$1,196Sale Price|20% Off
Jean Cocteau, Untitled, from Under the Coat of Fire, 1955
By Jean Cocteau
Located in Southampton, NY
This exquisite lithograph by Jean Cocteau (1889–1963), titled Sans titre (Untitled), originates from the 1955 album Sous le manteau de feu, Poems, douze lithographies originales de J...
Lithograph
$1,196Sale Price|20% Off
Jean Cocteau, Untitled, from Under the Coat of Fire, 1955
By Jean Cocteau
Located in Southampton, NY
This exquisite lithograph by Jean Cocteau (1889–1963), titled Sans titre (Untitled), originates from the 1955 album Sous le manteau de feu, Poems, douze lithographies originales de J...
Lithograph
$1,196Sale Price|20% Off
Jean Cocteau, Untitled, from Under the Coat of Fire, 1955
By Jean Cocteau
Located in Southampton, NY
This exquisite lithograph by Jean Cocteau (1889–1963), titled Sans titre (Untitled), originates from the 1955 album Sous le manteau de feu, Poems, douze lithographies originales de J...
Lithograph
$1,196Sale Price|20% Off
Jean Cocteau, Untitled, from Under the Coat of Fire, 1955
By Jean Cocteau
Located in Southampton, NY
This exquisite lithograph by Jean Cocteau (1889–1963), titled Sans titre (Untitled), originates from the 1955 album Sous le manteau de feu, Poems, douze lithographies originales de J...
Lithograph
$1,196Sale Price|20% Off
Jean Cocteau, Untitled, from Under the Coat of Fire, 1955
By Jean Cocteau
Located in Southampton, NY
This exquisite lithograph by Jean Cocteau (1889–1963), titled Sans titre (Untitled), originates from the 1955 album Sous le manteau de feu, Poems, douze lithographies originales de J...
Lithograph
$716Sale Price|20% Off
Jean Cocteau, Scene XV, Oedipus Rex, from Theatre, 1957
By Jean Cocteau
Located in Southampton, NY
Jean Cocteau lithograph, Cocteau Theatre tome I, Cocteau Bernard Grasset, Cocteau Mourlot Freres, Cocteau 1957 edition, Cocteau Verge de Voiron, Cocteau collectible lithograph.
Lithograph
$716Sale Price|20% Off
Jean Cocteau, Scene XXIX, Renaud and Armide, from Theatre, 1957
By Jean Cocteau
Located in Southampton, NY
Jean Cocteau lithograph, Cocteau Theatre tome II, Cocteau Bernard Grasset, Cocteau Mourlot Freres, Cocteau 1957 edition, Cocteau Verge de Voiron, Cocteau collectible lithograph.
Lithograph
$716Sale Price|20% Off
Jean Cocteau, Scene XXVIII, Renaud and Armide, from Theatre, 1957
By Jean Cocteau
Located in Southampton, NY
Jean Cocteau lithograph, Cocteau Theatre tome II, Cocteau Bernard Grasset, Cocteau Mourlot Freres, Cocteau 1957 edition, Cocteau Verge de Voiron, Cocteau collectible lithograph.
Lithograph
$716Sale Price|20% Off
Jean Cocteau, Scene XXVII, Renaud and Armide, from Theatre, 1957
By Jean Cocteau
Located in Southampton, NY
Jean Cocteau lithograph, Cocteau Theatre tome II, Cocteau Bernard Grasset, Cocteau Mourlot Freres, Cocteau 1957 edition, Cocteau Verge de Voiron, Cocteau collectible lithograph.
Lithograph
$716Sale Price|20% Off
Jean Cocteau, Scene XXVI, Renaud and Armide, from Theatre, 1957
By Jean Cocteau
Located in Southampton, NY
Jean Cocteau lithograph, Cocteau Theatre tome II, Cocteau Bernard Grasset, Cocteau Mourlot Freres, Cocteau 1957 edition, Cocteau Verge de Voiron, Cocteau collectible lithograph.
Lithograph
$716Sale Price|20% Off
Jean Cocteau, Scene XXIII, The Sacred Monsters, from Theatre, 1957
By Jean Cocteau
Located in Southampton, NY
Jean Cocteau lithograph, Cocteau Theatre tome II, Cocteau Bernard Grasset, Cocteau Mourlot Freres, Cocteau 1957 edition, Cocteau Verge de Voiron, Cocteau collectible lithograph.
Lithograph
Jean Cocteau - Christ - Original Handsigned and Handcolored Lithograph
By Jean Cocteau
Located in Collonge Bellerive, Geneve, CH
Jean Cocteau - Christ - Original Handsigned and Handcolored Lithograph Signed in the plate Handsigned and dated in color pencil.
Lithograph
Jean Cocteau - Juliet Waiting for Romeo - Original Lithograph
By Jean Cocteau
Located in Collonge Bellerive, Geneve, CH
Original Lithograph by Jean Cocteau From "Théâtre" Portfolio, 1957 Edition: 207 / 8800 Dimensions: 22.5 x 15.5 cm Jean Cocteau Writer, artist and film director Jean Cocteau was on...
Lithograph
$716Sale Price|20% Off
Jean Cocteau, Scene XXII, The Sacred Monsters, from Theatre, 1957
By Jean Cocteau
Located in Southampton, NY
Jean Cocteau lithograph, Cocteau Theatre tome II, Cocteau Bernard Grasset, Cocteau Mourlot Freres, Cocteau 1957 edition, Cocteau Verge de Voiron, Cocteau collectible lithograph.
Lithograph
$716Sale Price|20% Off
Jean Cocteau, Scene XIV, The Infernal Machine, from Theatre, 1957
By Jean Cocteau
Located in Southampton, NY
Jean Cocteau lithograph, Cocteau Theatre tome I, Cocteau Bernard Grasset, Cocteau Mourlot Freres, Cocteau 1957 edition, Cocteau Verge de Voiron, Cocteau collectible lithograph.
Lithograph
$716Sale Price|20% Off
Jean Cocteau, Scene XIII, The Infernal Machine, from Theatre, 1957
By Jean Cocteau
Located in Southampton, NY
Jean Cocteau lithograph, Cocteau Theatre tome I, Cocteau Bernard Grasset, Cocteau Mourlot Freres, Cocteau 1957 edition, Cocteau Verge de Voiron, Cocteau collectible lithograph.
Lithograph
$716Sale Price|20% Off
Jean Cocteau, Scene XII, The Infernal Machine, from Theatre, 1957
By Jean Cocteau
Located in Southampton, NY
Jean Cocteau lithograph, Cocteau Theatre tome I, Cocteau Bernard Grasset, Cocteau Mourlot Freres, Cocteau 1957 edition, Cocteau Verge de Voiron, Cocteau collectible lithograph.
Lithograph
$716Sale Price|20% Off
Jean Cocteau, Scene XI, The Human Voice, from Theatre, 1957
By Jean Cocteau
Located in Southampton, NY
Jean Cocteau lithograph, Cocteau Theatre tome I, Cocteau Bernard Grasset, Cocteau Mourlot Freres, Cocteau 1957 edition, Cocteau Verge de Voiron, Cocteau collectible lithograph.
Lithograph
$716Sale Price|20% Off
Jean Cocteau, Scene VIII, Romeo and Juliet, from Theatre, 1957
By Jean Cocteau
Located in Southampton, NY
Jean Cocteau lithograph, Cocteau Theatre tome I, Cocteau Bernard Grasset, Cocteau Mourlot Freres, Cocteau 1957 edition, Cocteau Verge de Voiron, Cocteau collectible lithograph.
Lithograph
$716Sale Price|20% Off
Jean Cocteau, Scene VII, Romeo and Juliet, from Theatre, 1957
By Jean Cocteau
Located in Southampton, NY
Jean Cocteau lithograph, Cocteau Theatre tome I, Cocteau Bernard Grasset, Cocteau Mourlot Freres, Cocteau 1957 edition, Cocteau Verge de Voiron, Cocteau collectible lithograph.
Lithograph
Hommage for Ville de Nantes Lithograph Poster, Jean Cocteau
By Jean Cocteau
Located in Dubai, Dubai
Hommage for Ville de Nantes Lithograph poster after Jean Cocteau Jean Cocteau was a French poet, playwright, and filmmaker known for his avant-garde works that spanned multiple art...
Lithograph
Jean COCTEAU and Raymond MORETTI: Faces - Original Hansigned Lithograph
By Jean Cocteau
Located in Paris, IDF
Jean Cocteau and Raymond Moretti Faces and Fishes Original lithograph Printed signature in the plate, handsigned by Raymond Moretti Numbered EA 1/10 - Very look for proof bearing n...
Lithograph
$470
Jean COCTEAU and Raymond MORETTI : Celebration - Original Hansigned Lithograph
By Jean Cocteau
Located in Paris, IDF
Jean Cocteau and Raymond Moretti Célébration Original lithograph Printed signature in the plate, handsigned by Raymond Moretti Numbered EA 1/10 - Very look for proof bearing n°1 On ...
Lithograph
Jean Cocteau - Study for the Wall - Original Handsigned Lithograph
By Jean Cocteau
Located in Collonge Bellerive, Geneve, CH
Jean Cocteau - Study for the Wall - Original Handsigned Lithograph Signed in pencil and numbered Dimensions: 65 x 50 cm Edition: 150 1956
Lithograph
$716Sale Price|20% Off
Jean Cocteau, Scene XXXIV, The Eagle with Two Heads, from Theatre, 1957
By Jean Cocteau
Located in Southampton, NY
Jean Cocteau lithograph, Cocteau Theatre tome II, Cocteau Bernard Grasset, Cocteau Mourlot Freres, Cocteau 1957 edition, Cocteau Verge de Voiron, Cocteau collectible lithograph.
Lithograph
$716Sale Price|20% Off
Jean Cocteau, Scene XXXIII, The Eagle with Two Heads, from Theatre, 1957
By Jean Cocteau
Located in Southampton, NY
Jean Cocteau lithograph, Cocteau Theatre tome II, Cocteau Bernard Grasset, Cocteau Mourlot Freres, Cocteau 1957 edition, Cocteau Verge de Voiron, Cocteau collectible lithograph.
Lithograph
$716Sale Price|20% Off
Jean Cocteau, Scene XXXII, The Eagle with Two Heads, from Theatre, 1957
By Jean Cocteau
Located in Southampton, NY
Jean Cocteau lithograph, Cocteau Theatre tome II, Cocteau Bernard Grasset, Cocteau Mourlot Freres, Cocteau 1957 edition, Cocteau Verge de Voiron, Cocteau collectible lithograph.
Lithograph
$716Sale Price|20% Off
Jean Cocteau, Scene XXXI, The Eagle with Two Heads, from Theatre, 1957
By Jean Cocteau
Located in Southampton, NY
Jean Cocteau lithograph, Cocteau Theatre tome II, Cocteau Bernard Grasset, Cocteau Mourlot Freres, Cocteau 1957 edition, Cocteau Verge de Voiron, Cocteau collectible lithograph.
Lithograph
$716Sale Price|20% Off
Jean Cocteau, Scene XXX, The Eagle with Two Heads, from Theatre, 1957
By Jean Cocteau
Located in Southampton, NY
Jean Cocteau lithograph, Cocteau Theatre tome II, Cocteau Bernard Grasset, Cocteau Mourlot Freres, Cocteau 1957 edition, Cocteau Verge de Voiron, Cocteau collectible lithograph.
Lithograph
$470
Jean COCTEAU and Raymond MORETTI : The Evolution - Original Hansigned Lithograph
By Jean Cocteau
Located in Paris, IDF
Jean Cocteau and Raymond Moretti Earth's Evolution Original lithograph Printed signature in the plate, handsigned by Raymond Moretti Numbered 1/79 On Arches vellum 50 x 65 cm (c. 1...
Lithograph
$470
Jean COCTEAU and Raymond MORETTI : The Spirits - Original Hansigned Lithograph
By Jean Cocteau
Located in Paris, IDF
Jean Cocteau and Raymond Moretti The Two Spirit's Meeting Original lithograph Printed signature in the plate, handsigned by Raymond Moretti Numbered 1/79 - Very look for proof beari...
Lithograph
Jean COCTEAU and Raymond MORETTI : A memory - Original Hansigned Lithograph
By Jean Cocteau
Located in Paris, IDF
Jean Cocteau and Raymond Moretti A Memory Original lithograph Printed signature in the plate, handsigned by Raymond Moretti Numbered 1/79 - Very look for proof bearing n°1 On Arches...
Lithograph
$470
Jean COCTEAU and Raymond MORETTI : The Emotions - Original Hansigned Lithograph
By Jean Cocteau
Located in Paris, IDF
Jean Cocteau and Raymond Moretti Human Emotions Original lithograph Printed signature in the plate, handsigned by Raymond Moretti Numbered 1/79 - Very look for artist proof bearing ...
Lithograph
Jean COCTEAU and Raymond MORETTI : The Earth - Original Hansigned Lithograph
By Jean Cocteau
Located in Paris, IDF
Jean Cocteau and Raymond Moretti The Earth And The Sun Original lithograph Printed signature in the plate, handsigned by Raymond Moretti Numbered 1/79 - Very look for proof bearing ...
Lithograph
Jean COCTEAU and Raymond MORETTI : The Lovers - Original Hansigned Lithograph
By Jean Cocteau
Located in Paris, IDF
Jean Cocteau and Raymond Moretti The Lovers Original lithograph Printed signature in the plate, handsigned by Raymond Moretti Numbered EA 1/10 - Very look for proof bearing n°1 On ...
Lithograph
$470
Jean COCTEAU and Raymond MORETTI: Love Encounter - Original Hansigned Lithograph
By Jean Cocteau
Located in Paris, IDF
Jean Cocteau and Raymond Moretti Love Encounter Original lithograph Printed signature in the plate, handsigned by Raymond Moretti Numbered EA 1/10 - Very look for proof bearing n°1 ...
Lithograph
$470
Jean COCTEAU and Raymond MORETTI : The symbiosis - Original Hansigned Lithograph
By Jean Cocteau
Located in Paris, IDF
Jean Cocteau and Raymond Moretti The Symbiosis Between Fish and Aquarius Original lithograph Printed signature in the plate, handsigned by Raymond Moretti Numbered 1/79 - Very look ...
Lithograph
$470
Jean COCTEAU and Raymond MORETTI: Love Encounter - Original Hansigned Lithograph
By Jean Cocteau
Located in Paris, IDF
Jean Cocteau and Raymond Moretti Love Encounter Original lithograph Printed signature in the plate, handsigned by Raymond Moretti Numbered EA 1/10 - Very look for proof bearing n°1 ...
Lithograph
$952Sale Price|20% Off
Les Amoureux- From the Album "Jean Cocteau Lithographies" by Jean Cocteau
By Jean Cocteau
Located in New York, NY
The modern lithograph "Les Amoureux" by Jean Cocteau was printed at the Atelier Mourlot in 1957.
Lithograph
$3,996
Original lithograph by Jean Cocteau : Petit profil d'Orphée aux arabesques
By Jean Cocteau
Located in PARIS, FR
This original lithograph by Jean Cocteau, titled Petit profil d'Orphée aux arabesques, captures the distinctive fusion of mythology and modernist elegance that defines the artist’s o...
Paper, Lithograph
$716Sale Price|20% Off
Jean Cocteau, Scene XXI, The Knights of the Round Table, from Theatre, 1957
By Jean Cocteau
Located in Southampton, NY
Jean Cocteau lithograph, Cocteau Theatre tome I, Cocteau Bernard Grasset, Cocteau Mourlot Freres, Cocteau 1957 edition, Cocteau Verge de Voiron, Cocteau collectible lithograph.
Lithograph
$716Sale Price|20% Off
Jean Cocteau, Scene XX, The Knights of the Round Table, from Theatre, 1957
By Jean Cocteau
Located in Southampton, NY
Jean Cocteau lithograph, Cocteau Theatre tome I, Cocteau Bernard Grasset, Cocteau Mourlot Freres, Cocteau 1957 edition, Cocteau Verge de Voiron, Cocteau collectible lithograph.
Lithograph
$716Sale Price|20% Off
Jean Cocteau, Scene XIX, The Knights of the Round Table, from Theatre, 1957
By Jean Cocteau
Located in Southampton, NY
Jean Cocteau lithograph, Cocteau Theatre tome I, Cocteau Bernard Grasset, Cocteau Mourlot Freres, Cocteau 1957 edition, Cocteau Verge de Voiron, Cocteau collectible lithograph.
Lithograph
$716Sale Price|20% Off
Jean Cocteau, Scene XVIII, The Knights of the Round Table, from Theatre, 1957
By Jean Cocteau
Located in Southampton, NY
Jean Cocteau lithograph, Cocteau Theatre tome I, Cocteau Bernard Grasset, Cocteau Mourlot Freres, Cocteau 1957 edition, Cocteau Verge de Voiron, Cocteau collectible lithograph.
Lithograph
$716Sale Price|20% Off
Jean Cocteau, Scene XVII, The Knights of the Round Table, from Theatre, 1957
By Jean Cocteau
Located in Southampton, NY
Jean Cocteau lithograph, Cocteau Theatre tome I, Cocteau Bernard Grasset, Cocteau Mourlot Freres, Cocteau 1957 edition, Cocteau Verge de Voiron, Cocteau collectible lithograph.
Lithograph
$716Sale Price|20% Off
Jean Cocteau, Scene XVI, The Knights of the Round Table, from Theatre, 1957
By Jean Cocteau
Located in Southampton, NY
Jean Cocteau lithograph, Cocteau Theatre tome I, Cocteau Bernard Grasset, Cocteau Mourlot Freres, Cocteau 1957 edition, Cocteau Verge de Voiron, Cocteau collectible lithograph.
Lithograph
$716Sale Price|20% Off
Jean Cocteau, Scene IV, The Bridal Couple of the Eiffel Tower, Theatre, 1957
By Jean Cocteau
Located in Southampton, NY
Jean Cocteau lithograph, Cocteau Theatre tome I, Cocteau Bernard Grasset, Cocteau Mourlot Freres, Cocteau 1957 edition, Cocteau Verge de Voiron, Cocteau collectible lithograph.
Lithograph
$716Sale Price|20% Off
Jean Cocteau, Scene III, The Bridal Couple of the Eiffel Tower, Theatre, 1957
By Jean Cocteau
Located in Southampton, NY
Jean Cocteau lithograph, Cocteau Theatre tome I, Cocteau Bernard Grasset, Cocteau Mourlot Freres, Cocteau 1957 edition, Cocteau Verge de Voiron, Cocteau collectible lithograph.
Lithograph
$716Sale Price|20% Off
Jean Cocteau, Scene II, The Bridal Couple of the Eiffel Tower, Theatre, 1957
By Jean Cocteau
Located in Southampton, NY
Jean Cocteau lithograph, Cocteau Theatre tome I, Cocteau Bernard Grasset, Cocteau Mourlot Freres, Cocteau 1957 edition, Cocteau Verge de Voiron, Cocteau collectible lithograph.
Lithograph
$470
Jean COCTEAU and Raymond MORETTI : The kiss- Original Hansigned Lithograph, 1973
By Jean Cocteau
Located in Paris, IDF
Jean Cocteau and Raymond Moretti The Kiss Original lithograph Printed signature in the plate, handsigned by Raymond Moretti Numbered 1/79 - Very look for artist proof bearing n°1 On...
Lithograph
Jean Cocteau "Drawings Lithographs Posters" Folio German Publisher 1982
By Jean Cocteau
Located in Miami, FL
Folio of Jean Cocteau seriegraphs of "Drawings, Lithographs, Affiches" published by Worpswede in Germany in 1982.
Paper
Hommage a Jean Cocteau for the Ville de Nantes 1964 (after) Cocteau, Jean
By Jean Cocteau
Located in Dubai, Dubai
Hommage a Jean Cocteau for the Ville de Nantes 1964 By (after) Jean Cocteau Jean Cocteau (1889–1963) was a versatile French artist whose influence spanned across literature, film, ...
Lithograph
$716Sale Price|20% Off
Jean Cocteau, Scene I, The Bridal Couple of the Eiffel Tower, from Theatre, 1957
By Jean Cocteau
Located in Southampton, NY
Jean Cocteau lithograph, Cocteau Theatre tome I, Cocteau Bernard Grasset, Cocteau Mourlot Freres, Cocteau 1957 edition, Cocteau Verge de Voiron, Cocteau collectible lithograph.
Lithograph
$796Sale Price|20% Off
Jean Cocteau, Meeting, from Bulls, 1965 (after)
By Jean Cocteau
Located in Southampton, NY
This exquisite lithograph after Jean Cocteau (1889–1963), titled Rendez vous (Meeting), from the folio Taureaux, Lithographies de Jean Cocteau (Bulls, Lithographs by Jean Cocteau), o...
Lithograph
$796Sale Price|20% Off
Jean Cocteau, He, from Bulls, 1965 (after)
By Jean Cocteau
Located in Southampton, NY
This exquisite lithograph after Jean Cocteau (1889–1963), titled El (He), from the folio Taureaux, Lithographies de Jean Cocteau (Bulls, Lithographs by Jean Cocteau), originates from...
Lithograph
$796Sale Price|20% Off
Jean Cocteau, Untitled, from Bulls, 1965 (after)
By Jean Cocteau
Located in Southampton, NY
This exquisite lithograph after Jean Cocteau (1889–1963), titled Sans titre (Untitled), from the folio Taureaux, Lithographies de Jean Cocteau (Bulls, Lithographs by Jean Cocteau), o...
Lithograph
$796Sale Price|20% Off
Jean Cocteau, Veronica, from Bulls, 1965 (after)
By Jean Cocteau
Located in Southampton, NY
This exquisite lithograph after Jean Cocteau (1889–1963), titled Veronica (Veronica), from the folio Taureaux, Lithographies de Jean Cocteau (Bulls, Lithographs by Jean Cocteau), ori...
Lithograph
$796Sale Price|20% Off
Jean Cocteau, Reflection, from Bulls, 1965 (after)
By Jean Cocteau
Located in Southampton, NY
This exquisite lithograph after Jean Cocteau (1889–1963), titled Reflet (Reflection), from the folio Taureaux, Lithographies de Jean Cocteau (Bulls, Lithographs by Jean Cocteau), ori...
Lithograph
$796Sale Price|20% Off
Jean Cocteau, Manoletina, from Bulls, 1965 (after)
By Jean Cocteau
Located in Southampton, NY
This exquisite lithograph after Jean Cocteau (1889–1963), titled Manoletina (Manoletina), from the folio Taureaux, Lithographies de Jean Cocteau (Bulls, Lithographs by Jean Cocteau),...
Lithograph
$716Sale Price|20% Off
Jean Cocteau, Harmony, from Bulls, 1965 (after)
By Jean Cocteau
Located in Southampton, NY
This exquisite lithograph after Jean Cocteau (1889–1963), titled Concordance (Harmony), from the folio Taureaux, Lithographies de Jean Cocteau (Bulls, Lithographs by Jean Cocteau), o...
Lithograph
Jean Cocteau was a French painter, poet, designer, printmaker, playwright and filmmaker. He is one of the most important figures of French Surrealism, although he always denied being in any way connected to the movement.
Cocteau was born to a socially prominent Parisian family. His father, George Cocteau, was an amateur painter who committed suicide when Jean was only a child. Jean became famous in Bohemian circles as "The Frivolous Prince." In 1912, he collaborated with the Ballets Russes. After World War I, Cocteau met the poet Guillaume Apollinaire and the artist Pablo Picasso. In 1917, thanks to Sergei Diaghilev, a Russian impresario, Cocteau wrote a scenario for the ballet Parade — the set of this important ballet was realized by Pablo Picasso and the music was composed by Erik Satie. In the late 1920s, Cocteau wrote the libretto for Igor Stravinsky’s opera-oratorio Oedipus Rex. In 1918, he met the French poet Raymond Radiguet. They worked and went on many journeys together, and Cocteau promoted his friend's works in his artistic group.
Cocteau is well-known for his novel Les Enfants Terribles (1929) and the films The Blood of a Poet, Beauty and the Beast and Orpheus. During World War II, he created sets for the Théâtre de la Mode. In 1955, he was elected to the Académie Française and the Royal Academy of Science, Letters and Fine Arts of Belgium. He was commander of the Legion of Honour, a member of the Academié Mallarmé, the Academy of Arts (Berlin) and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
Find Jean Cocteau art today on 1stDibs.
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.