Anker Smith
1810s Modern Figurative Prints
Etching
1810s Modern Figurative Prints
Etching
1810s Old Masters Portrait Prints
Etching
1810s Old Masters Figurative Prints
Etching
1810s Old Masters Portrait Prints
Etching
Antique Early 19th Century English Decorative Art
Paper
People Also Browsed
Antique 18th Century and Earlier European Paintings
Board
Antique 16th Century Maps
Paper
Antique 18th Century French Paintings
Antique Late 18th Century Prints
Paper
Antique 16th Century German Prints
Paper
Antique Late 18th Century Prints
Paper
Antique Late 18th Century Prints
Paper
Vintage 1960s German Mid-Century Modern Prints
Paper
Antique 16th Century Belgian Baroque Books
Wood, Paper
Vintage 1960s French Mid-Century Modern Posters
Paper
20th Century Contemporary Abstract Prints
Etching
Early 20th Century American Modern Contemporary Art
Canvas, Paint
1970s Surrealist Figurative Prints
Engraving
Antique Early 1900s German Jugendstil Vases
Bronze
20th Century Prints
Paper
Vintage 1980s Prints
Paper
Finding the Right prints-works-on-paper for You
Decorating with fine art prints — whether they’re figurative prints, abstract prints or another variety — has always been a practical way of bringing a space to life as well as bringing works by an artist you love into your home.
Pursued in the 1960s and ’70s, largely by Pop artists drawn to its associations with mass production, advertising, packaging and seriality, as well as those challenging the primacy of the Abstract Expressionist brushstroke, printmaking was embraced in the 1980s by painters and conceptual artists ranging from David Salle and Elizabeth Murray to Adrian Piper and Sherrie Levine.
Printmaking is the transfer of an image from one surface to another. An artist takes a material like stone, metal, wood or wax, carves, incises, draws or otherwise marks it with an image, inks or paints it and then transfers the image to a piece of paper or other material.
Fine art prints are frequently confused with their more commercial counterparts. After all, our closest connection to the printed image is through mass-produced newspapers, magazines and books, and many people don’t realize that even though prints are editions, they start with an original image created by an artist with the intent of reproducing it in a small batch. Fine art prints are created in strictly limited editions — 20 or 30 or maybe 50 — and are always based on an image created specifically to be made into an edition.
Many people think of revered Dutch artist Rembrandt as a painter but may not know that he was a printmaker as well. His prints have been preserved in time along with the work of other celebrated printmakers such as Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dalí and Andy Warhol. These fine art prints are still highly sought after by collectors.
“It’s another tool in the artist’s toolbox, just like painting or sculpture or anything else that an artist uses in the service of mark making or expressing him- or herself,” says International Fine Print Dealers Association (IFPDA) vice president Betsy Senior, of New York’s Betsy Senior Fine Art, Inc.
Because artist’s editions tend to be more affordable and available than his or her unique works, they’re more accessible and can be a great opportunity to bring a variety of colors, textures and shapes into a space.
For tight corners, select small fine art prints as opposed to the oversized bold piece you’ll hang as a focal point in the dining area. But be careful not to choose something that is too big for your space. And feel free to lean into it if need be — not every work needs picture-hanging hooks. Leaning a larger fine art print against the wall behind a bookcase can add a stylish installation-type dynamic to your living room. (Read more about how to arrange wall art here.)
Find fine art prints for sale on 1stDibs today.
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