Investing in Print Makers – artmarketblog.com

Investing in Print Makers – artmarketblog.com

While browsing the array of amazing works of art on offer at the Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair I came across some prints by a range of Aboriginal artists from the Torres Strait Island. The Torres Strait Island artists are particularly well known for their etchings and screen prints which are extremely appealing and highly sought after. Having spent most of my time looking at paintings I decided to take another walk around the fair and focus on the print work available as opposed to the myriad of paintings hanging from every available space. To my surprise I found many of the prints that were available to be even more appealing than most of the paintings that I had seen and better value to boot.

For the same price as a mediocre painting by a relatively unknown artist I could pick up three awesome limited edition prints by some of the most desirable Aboriginal print makers. What sparked my interest even more was the fact that most of the prints were by artists who are known first and foremost as print markers as opposed to, say, painters that transfer their images to prints. By purchasing a limited edition print by an artist who is best known for their print work I am making a much better investment than if I was to purchase a work by a painter who produced prints. The reason for this is that the primary medium that an artist works with is always going to be more desirable than a secondary medium which printmaking often is. Printmaking is often seen as being a lesser form of art than printmaking because most artists use printmaking as a secondary source of income but there are still plenty of artists out there who are primarily print markers. By purchasing works by such print markers you are not only making a good investment but you are able to purchase much better quality works for much less money.

You can see some of the Torres Strait Islander artist’s print work here:
http://www.aboriginalartprints.com.au/_aboriginal_art_profile.cfm?CFID=2931062&CFTOKEN=36876443

**Nicholas Forrest is an art market analyst, art critic and journalist based in Sydney, Australia. He is the founder of http://www.artmarketblog.com, writes the art column for the magazine Antiques and Collectibles for Pleasure and Profit and contributes to many other publications