Francois Fiedler

François Fiedler was born in Kassa, Hungary in 1921. He started at a young age by painting academic portraits and copying the grandmasters of the past. After his university studies, he enrolled in the Fine Arts Academy of Budapest. At the age of 25, in 1946, Fiedler moved to Paris. It is during this period immediately after the war, that his work started evolving towards abstraction, he practiced a gestural painting in college and his first solo exhibitions got organized. He also participated in group exhibitions such as the Salon des Réalités Nouvelles and the Salon de Mai. Fiedler’s friend Joan Miro introduced him to Aimé Maeght, also to Braque and Calder, following the example of Tàpies, Ubac and Tal-Coat, Fiedler becomes one of the artists in the circle who gravitates towards the famous gallery owner. This assured him numerous exhibitions. During 1959–74, four editions of the magazine Derrière le Mirror were entirely dedicated to him. Painting always remained his principal means of expression, Fiedler experimented for several years with etching. Stamping his destiny, he achieved an original style, relief that added a particular dramatic intensity to his work. The magic alchemy that came out of his engraving is allied to an esthetic approach that is extremely rigorous that nourished Fiedler and is proof of his questioning. That became a departure point of a reflection of the singular and the multiple, of the notion of identity, which is fundamental to his work. During these diverse periods, Fiedler played with the unusualness of his style. The artist illustrated diverse works such as St. John of the Cross, Hercules and Claude Ollier. He worked for more than 2 years on 35 etchings for the Illustrations of the Evangeline According to St. Matthew, but the publication of this work was compromised by the death of Aimé Maeght in 1981. Fielder remained unrecognized despite the importance of his work.

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.