Art MarketInsight [Jun 2003]

Prints that pass the test of time [Jun 03]

As Artprice.com puts 1,500 print price indices online, we look at the profitability of print as a medium.

In 2002 print prices rose by 3.5% compared to a 4.3% rise in the broader Artprice index. Between 1997 and 2002 prints gained on average 34.6%. But in the first quarter 2003 prices have tended to stay at the same level, bucking the bull trend in the wider market.

If you choose the right price segment, prints can offer massive profits but, perhaps surprisingly, top name prints are not necessarily the best investment. Works by Pablo PICASSO, one of the most prolific print makers in the history of art (see AMI, 18 March 2003), are down by 11% on the year 2002 and by 12% over the last five years. The average price at auction is now just below EUR3,000. Even Marc CHAGALL, whose prints index rose from EUR1,780 in 1997 to EUR2,300 today, has underperformed the market. Giorgio MORANDI commands the highest prices of anyone in the prints segment with an average of EUR13,600 in 2002, but while collectors may rave over his output, the price has only grown by 9% in five years. Andy WARHOL is the odd man out here. His prints gained on average 43% in value in 2002 and are up 75% since 1997. Not bad, but still nothing like as impressive as the rise in the price of his unique works. Over the same period the value of his paintings quadrupled and it is this boom in painting prices that has driven up the price of his multiples. The prints market is generally less profitable at its top end, where the artists tend to be a bit too blue-chip for speculative gains, than in its lower reaches. Above EUR10,000, collectors hoping to make a profit would do better to look at paintings than prints (see AMI, 9 July 2002).

It is generally prints bought for less than EUR1,000 that age best. Their average value more than doubled in 1995-2002 and rose 40% between March 1998 and April 2003. The segment is well fed by plentiful supply and demand (see AMI, 3 December 2002), which keeps volatility and hence risk to a minimum (see chart). In this price range enthusiasts can afford a good name and bid the price up without worrying overmuch. And in this dynamic sector there are some very strong possibilities for gains. Of the artists whose prints were selling for less than EUR300 in 1997 and have since tripled in value, most are contemporary: Lucian FREUD, Bridget RILEY, John COBURN or MARIN-MARIE to name but a few. Contemporary art can thus spring some pleasant surprises even from a financial point of view. This is encouraging news for publishers and galleries that promote the medium, for artists who want their work to reach a wide audience, and for young generations of buyers who often begin their collections with a multiple.