AUGUST 2005
VOLUME ONE ISSUE
TWO
All about prints
fit to be news
Reporting on all aspects of the art print market
Contents Title:
Cooking Ham & Limited
Editions.........................
1
Whats in Your Marketing
Mix...............................
2
Readers Reply
..............
2
Marrying Art &
Technology
...................
3
Homage Jules Chéret
.....4
MFA Acquires Talon.....
4
Have you heard the story
about the husband
watching his wife prepare
a ham for a family dinner?
He was intrigued and
asked why she always cut
off both ends of her ham
before putting it into the
pot to cook. She said,
Thats the way my
mother does it. I will call
and ask her. Her mother
replied she cut her ends
off because that was how
grandma always did it. A
Cooking Ham and Limited Editions
Is it time to stop limiting editions of giclées and offset prints?
typified by shows like
ArtExpo and Fine Art
Forum and you find a
preponderance of giclées.
Look at the limited edition
offset lithography market
and you find an industry
segment in decline. Last
months issue of this
newsletter illustrated that
point in discussing how
Somerset House and
Hadley House are now
using art print
consolidator, Liebermans
to extend their reach
beyond their formerly
exclusive gallery
networks.
Lets Open a Dialog on
the Real Value of Limited
Editions
Is there a good reason
(Continued on Page 5.)
tradition and because
many believe it adds
cachet and value to the
selling proposition. Its
true, when a serigraph,
stone lithograph or other
more expensive and
laborious fine art prints
are created; there is logic
to limiting the edition.
Either the cost of
production is a factor or
the crispness of the
printing plates degrades
due to the high pressure of
call was put into to
grandma to learn the
reason she cut the ends of
the ham off before
cooking. The reply was
simple, Because I didnt
have a pot big enough to
fit a whole ham.
It seems to me the art
market sells limited
edition prints because it is
the presses used. Today,
using the digital prints,
also known as giclées, and
offset lithography
mediums, an endless
number of prints can be
reproduced with exacting
quality.
Examine limited edition
prints that are sold in the
middle tier of the market,
Publisher, Barney Davey
Welcome to the Issue Two
of Art Print Issues. I hope
to tempt you with some
tasty items that will tweak
your thinking. The feature
story is one I believe needs
lots of thought and input
from as many qualified
people as possible. I
contend we need a new wa
of thinking about how to
profitably and effectively to
market giclée prints.
Please come forth with
your opinions on this one.
No other area of arts purposely limits sales
of what they create We live in Marshall
we have to learn to do business differently.
In this century, lets try marketing signed
& numbered open editions to give artists a
chance at unlimited earnings from the
wellspring of their creativity.