What is an Original Print?

The Artist

It would be highly desirable for artists to adopt uniform practices with respect to numbering and signing prints. It is not clear at present what the artist's signature on a print stands for, and in some cases editions are deceptively numbered and described.

The artist should have the maximum participation possible in making the plate, block, stone or the like, and in printing from it. When he does all such work hinself, that fact may be indicated either by the use of the term "imp" following his signature or by some other appropriate indication. When the artist does not do all the work himself, an appropriate indication disclosing the facts should appear on each print; e.g., where Mr. Jones, an artist, does not do his own printing but has it done by Mr. Smith, one proper type of indication would be "Jones del." — "Smith imp."

However, in transfer lithography, where the artist made a drawing on transfer paper with lithographic ink or crayon, for the purpose of having the image thereafter transferred to a stone without photographic processes, the artist may be considered as having made the image which is on the stone.

An artist should not sign a reproduction of his work unless it is clearly indicated that the work is a reproduction and not an original print. Trial proofs pulled while work is in progress, representing various unfinished states, are not part of the edition. All impressions from the completed plate are part of the same edition. The maximum size of the edition should appear on each impression. The artist is free to print less but not more than the number indicated. Artist's proofs are included in the total number of the edition — the number of such proofs being entirely in the discretion of the artist.

There is no reason, from an aesthetic standpoint, why the number of prints in an edition should be limited, except that the quality of impresisons may deterioriate in certain media if too many are printed. However, if it is claimed that an edition is limited, it must be limited in fact.

An edition should be referred to as "limited" only when each print shows the total size of the edition. No hard and fast rule can be made at present as to the serial numbers upon each print in an edition. In certain media — for example, drypoint and aquatint — the first prints pulled are often superior to later ones. However, for color prints two or more plates are used and after the first printing, the prints are usually hung up to dry. It is unlikely that the second printing will be done in the same order as the first; thus, the individual number on the print is often misleading. Artists should use their best efforts to number individual prints correctly and to formulate standards for such numbering. Until such standards are universally accepted, the serial number on many prints will have little significance.

If, after an edition has been pulled, the artist decides to re-use the plate, he may do so with different colors, provided the new edition is marked "2nd Ed." and, if he reworks the plate substantially, further prints should be marked second state, thus: "2nd st."

When all prints to be pulled from a plate have been printed or if the artist decides not to print the entire edition, he should destroy the image (as, for example, in the case of a lithographic stone) or cancel the plate or other material, so that any further impressions will not be confused with the limited edition. Cancellation may be effected by altering the original shape of the plate in such a way as to alter the design; for example, on a rectangular plate a corner containing a part of the image may be distinctively altered from a right angle to a curve.

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Copyright © 1961 Print Council of America
Used with permission.