$3,400
Dieu, Le Temps, L'Espace et le Pape (God, Time, Space, and the Pope) /// Dali
By Salvador Dalí
Located in Saint Augustine, FL
Artist: Salvador Dali (Spanish, 1904-1989) Title: "Dieu, Le Temps, L'Espace et le Pape (God, Time, Space, and the Pope)" Portfolio: After 50 Years of Surrealism *Signed by Dali in p...
Etching, Intaglio
$4,600
"Caring for a Surrealist Watch" Etching & Photolithograph, Artist's Proof, 1971
By Salvador Dalí
Located in Astoria, NY
Salvador Dali (Spanish, 1904-1989), "Caring for a Surrealist Watch", Etching and Photolithograph in Colors on Arches paper, 1971, from the "Memories of Surrealism" suite, published T...
Photo-lithograph, Paper, Etching
!["Les Lauriers de Bonheur" [The Laurels of Happiness] Etching in Colors, 1974](https://a.1stdibscdn.com/salvador-dali-prints-works-on-paper-les-lauriers-de-bonheur-the-laurels-of-happiness-etching-in-colors-1974-for-sale/a_28452/a_183372721784669812645/item_135647_catimage_1_master.jpg?width=240)
!["Les Lauriers de Bonheur" [The Laurels of Happiness] Etching in Colors, 1974](https://a.1stdibscdn.com/salvador-dali-prints-works-on-paper-les-lauriers-de-bonheur-the-laurels-of-happiness-etching-in-colors-1974-for-sale-picture-2/a_28452/a_183372721784669824715/item_135647_catimage_2_master.jpg?width=240)
$3,700
"Les Lauriers de Bonheur" [The Laurels of Happiness] Etching in Colors, 1974
By Salvador Dalí
Located in Astoria, NY
Salvador Dali (Spanish, 1904-1989), "Les Lauriers de Bonheur" [The Laurels of Happiness], Drypoint Etching with Pochoir, 1974, from "After 50 Years of Surrealism", published by Ateli...
Drypoint, Etching
$3,700
"Le Grand Inquisitor Chasse Le Sauveur" Drypoint Etching with Pochoir, 1974
By Salvador Dalí
Located in Astoria, NY
Salvador Dali (Spanish, 1904-1989), "Le Grand Inquisitor Chasse Le Sauveur" [The Grand Inquisitor Expels the Savior], Drypoint Etching with Pochoir coloring, 1974, from After 50 Year...
Etching, Paper, Drypoint
Frontispiece Etching, Drypoint, Signed, 83/145, Late 20th Century
By Salvador Dalí
Located in Milwaukee, WI
No. 189. Prestel. Ed. Ralf Michler and Lutz W. Lopsinger. Catalog Raisonne of Dali's Etchings and Mixed-Media Prints, 1924 - 1980. From the Secret Poems by Apollinaire Series (Poemes...
Drypoint, Etching
$3,700
"Le Chateau de Gala" Surrealist Drypoint Etching, Signed Artist's Proof, 1974
By Salvador Dalí
Located in Astoria, NY
Salvador Dali (Spanish, 1904-1989), "Le Chateau de Gala" [Gala's Castle], Drypoint Etching with Pochoir coloring on Japan paper, 1974, from After 50 Years of Surrealism, published At...
Washi Paper, Drypoint, Etching
$3,700
"Expulse Comme un Megot Par Les Magots" Drypoint Etching with Pochoir, 1974
By Salvador Dalí
Located in Astoria, NY
Salvador Dali (Spanish, 1904-1989), "Expulse Comme un Megot Par Les Magots" [Flung Out Like a Fag-End by The Big Wigs], Drypoint Etching with Pochoir coloring, 1974, from After 50 Ye...
Paper, Drypoint, Etching
Le Legacy Aquatint Etching on Japon Paper, Signed, 4/150, 20th Century
By Salvador Dalí
Located in Aventura, FL
Image size: 15.75 x 17.5 inches. Frame size: 40 x 34 inches. Referenced in "The Official Catalog of the Graphic works of Salvador Dali" by Albert Field, 1996 as Figure 80-1 M on pa...
Paper, Etching, Aquatint
Chevalier a Genou Etching, Signed Drypoint, Late 20th Century, 38/145
By Salvador Dalí
Located in Milwaukee, WI
No. 305. Prestel. Ed. Ralf Michler and Lutz W. Lopsinger. Catalog Raisonne of Dali's Etchings and Mixed-Media Prints, 1924 - 1980. From the Faust Series (La Nuit de Walpurgis). This ...
Drypoint, Etching
Ponte de Rodillas Etching, Drypoint, Surrealist, Signed, 1977, 21/200
By Salvador Dalí
Located in Roma, IT
Ponte de Rodillas is a contemporary artwork realized in 1977. The artwork is from the series: 'Les Caprices de Goya de Dali'. Drypoint on Heliosgravure, on Rives paper. Plate dime...
Etching, Drypoint
Nude with Garter, Original, Surrealist, 1969, Signed, Framed
By Salvador Dalí
Located in OPOLE, PL
Salvador Dali (1904-1989) - Nu à la jarretière (Nude with Garter) Drypoint etching from 1969. The edition 117/145 on Arches paper. Dimensions of work: 66 x 51 cm. Hand signed. P...
Etching, Drypoint
1971 L'Académie de Paris, Pencil Signed EA Colorful Etching
By Salvador Dalí
Located in New York, NY
Salvador Dali 1971 L'Académie de Paris Etching 19x25 inches Image 27x33 inches with frame overall good condition Pencil Signed lower right Pencil Edition Size EA This Large piece ...
Lithograph
$15,000
Escargot
By Salvador Dalí
Located in Hollywood, FL
ARTIST: Salvador Dali TITLE: Escargot MEDIUM: Etching SIGNED: Hand Signed by Salvador Dali EDITION NUMBER: I/XXV MEASUREMENTS: Paper: 14.48" x 11" Frame: 19" x 15" YEAR: 1970 ...
Etching
Les Caprices de Goya Rasputin
By Salvador Dalí
Located in Hollywood, FL
ARTIST: Salvador Dali TITLE: Les Caprices de Goya Rasputin MEDIUM: Etching SIGNED: Hand Signed by Salvador Dali EDITION NUMBER: 27/200 MEASUREMENTS: Paper: 17.9" x 12.2" Frame: ...
Etching
La Vida es Sueno Portrait de Calderon
Located in Hollywood, FL
ARTIST: Salvador Dali TITLE: La Vida es Sueno Portrait de Calderon MEDIUM: Etching SIGNED: Hand Signed by Salvador Dali EDITION NUMBER: 194/250 MEASUREMENTS: Paper: 22" x 15" F...
Etching
Conquest of Cosmos Frozen Watches of Space Time
By Salvador Dalí
Located in Hollywood, FL
ARTIST: Salvador Dali TITLE: Conquest of Cosmos Frozen Watches of Space Time MEDIUM: Etching SIGNED: Hand Signed EDITION NUMBER: 105/195 MEASUREMENTS: Paper: 39.5" x 27.25" Fra...
Etching
Hommage a Albrecht Durer Venus Mars Cupidon
By Salvador Dalí
Located in Hollywood, FL
ARTIST: Salvador Dali TITLE: Hommage a Albrecht Durer Venus Mars Cupidon MEDIUM: Etching SIGNED: Hand Signed PUBLISHER: Vision Nouvelle EDITION NUMBER: EA MEASUREMENTS: 23" x ...
Etching
Memories of Surrealism Ultra Surrealist Corpuscular Galutska
By Salvador Dalí
Located in Hollywood, FL
ARTIST: Salvador Dali TITLE: Memories of Surrealism Ultra Surrealist Corpuscular Galutska MEDIUM: Etching on Japon Paper SIGNED: Hand Signed by Salvador Dali EDITION NUMBER: A XX...
Etching
Faust Vignettes Mephisto (Le Cercle Magique)
By Salvador Dalí
Located in Hollywood, FL
ARTIST: Salvador Dali TITLE: Faust Vignettes Mephisto (Le Cercle Magique) MEDIUM: Etching SIGNED: Hand Signed PUBLISHER: Editions Aegillet, Paris EDITION NUMBER: 66/150 MEAS...
Etching
The Mythology The Milky Way
By Salvador Dalí
Located in Hollywood, FL
ARTIST: Salvador Dali TITLE: The Mythology The Milky Way MEDIUM: Etching SIGNED: Hand Signed PUBLISHER: Editions Argillet, Paris EDITION NUMBER: 30/150 MEASUREMENTS: 22" x 30"...
Etching
Album Soft Telephone
By Salvador Dalí
Located in Hollywood, FL
ARTIST: Salvador Dali TITLE: Album Soft Telephone MEDIUM: Etching SIGNED: Hand Signed EDITION NUMBER: 15/150 MEASUREMENTS: 11" x 15" YEAR: 1968 FRAMED: Yes, framed in a lucit...
Etching
$22,000Sale Price|20% Off
Mythology: Leda and Swan (Leda et le Cygne)
By Salvador Dalí
Located in Santa Monica, CA
Salvador Dali Mythology: Leda and Swan (Leda et le Cygne), Published 1963 -1965 Medium: Copper and Drypoint Etching with Hand-Coloring on Japon Edition: VII/XX Artwork Size: 30 ...
Etching
Diane de Poitiers
By Salvador Dalí
Located in Hollywood, FL
ARTIST: Salvador Dali TITLE: Diane de Poitiers MEDIUM: Etching SIGNED: Hand Signed EDITION NUMBER: LXVI/C MEASUREMENTS: 20" x 25.5" YEAR: 1973 FRAMED: No CONDITION: Excellen...
Etching
Florals Rose
By Salvador Dalí
Located in Hollywood, FL
ARTIST: Salvador Dali TITLE: Florals Rose MEDIUM: Etching SIGNED: Hand Signed EDITION NUMBER: 99/350 MEASUREMENTS: 21.6" x 29.4" Framed: 33" x 41" YEAR: 1972 FRAMED: Yes CON...
Etching
One's Identity
By Salvador Dalí
Located in Columbia, MO
Salvador Dalí (1904–1989) was one of the most recognizable figures of 20th-century art, known for his eccentric persona and for pushing Surrealism into the cultural mainstream. A pai...
Etching, Lithograph
The Hippies The Woman With Garter
By Salvador Dalí
Located in Hollywood, FL
ARTIST: Salvador Dali TITLE: The Hippies Woman With Garter MEDIUM: Etching SIGNED: Hand Signed EDITION NUMBER: X/C MEASUREMENTS: 25.6" x 20" Framed: 36" x 31" YEAR: 1969 CON...
Etching
Faust Vignettes Faust Lisant
By Salvador Dalí
Located in Hollywood, FL
ARTIST: Salvador Dali TITLE: Faust Vignettes Faust Lisant MEDIUM: Etching SIGNED: Hand Signed PUBLISHER: Editions Argillet, Paris EDITION NUMBER: 24/100 MEASUREMENTS: 15" x 1...
Etching
Le Cirque Le Fou (Clown)
By Salvador Dalí
Located in Hollywood, FL
ARTIST: Salvador Dali TITLE: Le Cirque Le Fou (Clown) MEDIUM: Etching SIGNED: Hand Signed PUBLISHER: Jean Schneider, Basel/Berggruen, Paris EDITION NUMBER: 135/175 MEASUREME...
Etching
Moses and Monotheism The Tear of Blood
By Salvador Dalí
Located in Hollywood, FL
ARTIST: Salvador Dali TITLE: Moses & Monotheism The Tear of Blood MEDIUM: Etching on soft glove sheepskin SIGNED: Hand Signed PUBLISHER: Art et Valeur, Paris EDITION NUMBER: E...
Etching
Faust Sorcieres au Bali
By Salvador Dalí
Located in Hollywood, FL
ARTIST: Salvador Dali TITLE: Faust Sorceress au Bali MEDIUM: Etching SIGNED: Hand Signed PUBLISHER: Editions Aegillet, Paris EDITION NUMBER: 9/95 MEASUREMENTS: 15" x 11.2" pa...
Etching
Tristan et Iseult King Marc
By Salvador Dalí
Located in Hollywood, FL
ARTIST: Salvador Dali TITLE: Tristan et Iseult King Marc MEDIUM: Etching SIGNED: Hand Signed PUBLISHER: Jean Schneider, Basel/Leon Amiel, New York EDITION NUMBER: Not Numbered ...
Etching
The Mythology Narcissus
By Salvador Dalí
Located in Hollywood, FL
ARTIST: Salvador Dali TITLE: The Mythology Narcissus MEDIUM: Etching SIGNED: Hand Signed PUBLISHER: Pierre Argillet, Paris EDITION NUMBER: XXXI/C MEASUREMENTS: 18" x 30" YEAR...
Etching
Moses and Monotheism Moses & Akhenaton
By Salvador Dalí
Located in Hollywood, FL
ARTIST: Salvador Dali TITLE: Moses & Monotheism Moses & Akhenaton MEDIUM: Etching on soft glove sheepskin SIGNED: Hand Signed PUBLISHER: Art et Valeur, Paris EDITION NUMBER: 2...
Etching
Tauramachie Surrealiste The Parrots
By Salvador Dalí
Located in Hollywood, FL
ARTIST: Salvador Dali TITLE: Tauramachi Surrealiste The Parrots MEDIUM: Etching SIGNED: Hand Signed PUBLISHER: Pierre Argillet, Paris EDITION NUMBER: 149/150 MEASUREMENTS: ...
Etching
La Joie de Vivre
By Salvador Dalí
Located in Hollywood, FL
ARTIST: Salvador Dali TITLE: La Joie de Vivre MEDIUM: Etching SIGNED: Hand Signed PUBLISHER: Editions d'Art de Francony EDITION NUMBER: 75/150 MEASUREMENTS: 19.6" x 25.6" YEA...
Etching
Alchimie des Philosophes L'Immortalite
By Salvador Dalí
Located in Hollywood, FL
ARTIST: Salvador Dali TITLE: Alchimie des Philosophes L'Immortalite MEDIUM: Etching on Parchment Paper SIGNED: Hand Signed PUBLISHER: Art et Valeur, Paris EDITION NUMBER: 32/2...
Etching
Alchimie des Philosophes L’Ouraboros
By Salvador Dalí
Located in Hollywood, FL
ARTIST: Salvador Dali TITLE: Alchimie des Philosophes L'Ouraboros MEDIUM: Etching on parchment paper SIGNED: Hand Signed PUBLISHER: Art et Valeur, Paris EDITION NUMBER: 163/225...
Etching
Les Amours Jaunes Duel with Camelias
By Salvador Dalí
Located in Hollywood, FL
ARTIST: Salvador Dali TITLE: Les Amours Jaunes Duel With Camelias MEDIUM: Etching + Gold Flakes SIGNED: Hand Signed EDITION NUMBER: CLXII/CC MEASUREMENTS: 11" x 14.75" Framed:...
Etching
Rhinoceros
By Salvador Dalí
Located in Hollywood, FL
ARTIST: Salvador Dali TITLE: Rhinoceros MEDIUM: Etching SIGNED: Hand Signed PUBLISHER: Michelle Broutta, Paris EDITION NUMBER: 97/150 MEASUREMENTS: 35.4" x 25" YEAR: 1971 F...
Etching
Les Rois Mages L’Incantation
By Salvador Dalí
Located in Hollywood, FL
ARTIST: Salvador Dali TITLE: Les Rois Mages L'Incantation MEDIUM: Etching SIGNED: Hand Signed PUBLISHER: Editions Argillet EDITION NUMBER: XLIX/C MEASUREMENTS: 15" x 11" YEAR...
Etching
La Venus aux Fourrures Complete Suite
By Salvador Dalí
Located in Hollywood, FL
ARTIST: Salvador Dali TITLE: La Venus aux Fourrures Complete Suite MEDIUM: 16 Etchings SIGNED: Each etching is Hand Signed PUBLISHER: Editions Argillet, Paris EDITION NUMBER: ...
Etching
Shakespeare II Timon of Athens
By Salvador Dalí
Located in Hollywood, FL
REFERENCE: The Official Catalog of The Works of Salvador Dali by Albert Field page 64 # 71-1 E INTERNATIONAL SHIPPING: We will take the piece out of the frame and ship flat.
Etching
Alchimie des Philosophes The Angel of Alchemy
By Salvador Dalí
Located in Hollywood, FL
ARTIST: Salvador Dali TITLE: Alchimie des Philosophes The Angel of Alchemy MEDIUM: Etching on parchment paper SIGNED: Hand Signed PUBLISHER: Art et Valeur, Paris EDITION NUMBER...
Etching
Sainte Lucie
By Salvador Dalí
Located in OPOLE, PL
Salvador Dali (1904-1989) - Sainte Lucie Etching and watercolour from 1974. The edition 219/450. Dimensions of work: 90 x 63.5 cm. Hand signed. Reference: Field, 73-3; Michler, ...
Watercolor, Etching
Levi (Twelve Tribes of Israel), 1973
By Salvador Dalí
Located in Greenwich, CT
Levi is an etching on paper from Salvador Dalí's "Twelve Tribes of Israel."
Paper, Etching
Gad (Twelve Tribes of Israel), 1973
By Salvador Dalí
Located in Greenwich, CT
Gad is an etching on paper from Salvador Dalí's "Twelve Tribes of Israel."
Paper, Etching
Autumn
By Salvador Dalí
Located in Hollywood, FL
ARTIST: Salvador Dali TITLE: Autumn MEDIUM: Etching SIGNED: Hand Signed EDITION NUMBER: 89/150 The total tirage is 1,150, only 150 of the pieces have color added and signed ME...
Etching
Tete de Veau (Calf's Head)
By Salvador Dalí
Located in OPOLE, PL
Salvador Dali (1904-1989) - Tete de Veau (Calf's Head) Drypoint etching and watercolor from 1968. The edition 25/145. Dimensions of work: 38.5 x 28.5 cm. Hand signed. The work i...
Drypoint, Etching
Price Upon Request
Rembrandt (Field 68-4K; Michler & Löpsinger 292)
By Salvador Dalí
Located in Missouri, MO
Rembrandt (Field 68-4K; Michler & Löpsinger 292) Salvador Dali (Spanish, 1904-1989) Signed Lower Right "E.A." (Artist Edition) Lower Left 12 x 10 inches 23.25 x 19.25 inches with fra...
Etching
Adam and Eve
By Salvador Dalí
Located in Toronto, Ontario
Salvador Dali (1904-1989) is Surrealism's most accomplished and iconic practitioner.
Drypoint, Etching
Henry V from Much Ado About Shakespeare
By Salvador Dalí
Located in Columbia, MO
Salvador Dalí (1904–1989) was one of the most recognizable figures of 20th-century art, known for his eccentric persona and for pushing Surrealism into the cultural mainstream. A pai...
Color, Drypoint, Etching
A Shattering Entrance to the USA
By Salvador Dalí
Located in Naples, Florida
Drypoint etching with pochoir (hand-colouring) on Rives handmade paper Signed in pencil by the artist From the portfolio After 50 Years of Surrealism Printed at Atelier Riga...
Drypoint, Etching
Abricot (Apricot), From FlorDalí (Les Fruits), 1969
By Salvador Dalí
Located in Naples, Florida
From FlorDalí (Les Fruits) Artist’s Proof (EA) Lithograph with drypoint etching and embossing on Rives wove paper Signed and dated lower rig...
Drypoint, Etching, Lithograph
Gala's Castle (Plate K) , 1974
By Salvador Dalí
Located in Greenwich, CT
Gala's Castle – signed ‘Dalí’ lower right and numbered A 11/195 lower left, from the edition of 462 (there were also 35 'A' Roman, 195 'F' Arabic, and 35 'F' Roman, plus 2 additional...
Etching, Stencil
Venus et le Joueur d'Orgue - Venus and the Organ Player
By Salvador Dalí
Located in Naples, Florida
From Suite mythologique nouvelle (New Mythological Suite) Drypoint and etching with stencil coloring on BFK Rives paper, with watermark. Pencil signed and marked E.A. ...
Paper, Drypoint, Etching, Stencil
God, Time, Space, and the Pope (Plate I), 1974
By Salvador Dalí
Located in Greenwich, CT
God, Time, Space, and the Pope – signed ‘Dalí’ lower right and numbered A 11/195 lower left, from the edition of 462 (there were also 35 'A' Roman, 195 'F' Arabic, and 35 'F' Roman, ...
Etching, Stencil
The Divine Love of Gala (Plate J), 1974
By Salvador Dalí
Located in Greenwich, CT
The Divine Love of Gala – signed ‘Dalí’ lower right and numbered A 11/195 lower left, from the edition of 462 (there were also 35 'A' Roman, 195 'F' Arabic, and 35 'F' Roman, plus 2 ...
Etching, Stencil
The Museum of Genius and Fancy (Plate L), 1974
By Salvador Dalí
Located in Greenwich, CT
The Museum of Genius and Fancy – signed ‘Dalí’ lower right and numbered A 11/195 lower left, from the edition of 462 (there were also 35 'A' Roman, 195 'F' Arabic, and 35 'F' Roman, ...
Etching, Stencil
The Divine Back of Gala (Plate B), 1974
By Salvador Dalí
Located in Greenwich, CT
The Divine Back of Gala – 15.75 x 12" image size, signed ‘Dalí’ lower right and annotated lower left. Framed in an ornate gold-tone moulding. Micheler-Löpsinger 669; Field 74-8 Plate...
Etching, Stencil
$21,600Sale Price|20% Off
Mythology: Leda and Swan (Leda et le Cygne), Published 1963 -1965
By Salvador Dalí
Located in Santa Monica, CA
A lovely work from the artist, a excellent piece to own from their popular body of work.
Etching
Instantly recognizable by his waxed, upturned mustache, the flamboyant Salvador Dalí is one of modern art’s most distinctive figures. He is also one of the icons of the 20th-century avant-garde Surrealist movement, whose dreamlike images, drawn from the depths of the unconscious, he deployed in paintings, sculptures, prints and fashion, as well as in film collaborations with Luis Buñuel and Alfred Hitchcock.
Dalí was born in Figueres, Catalonia, and even as a youngster, displayed the sensitivity, sharp perception and vivid imagination that would later define his artworks. In these, he conjured childhood memories and employed religious symbols and Freudian imagery like staircases, keys and dripping candles to create unexpected, often shocking pieces.
Dalí's use of hyperrealism in conveying Surrealist symbols and concepts that subvert accepted notions of reality is epitomized in what is perhaps his most recognizable painting, The Persistence of Memory (1931), in which he depicts the fluidity of time through melting clocks, their forms inspired by Camembert cheese melting in the sun. His artistic genius, eccentric personality and eternal quest for fame made him a global celebrity.
“Each morning when I awake, I experience again a supreme pleasure,” he once said. “That of being Salvador Dalí.”
Find original Salvador Dalí paintings, prints, sculptures and other works on 1stDibs.
In the wake of World War I’s ravaging of Europe, artists delved into the unconscious mind to confront and grapple with this reality. Poet and critic André Breton, a leader of the Surrealist movement who authored the 1924 Surrealist Manifesto, called this approach “a violent reaction against the impoverishment and sterility of thought processes that resulted from centuries of rationalism.” Surrealist art emerged in the 1920s with dreamlike and uncanny imagery guided by a variety of techniques such as automatic drawing, which can be likened to a stream of consciousness, to channel psychological experiences.
Although Surrealism was a groundbreaking approach for European art, its practitioners were inspired by Indigenous art and ancient mysticism for reenvisioning how sculptures, paintings, prints, performance art and more could respond to the unsettled world around them.
Surrealist artists were also informed by the Dada movement, which originated in 1916 Zurich and embraced absurdity over the logic that had propelled modernity into violence. Some of the Surrealists had witnessed this firsthand, such as Max Ernst, who served in the trenches during World War I, and Salvador Dalí, whose otherworldly paintings and other work responded to the dawning civil war in Spain.
Other key artists associated with the revolutionary art and literary movement included Man Ray, Joan Miró, René Magritte, Yves Tanguy, Frida Kahlo and Meret Oppenheim, all of whom had a distinct perspective on reimagining reality and freeing the unconscious mind from the conventions and restrictions of rational thought. Pablo Picasso showed some of his works in “La Peinture Surréaliste” — the first collective exhibition of Surrealist painting — which opened at Paris’s Galerie Pierre in November of 1925. (Although Magritte is best known as one of the visual Surrealist movement’s most talented practitioners, his famous 1943 painting, The Fifth Season, can be interpreted as a formal break from Surrealism.)
The outbreak of World War II led many in the movement to flee Europe for the Americas, further spreading Surrealism abroad. Generations of modern and contemporary artists were subsequently influenced by the richly symbolic and unearthly imagery of Surrealism, from Joseph Cornell to Arshile Gorky.
Find a collection of original Surrealist paintings, sculptures, prints and multiples and more art 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.