SOLD: Caring For A Surrealist Watch (Attention Pour Une Contemplation Surréaliste) from Memories Of Surrealism, 1971; Etching and lithograph on Arches paper; Signed Dalí in pencil, lower right and numbered A 14/175 in pencil, lower left and embossed Salvador Dalí lower left and stamped © SALVADOR DALI-1971 in black ink, lower right, verso; Unframed; Image size 20” x 15 3/4”; Sheet size 29 7/8” x 21 1/8”
A question that any collector wants to know is price. What determines price, am I getting a good "deal," am I over paying, is this going to go up in price over time, etc. Art as investment is a 20th century concept which has been further enhanced by media coverage of the stratospheric prices achieved at auction of works by Picasso, Warhol, Van Gogh, etc. As a collector I ask these questions and as a dealer I answer them. Let's just start with some basics.
Within a given artist's repertoire some mediums are more desired by collectors, and therefore more expensive; examples would be linocuts by Picasso or early 1960's serigraphs by Warhol. Also keep in mind when the public thinks of a given artist, say Salvador Dali, they think about a melting clock; so artwork by him with a melting clock in the image will command a premium. The same is true of Andy Warhol and his image of Marilyn Monroe, or Pablo Picasso and his deconstruction of a still life or portrait through the use of cubism. This idea can be extrapolated to any artist, with works that are consistent with the artist's most recognized pieces commanding the highest price.
Price is affected by the following factors, edition size, condition, and desirability of image. Desirability of image is discussed above, and condition is simply how minty fresh the work appears. If the print was stored using acid free materials and avoided any type of exposure since it was printed, it would be considered mint. If it were framed without glass, using acid mats, and hung in a sunroom with a house full of smokers; it would not. The cleaner the sheet, the more desirable and therefore the higher the price. Edition size is a function of rarity. The lower the edition size, generally the higher the price and vice versa. In the case of James Rosenquist for instance, the rare prints seem to be the early prints (ie. the 1960's, which was the beginning of the POP art movement) and therefore the most desired. Most of the early Rosenquist prints are in very low editions sizes; less than twenty. For the most part, the prints are also already in the permanent collections of major world art museums and those that remain tend to be in the hands of big collectors. Something to keep in mind, is that collectors are competing with the world's museums and with other collectors for the same works! Although museums don't keep their print collections out in their Galleries all the time, a quick search of their inventories shows that they are a major repository.
In conclusion, set your budget and buy what you like; after all you are the one that is going to be living with what you acquire. Good Luck Collecting!
SOLD: Spaghetti And Grass, 1964-1965; Lithograph on handmade Crisbrook British paper watermarked HAND MADE vertically, lower right; Signed and dated James Rosenquist 1965 in pencil, center right and numbered Artists Proof in pencil, center and titled Spaghetti + Grass in pencil, center left and complete with ULAE blindstamp embossed, center left; Unframed; Image size 27 3/4” x 17 1/8”; Sheet size 31 5/8” x 22 5/8”
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