As a quick disclaimer… I take no responsibility if you listen to me and then invest all your money in art and lose it all because the arse falls out of the art market. Art should make up a portion of a well balanced and diverse portfolio of investments. Don’t put all your eggs in one basket!
As a forward, I don’t think people realise how much work and effort gallery owners will go into looking after you. What I mean by this is that if you buy from a gallery, we will invite you to exclusive events and you may even get random freebes!
A Gallery should look after your best interests, it’s within our best interest too! If you just want something for that one awkward corner in your house, a gallery should pull out the stops to help you make it look great, because then you’ll come back to us next time. If you come to a gallery and tell us that you want to buy work purely as an investment, we should be helping you make money, because in our view you’ll come back to us next time if you make money!
What are some signs that my artwork is worth something?
First things first, do you like it? Bang it’s worth something. If you’re willing to buy it, chances are other people will too! No matter how weird or eclectic your tastes are.
Secondly have you heard of the artist before? Have you heard people mention the artist? If it’s a yes to these then potentially you’re onto something, however the downside is that because people have heard of the artist, their work will already be commanding a solid price point. Then it’s a whole other kettle of fish, deciding if what they’re charging is the peak of what their work will be worth or if the they’re overcharging for their work blah blah blah, we will touch on this later on in this post.
Thirdly, what is it? Is it a Giclee Print? Screenprint (AP, edition, 1/1, BAT, HC??), is it a lithograph or other style of etching? Is it an original piece? Is that original Oil, acrylic, watercolour or mixed media? Has it been well maintained? Smoke or water damaged? Is it framed? Is it a frame you like? Framing is expensive man, in FAFFLESS it’s one of our biggest costs is getting everything framed by a professionally framed, but it’s always worth it, you wouldn’t want to be showing your friends this brand new piece you’ve bought and an IKEA label is still stuck on the back. (insert link her for framing affiliate) I’ll do a separate post for advice on how to choose your frame.
Different types of art
As I touched on above, there are different art mediums, all of which are worth different amounts of money to different people. For example, some people will prefer oil paintings over all else, personally I love Screenprints and think they’re a super affordable way of getting into the fine art world. But let’s get into what I mean by these art terms…
What is a Giclee Print?
A Giclee print is a print that is made with a specialised Inkjet printer that will use rather expensive, special inks in order to create a very accurate representation of the artwork.
The term is a neologism from the French word ‘Gicleur’ first mentioned by a French printmaker called Jack Duganne in 1991, the word translates as ‘To Spray’
Giclee for me sits in a kind of no-mans land in the art world, they’re very expensive to produce, but you can produce as many as you’d like in an open edition in a very short period of time.
If you are looking at buying a giclee print, here are some steps to follow
Make sure you’re buying it from a reputable source (Art Dealer, Art Auction or direct from the artist themselves)
Make sure it has a signature (Pencil is best as it won’t fade over time like inks will)
Make sure it is editioned (make sure it says x/x for example 3/40, in that example it is the 3rd piece in an edition of 40)
I would not personally recommend buying Giclee prints as an investment, I’m not saying they wouldn’t go up in value, I just wouldn’t recommend it. However 100% buy it from an artist as something pretty to put up on the wall that you like.
What is a Screenprint?
So, this is more my jam, perhaps even my marmalade… A screenprint is an artwork that is made from pushing ink through a silkscreen. Basically, you’re using a squeegee to push colour through tiny holes in a screen to make the art work. Every colour on a screenprint has to be individually done.
The way that you transfer your image onto artwork depends, you either use a transfer sheet (clear plastic sheet) that you’ve printing your artwork onto, put that in front of your screen that you’ve already painted with light sensitive paint (it cures super quick once it’s exposed to light) or you paint on the screen directly to block off some of the holes.
For me this is the starter of any fine art collection, is finding some screenprints you love, it’s an affordable way of getting into the art world. For example if a painting is worth £10,000, and the artist then does an edition of 40 screenprints, those screenprints should then be worth around £250 each, maybe a bit more for the added cost of ink and paper etc.
The Letters and/or Numbers at the bottom (Usually left) of your artwork mean different things. Here is a quick key;
x/y – x is your artworks number within the edition and y is the edition size
AP – Artist proof, this means it’s the piece that the artist made for themselves to test the idea and to iron out any wrinkles. May also come as AE (French) or PP (Printers Proof)
VE – Variable Edition, the artist may do an edition of different colours or may put it as V2 as in Version 2
O/E or OE – Open edition, no set number of pieces
H/C – Hors Commerce. Similar to AP but personally I prefer this one as it’s only available from the artist, this is normally given to the artist by the maker or it’s the one that the artist made for themselves.
BAT – “Bon a Trier” Final Proof
Things to look for when buying a screenprint;
Edition size, the lower the edition the better
Artist signature, again, preferably in pencil
Does it have a print house stamp? there are certain print houses (Jealous inc, Peacock Visual Arts etc) that have their own stamp, or will emboss artwork that has been made in their printmaking studio. This will add more credibility and traceability to your work
Try to make sure that the artist themselves were the ones that physically did the printing, rather than getting a master printmaker to make the work for them. Once artists get to a certain point in their career, it can be quite rare for them to be the one actually physically getting their hands dirty in the printing studio.
Get as much information as possible about the piece. Has it been in any exhibitions? How far back can you trace the piece? This is called provenience. The seller should give you some, a receipt should work.
A Woodcut is probably one of the oldest ways of making art, especially within printmaking. You probably made something similar in school with some linoleum, this would unsurprisingly be called a linocut! Because linoleum is a much softer material to work with, you can normally get much harder lines and more solid prints.
It’s when you carve your artwork onto a wooden block, apply ink (hopefully with a roller) and then press down onto your paper or other medium, hopefully leaving the impression you want.
Something to watch out for is that normally (not always) woodcuts are done by etsy sellers and are normally done as open editions by non-professional artists. Not always however, there are some fantastic pieces by Tom Huck that are woodcuts and feature prominently in big art galleries all over the world.
What is a lithograph/Etching?
Now we are getting to the biggest hitter in the printmaking world, lithographs. So a lithograph or an etching is taking advantage of a chemical process that with etch your artwork onto either a copper plate or a stone slab. Simply; draw your work onto your plate or slab with certain oils or scrapers, using a chemical pour it over the plate or slab, ink the plate or slab, press it onto paper and bibbidy boppity boo you have your artwork.
I find these particularly interesting as you can see the impression around the outside of the work because of the force that the press will impart onto the paper, see photo below where if you look closely at this piece by Ralph Steadman you can see the impression made by the copper plate.
Buying Original Artwork
Ugh right, this is the one I’ve been dreading writing. This is where we get into spotting fakes, forgeries and just shitty galleries.
This section will boil down to buying from trustworthy sources, not your mate, or some guy off marketplace – an actual fully fledged gallery. The artworld is full of pitfalls, even us professionals get caught out. If something is too good to be true, it normally is, especially with artwork.
If you must go it alone, and not trust the professionals and you think you’ve found a £10000 piece of artwork at your local car-boot sale for £5.99, just check it over;
Is there a signature? Can you check that signature against other examples of the artist?
If the seller seems in a rush to sell it to you, just back away. As an Art Dealer I know how much I want a sale, but there’s no need for us to pressure you into it and make you feel uncomfortable.
How is the frame? if it’s an 18th century piece, but its in an IKEA frame… don’t.
Is there any paperwork to go with it? can you trace it back to the artist or someone connected to the artist?
Try to get a professional to come and look at it before, or right after.
Can you see any texture in the paintwork? if it’s oil then normally you’d be able to see some small ridges etc on the paint
Can you see small dots? then it’s a print, just be aware that that’s what you’re buying
If it feels off, don’t do it, trust your gut. Unless you’re an idiot.
In conclusion
It’s a wild wild world out there and there are no guarantees when it comes to investing, especially when it comes to something as subjective as artwork. Always invest with what you can afford to lose.
Do you know what? I’m not even going to get into this, just buy from a trusted gallery source. Then you always have recourse, if we misrepresent the artwork as an original and it’s not or it’s a fake, that’s on us, we should have insurances for this sort of thing.
My top tip is to always buy signed, editioned (or original) pieces from an art dealer or auction house that you trust. Make sure the artist isn’t dodgy for any reason (even though you never know in the future). Build up a relationship with your local gallery and artists see what they say, you can never have enough opinions. Remember if you like it, others will too.
Go on, get immersed in the art world, it’s great fun and not as pretentious as you’d think.
And for all your art buying needs, remember and check out http://Faffless.art
Keep Up with Our Antics
Get the Scoop, Stay in the Loop
Right, don’t be the last to know what's happening at Faffless. Sign up for our newsletter. I’ll keep you posted on our latest shenanigans, events, and yes, those menu launches you won’t want to miss.
