Questions & Answers
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What is a good number for limited edition prints?
1 Answer

What is a good number for limited edition prints depends on what you mean by good. If you're wondering how many prints in a series are best from a collector's standpoint, the smaller the number of prints, the more valuable the individual pieces are likely to be. In other words, the prints in a run of 30 will be rarer than a run of 100, so it is possible that the smaller run will be more valuable. If by "good" you mean which number in a particular series is best to buy, the answer is that there really isn't a better number. The print marked 1/30 and the one marked 30/30 will be identical and of equal value, assuming they are kept in similar condition. However, when a gallery sells prints in numerical order, the price may go up as the prints sell. In that case, you may pay more for print 30/30 than the buyer for 1/30 did. As the price increases, the extra amount paid could mean a lower return on investment. Shop a large collection of art prints on 1stDibs.
1stDibs ExpertFebruary 27, 2024
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Southwest View of Sherborne Abbey Church /// History of Dorset English Engraving
Located in Saint Augustine, FL
Artist: John Hutchins (English, 1698-1773)
Title: "Southwest View of Sherborne Abbey Church" (Plate 15)
Portfolio: The History and Antiquities of the County of Dorset
Year: 1861-1870...
Category
1860s Victorian Landscape Prints
Materials
Engraving
Ellsworth Kelly: Ferus Gallery (Gate) Poster /// Abstract Geometric Minimalism
Located in Saint Augustine, FL
Artist: (after) Ellsworth Kelly (American, 1923-2015)
Title: "Ellsworth Kelly: Ferus Gallery (Gate)"
Year: 1966
Medium: Original Lithograph, Exhibition Poster on cream wove paper
Lim...
Category
1960s Abstract Geometric Abstract Prints
Materials
Lithograph
The Art Wagon Galleries: Fritz Scholder (Reclining Woman) Poster (Signed)
Located in Saint Augustine, FL
Artist: (after) Fritz Scholder (Native American, 1937-2005)
Title: "The Art Wagon Galleries: Fritz Scholder (Reclining Woman)"
*Signed by Scholder in purple marker lower right
Circa:...
Category
1970s Expressionist Figurative Prints
Materials
Lithograph, Offset
$700 Sale Price
30% Off
Unité, Planche 10 (Set of 2) /// Surrealism Modern Art Le Corbusier Nude Animal
By Le Corbusier
Located in Saint Augustine, FL
Artist: Le Corbusier (Charles-Édouard Jeanneret) (Swiss-French, 1887-1965)
Title: "Unité, Planche 10" (Set of 2)
Portfolio: Unité
*Signed by Le Corbusier in pencil lower right. It is...
Category
1960s Surrealist Nude Prints
Materials
Etching, Aquatint, Intaglio
Dogs and Bones /// Contemporary Pop Art Animal Pet Funny Humor Screenprint
By Dan May
Located in Saint Augustine, FL
Artist: Dan May (American, 1955-)
Title: "Dogs and Bones"
*Signed and numbered by May in pencil lower left
Year: 1986
Medium: Original Screenprint on unbranded white wove paper
Limited edition: 15/25
Printer: the artist May himself, Oakland, CA
Publisher: the artist May himself, Oakland, CA
Sheet size: 34.13" x 29.88"
Image size: 25.88" x 24"
Condition: Some moderate edge wear around, and heavy wear with a repaired tear at lower right corner. In otherwise good condition with strong colors and clean paper. Will look great once framed and with its marginal imperfections covered
Notes:
Titled and dated by May in pencil lower right.
Biography:
Dan May is an American painter and printmaker born on March 11, 1955 in San Francisco, CA. Raised in aesthetic surroundings heavily influenced by his architect father, May grew up learning to view all things with an eye for design, color, and shape. At age 5, he remembers his father cutting up a book of drawings by Henri Matisse and hanging them on the walls of their home. The French master Matisse as well as Richard Diebenkorn and David Hockney are his favorite art influences. He began his first attempts at painting at age 15, and later began to experiment with printmaking, teaching himself various techniques such as woodblock printing, etching, silkscreen printing, and monoprinting.
Monoprinting soon became May's medium of choice due to its wide range of expression and spontaneity that he felt other techniques lacked. May - "With monoprinting, you can only work a piece for as a long as the paint stays wet, so the resulting print has a feeling of movement and immediacy. I also like how monoprinting allows the brush strokes to transfer a transparent light quality to the print. For me, this is a technique that bridges drawing...
Category
1980s Contemporary Animal Prints
Materials
Screen
Staatliche Werkkunstschule Kassel (Prefatio) Poster /// Bauhaus Josef Albers Art
By Josef Albers
Located in Saint Augustine, FL
Artist: (after) Josef Albers (German-American, 1888-1976)
Title: "Staatliche Werkkunstschule Kassel (Prefatio)"
Year: 1957
Medium: Original Relief Print (Letterpress), Exhibition Poster on light wove paper
Limited edition: Unknown
Printer: Staatliche Werkkunstschule Kassel, Kassel, Germany
Publisher: Staatliche Werkkunstschule Kassel, Kassel, Germany
Sheet size: 24.75" x 17.63"
Image size: 11.75" x 15.63"
Condition: A few faint handling creases. Never framed, has been professionally stored away for decades. In excellent condition
Extremely rare
Notes:
Provenance: private collection - Nuremberg, Germany. Poster produced for a special exhibition of Albers' work "Early Pictures from the Twenties and New Works" at the Staatliche Werkkunstschule Kassel from May 28 - June 8, 1957. The image featured on this poster is Albers' 1942 lithograph edition "Prefatio", (Danilowitz No. 103, page 76), from his 1942 "Graphic Tectonics" series of 9 lithographs, (Danilowitz No. 100-108, page 74-79). Printer's imprint upper right.
This is an extremely rare poster being if not the, one of the, earliest documented Josef Albers exhibition...
Category
1950s Abstract Geometric Abstract Prints
Materials
Paper