Original Graphic Work Value

The Original Graphic Work is universally recognized as one of the most important expressions of fine arts with painting, drawing, sculpture and others. That is why the great museums around the world have valuable graphic artworks in their collections. The Metropolitan Museum in New York has more than 1.5 million works, one of the most extensive collections in the world. The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) has more than 50,000 works spanning the techniques, artists and movements from 1880 until today.

The aesthetic pleasure that provides original graphic work is hard to compare. The firmness of the woodcut, the velvety mezzotint, engraving textures, the delicacy of stone lithography, the incredible tone range of giclée, each of the techniques has its own way of captivating and bridge the gap between artist and viewer.

The history of graphic art has a tradition of over 500 years and has allowed artists to experiment with new techniques, media (papers), pigments, in a constant process of creation and discovery.

It has also allowed artists to disseminate their art and expand its range of action. Such was the case in the Renaissance, when the engraving technique served to make the public and other artists knew the work of the Grand Masters.

Work on the paper is fed from innovations of artists, which usually take some existing technical and modified to create art. The inventor of lithography, created this technique for printing music scores. But soon the potential of this method was discovered and developed by Delacroix, Goya and Daumier. Screen printing art born of "Silkscreen", which was used in the textile industry and advertising.

The method used by the artist is only one aspect to consider, although the difficulty of a technical or visual property can add value to the work, creative work is what differentiates any piece of a masterpiece.

A good Original Graphic Work is valued over time. This is demonstrated by the high prices that can reach in the famous auction houses. So far, the record for an original graphic work of history, corresponds to an engraving by Pablo Picasso, "Le repas frugal" a 250 works edition, which was sold for 1.18 million dollars in the auction house "Christies ", in London. The Graphic Work does not escape the interest of thieves, who also know the value of these pieces. In 2005, at the Art Gallery of "Desert Palm" in California, thieves stole a lithograph by Chagall and a Picasso linoleum, " The tribe of Dan " and " Femme regardant "valued respectively at $35,000 and $53,000 each.

After all this we want to emphasize that, when deciding to buy a work, whether Painting, Original Graphics, Fine Art Photography or Sculpture, the most important thing is to remember visual enjoyment and pleasure that one gets. The eventual appreciation should not be the primary factor when purchasing. What is important is to buy something you like, so you will hardly will make a mistake.