UKC

I saw a picture at the weekend which I thought would look good in my office at home. Thing is its a good 2 to 3 times more expensive than than I'd like to pay. When asking the shop assistant why it appeared so expensive she told me it was hand printed lithography. Its very hard to explain the image but its solid bars in shades of brown and black. It's not on the shops website and I can't remember the image's name for a google search.

So, I was wondering is this hand printed lithography a genuinely expensive process or is the shop which is not known for its cheapness insuring its getting a very heathy mark-up?

Also forgot to ask at the time but in terms of price are you paying for the image and a bit for the frame or is the frame and framing a significant part of the overall cost.
Thanks

In reply to Indy:

You not paying for cost of materials when buying art, your buying something completely intangible that can't be justified other than the way you feel.

Ultimately if you like it that much the cost would not be an issue, that's the point.

Sometimes the artist will do a range of greeting cards, which can be put into small frames to good effect for a reasonable small sum.

In reply to alx:




I did a bit (well a lot actually) of digging and I've found out what the image is. I'd need to go back to the original shop to find out exactly what it is they're offering but I've found an "unsigned proof" which is unframed and limited to an edition of 25 for 1/3rd the price I'd originally seen in the shop. It might be the case that the shop is offering one of the 25 but framing it and adding on an "it's art!" premium.

It's what I hate about "Art" the price is so subjective but not in a rational way.

In reply to Indy:


Yes it's a slow craft process. It would take days or weeks to produce an edition depending how many colours are used, each of which is one printing of all the sheets in the edition. Each colour is separately drawn by hand or created by photo process and transferred to stone, or lithographic plate, depending.

In reply to Indy:

This is taking things to extremes, but gives an idea of the level of work that can be involved:

http://www.thefuturetense.net/mark-andrew-webber-berlin-map-printing/

There are some pictures of the process here:

http://www.robbarnesart.co.uk/index.html

Then you can encounter 'unknown' artists in pop-up art galleries. I've bought a couple of pieces like this; one, a hand-drawn original, acrylic pen on wood panel, £260, and two, a small (8" x 5"), multi-coloured, framed linocut print for £25. The second piece was from the artist, at an 'art fair' in the local town hall at xmas. She was surrounded by a lot of tat, and her obvious talent stood out. But she didn't seem to be aware of her talent.

Having bought the first piece, I deliberately wandered around a snooty gallery with it under my arm, turning my nose up at the inflatedly priced, comparatively talentless daubs they had on display.

Oh, and some fantastic limited edition photographs.

It's all about perceived value. I buy stuff I think is a fair price, based on the skill and effort I think went into it. As soon as galleries are involved, that goes out of the window...

In reply to Indy:

If you are able to buy direct from an artist it will be substantially cheaper than from a gallery. Galleries usually take between 60/70% of the sale and the artist will earn 30/40% from the sale.

In reply to Indy:

Market forces.