Re: Re: Acceptance of Inkjet Prints by Galleries (was AnnieLeibovitz's new show)

[ILLUMINALL@aol.com]

Di  wrote:
<<I would like to know why Bev Doolittle and her ilk can sell prints in 
editions
of 30,000 - 60,000 and call them "limited edition" prints. As far as I'm
concerned, anything above 1000 is a POSTER!! The gallery I worked for in 
Sonoma
Co. used to push these as investments and people believed it.  It is just a
mystery to me why people continue to believe that they are investing in "art"
when they buy one of these.  They are sold initially between $300.00 and
$1,000.00.  As far as I know they are printed on an offset press. That's 
hardly
the hand of the artist!  Yet, the public accepts these as being original art.

Sorry to climb up on my soapbox, but this is one of my enduring dislikes. I
agree with you - gliclee prints certainly should be considered original art.>>
----------
Di, anything that is *limited-edition* can be a collectable. There are 
collectible dolls, collectible coins, collectible memorabilia of all kinds, 
as well as collectible images produced by a variety of reproduction methods. 
When a person purchases something that is 'limited,' they  are not only 
purchasing that item because they like it (hopefully), but perhaps they also 
hope that it will increase in *monetary* value, due to it having been 
produced in a limited quantity. The more an artist's work has been 'proven' 
to be a good investment, the more people may want to 'invest.'

I think *that* is what the public believes about limited editions prints -- 
that since they are produced in limited numbers, they are therefore more 
potentially valuable as a collectible. I have never heard of any retail 
purchaser considering a limited edition *offset* lithograph to be 'original 
art,' as you imply. They know that they are purchasing a *reproduction* of a 
work of art, a reproduction that happens to be limited, and therefore a 
collectible. (But the collectible's increase in value is only true if (1) the 
edition sells out, and (2) there is still a demand for it on the secondary 
market.)

As for limited edition offset lithographs being investments, I will give you 
an example of how they *can* be. My first limited edition offset litho 
(produced ten years ago) was a reproduction of my painting of a city skyline. 
It was produced in an edition of 950 Signed & Numbered, and 50 Artist Proofs. 
The 18" x 30" (image-size) print was offered at $95 retail. This edition sold 
out in four years, and now when it is occasionally available on the secondary 
market, the prints sell in the price range of $1,200 to 1,500!

My remaining inventory of my second limited edition offset litho (a painting 
of the gardens of an art museum) was recently purchased by that museum for 
their exclusive sale in their gift shop, as well as for 'thank you' gifts to 
large donors to the museum. The museum Director, and the Director of 
Development were thrilled at the opportunity to purchase and offer these 
exclusively! They seemed to have NO PROBLEM with them being offset 
lithographic, signed & numbered, limited edition prints.

My offset prints are produced, by the way, using the most long-lasting inks 
and papers available to the printer -- a firm highly-experienced in 
reproducing fine art offset prints. But then I use this same inks and papers 
for the production of my open-edition fine art posters, (some of which I've 
printed 5,000 of at a time). Yes, I've seen cheaply-produced limited edition 
offset lithos, whose paper has yellowed within a few years, and whose inks 
were not very lightfast. I feel sorry for the people who 'invested' in those 
prints!

I, too, find it amazing that limited editions of 30,000 - 60,000 are 
possible... that there is the market for them! But then again, it's a big 
world out there, and markets become more and more global. For a global 
market, those numbers are truly tiny!

As for Bev Doolittle's (or other artists of her 'ilk') success, in Bev's 
case, her success is not only from her artwork, but from the message she 
seeks to communicate through that artwork... a celebration of the natural 
world. Yes, by 'hiding' images within her paintings (forcing you to study her 
paintings closely in order to find the hidden images), one might argue that 
it's something of a gimmick. But it's also a rather interesting artistic 
challenge that she apparently enjoys as an artist, and her collecting public 
enjoys also. (I keep waiting for a digital imagist to successfully adopt this 
'gimmick' through their computer artistry.) For those unfamiliar with Bev 
Doolittle's artwork, go to  http://bnr-art.com/doolitt/index.html

I think what has been a benefit to those artists who are successful is 
usually that they (or a representative) can clearly articulate what the 
message is that that artist is seeking to express through their work. The 
more clearly defined that message is, the more the public can 'click' with 
that message, and then may want to identify themself with that message by 
becoming a collector of that artist's original or reproduced work. This I 
think is a part of Bev Doolittle's success.

As for giclee prints being original art, it depends ...a giclee print can be 
various things. If the 'art' was a purely an in-the-computer digital 
creation, then when printed more than once, you've created numbered, 
*multiple-originals* (which I think can be a confusing term for the buying 
public). If the original art was scanned for reproduction, then a giclee is a 
digitally-printed *reproduction*. 

Yes, there is a certain 'hands-on' artistry and skill required in the 
realization of a successful, self-produced giclee/digital print, but so is 
there artistry and skill in the work that a fine color separation house does, 
and that a fine-art offset lithographer does in collaboration with the 
artist. 

What if the market for your art or image is such that you could sell 1,000 ( 
or more) of those numbered, multiple-original giclees or reproductions? Why 
is there any need to say that in doing so it cheapens the artist, the art, 
the reproduction of the art, or the motive for producing and selling that 
number?  For myself, I would celebrate that I have achieved a point in my 
career in which so many people know of my work, value it and the message it 
offers, and who want to spend their hard-earned dollars to add that work to 
their home or office environment!

Because of the successful sales of my offset lithographic images, I have 
found *no resistance* from my wholesale or retail customers to my Epson 3000 
reproductions of my paintings. (The only resistance comes from the ink's 
metamerism... its colorshift under different light sources. Why? Because this 
can make selecting complimentary mat colors and framing for such a print more 
difficult. The framing may look great under halogen lighting, but 'off' when 
under incandescent lighting at home.) 

When I mention the digital reproduction process to my wholesale accounts, 
they say, "Oh, you mean it's a giclee?"(since that is the term they know this 
process for, having read about it often in the art and framing trade 
publication, Decor, found online at http://www.decormagazine.com/home.html). 
For the most part, I don't think the retail customer knows (or cares to ask) w
hat the reproduction process was... they only know that they like the image 
they see, and want to know the price!

I know that some of you on this list have not had this experience! It can 
often amaze me to hear of the resistance, and I'm sorry some of you are going 
through this! I guess I just want you to know that there are artists who have 
*not* had resistance to digitally reproduced artwork! Maybe this can offer 
some hope?  :-)

There are all manners of elitism, from a gallery turning up their nose at 
digital art and reproduction, to an artist turning up their nose at another 
artist's success with offset lithographic, limited edition, collectible, fine 
art reproductions. I believe that when we keep ourself open in this 
fast-changing world, and when we celebrate the success of others, then we 
allow for evolution and success in our own personal and professional life. 
(And with a little help from our friends, which is what this list-community 
is all about...)

I'll step down off my own soapbox now.

Ken Johnston  /  Heartworks, Inc.  /  Dallas, TX  USA
He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster.
And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you.
- Friedrich Nietzsche
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