Art & Object Fall Fair 2024

BEYOND THE BASICS

WIKIPEDIA

COURTESY OF ART INSTITUTE CHICAGO

Artist Richard Spare wiping the copper plate of drypoint print ‘Poppy Spray’ with the scrim at his studio in Charlton, London.

Albrecht Dürer, The Nativity, engraving, 1504.

The word itself is an umbrella term for a broad category of techniques includ ing engraving and lithography but also encompassing media like metal cast ing, plaster, ceramics, glass, NFTs, and more. (The term “multiple” is used more frequently for sculptural works, where as “print” connotes a two-dimension al work, such as an etching on paper.) Regardless of the material or technique, the essential factor is the artist’s inten tion: multiples are created from the out set to exist in numerous iterations. Mul tiplicity is written into its DNA. Artists relish the expressive possibilities of the printmaking and other multiple-ori ented media, but there are economic reasons for creating multiples, as well. While maintaining a collector base for their more upscale, pricier works, art ists can use multiples to create a pipe line to young and budget-conscious col lectors by providing less exclusive yet equally collectible works.

Curators and gallerists are often approached with the same worried question: Isn’t a print the same as a copy—like photocopying a picture from a book or tacking an M.C. Escher post er on a dorm-room wall? This question reveals a deep-seated concern for begin ning buyers as to whether a multiple is a “real” work of art? Rest assured—a multiple is not a copy, at least not in the traditional pho tocopy sense of the word. Though the final product will exist in numerous iterations, each individual print will still be an artisanal handmade item. Taking fine-art prints as an example, an artist creates each piece individually, “pulling” the prints one by one. And as with any handmade object, the occur rence of variations—and thus unique ness—can be high. “There is a sense of craftsmanship and care that a print maker must take to ink and align the print just right,” notes Cameron John

son, a printmaker and associate profes sor of art at Meredith College in Raleigh, NC. “I appreciate the subtle imperfec tions that come with hand-printed art work that adds the human element.” Additional Terminology Another key term for collectors to understand is “edition.” An edition encompasses all copies of a print or other multiple within a single series that look as close to identical as pos sible. And it gets even more granular than that. For photographer and profes sor of art Shannon Johnstone—John son’s colleague at Meredith College— the term “edition” signifies that “only a certain number of prints will be made at that particular size and on that par ticular paper.” Editions can be further distin guished into limited or unlimited types. For limited editions, the num ber of works created is predetermined,

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Art&Object | Fall 2024