Limited Edition Prints And Fake Rolexes
Irish Girl | Oil on Canvas | Bill Soukoreff
They call it limited edition posters, err… I mean prints. It’s bad for the art world. It has less to do with art and more to do with rampant commercialism. The frame is usually worth more than the print. But the artist has signed it you say. Sure if the artist becomes world famous and dies some horrible death, it may well have some value, but it is not and never will be original art.
Remember when people were buying all those limited edition wildlife prints, because it was a “good investment.” Hmmm, when did limited edition prints or any art for that matter surface on the New York Stock Exchange? (Maybe that will be the next trick of publishers after they learn to pronounce giclee properly. More on gilcees in the future…) It was however allot of fun listening to people justifying why they paid $1000 for a poster, explaining how it is not really a poster, it’s a “limited edition” copy. Maybe a few prints have increased in value, but most have not, and others are garage sale and flee market specials.
However, all of this is besides the point. Art by nature is original. There is a fine line between selling art (which is good for you and the artist) and commercializing art. (Which is bad for you and the artist.) Please buy art because you like, or rather, because you love it, you can’t stop thinking about it and you can’t get it out of your head.
If you can’t afford original art, then go to Ikea and buy a nice cheery poster print and put it on your wall (no really we mean it!), and if you feel the need, then sure, go ahead and take out the magic marker and sign your name away. Hey why stop there, why not number it 314 of 10,000. And remember, don’t call it a poster, call it a “print”.
Stay original… buy original.
