Modern prints dominate the prints market

[17/03/2003]

 

Prints and multiples are making democratising the art market. In 2002, half of all prints sold for less than EUR 1,000. Prints represents no less than 18% of the lots sold in 2002 versus 15% in 2001. But all these lots only brought in 2.6% of total turnover.

Christie’s, Sotheby’s and other auction houses are holding ever more auctions dedicated to prints, often with a bias towards the modern art and impressionist schools. And the modernists are still among the most productive sources of prints at auction. Prints by Picasso, Chagall and Miró are among the most commonly found at auction. In 2002, 500 prints by each artist were sold. Not bad, considering Andy Warhol only managed 367.

It is also the modern artists’ prints that fetch the highest prices. In 2002, 50% of all prints knocked down for over USD 100,000 were from the modern movement. Picasso, the movement’s leading light, attracted the highest bid with his engraving Le repas frugal (1904) sold USD 614,000 at Christie’s London on 3 July 2002. Next came post-impressionist Henri de Toulouse Lautrec whose La grande loge was put up for auction twice last year. The Fauvists were also represented in the year’s top ten hammer prices for prints with Paul Gauguin’s Les misères humaines, knocked down at USD 258,000. Degas was the top-placed impressionist.
Some impressionist masters neglected print to concentrate on the colours of the oil palette. Monet, Sisley, Caillebotte, Boudin, Berthe Morisot and Guillaumin hardly touched the technique. But Renoir produced many engravings and in 2002, no fewer than 116 Renoir prints went under the hammer. With ample supply, demand is strong and prices seem to be falling. Since 1997, the price of a Renoir print has fallen 11%. Overall, impressionist prints have lost 9% of their value in the same period.

Print was one the least profitable media in 2002. Taking all periods together, the Artprice Index for prints only rose 3.3% compared to 4.4% for the Artprice Global Index (all categories). That said, although prints by the Cubists and Surrealists were not profitable, prints by the Fauvists and Nabis were a good investment in 2002. Despite dominating the market by volume, the modernists seem less attractive as investments. When it comes to multiples, artists’ productivity and profitability do not mix at a time when investors are very selective.

Top 20 artists by number of prints sold at auctions in 2002

rank

Artist

Number of prints sold

Turnover

1

Pablo PICASSO

871

$5 837 732

2

Marc CHAGALL

576

$3 999 749

3

Joan MIRO

507

$1 896 904

4

Andy WARHOL

367

$4 733 954

5

REMBRANDT

309

$1 613 240

6

Salvador DALI

305

$438 429

7

Louis ICART

228

$263 020

8

Albrecht DÜRER

198

$967 704

9

Horst JANSSEN

174

$52 041

10

Helmut A. P. GRIESHABER

172

$117 292

11

Antoni TAPIES

168

$141 626

12

Georges BRAQUE

163

$432 021

13

Käthe KOLLWITZ

163

$289 839

14

Henri MATISSE

155

$1 563 960

15

Lovis CORINTH

147

$136 653

16

Anders ZORN

143

$143 419

17

Giovanni Battista PIRANESI

129

$144 844

18

Friedensreich HUNDERTWASSER

126

$234 745

19

Henri de TOULOUSE-LAUTREC

125

$2 218 755

20

David HOCKNEY

123

$777 775

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