time. I strive to put 'life savers' in my work. Something which you can hold on to when you need to. I hope that when you see the gallery, look at the works and the commentaries that go with them, you can see what I mean.

"The lasting value of artworks is in the degree that meaning is transferred through them. The investment lies in how much you love them."