In Simple terms an artist Lithograph is an original multiple of a work of art created for the intentional purpose of reproduction in a limited edition print form by an artist and either printed by the artist or a master printer - there are only a few Master Lithographer printers in Australia.

An Artist  Printmaker generally does not print for others and lithography with stone is somewhat prohibitive for most artists unless they can employ a printer with an established workshop. The lithography stones only come from one mine in France and are now rare, expensive and as they are ground for re-use, a diminishing resource.

Originally lithography was the poster mass production method replaced by screen printing - Remember (maybe) the SnapAD Advertising screenprinted billboards and the street posters for bands of the seventies/eighties - they are the ephemera of the time - the process has been replaced with digital reproduction/printing and rarely have those earlier posters/advertisements been kept. Exceptions being possibly the Earthworks poster collective and similiar from the Tin Sheds Print Workshop era of Sydney University in the 1970s/80's.

Toulouse Lautrec was really one of the first recognised artists to print artworks using the stone lithography reproduction technique of the poster presses in Paris. This was in addition to his commissioned advertising posters etc for the Moulin Rouge. He did not sign these, but his initials/logo is in the image. It is only by careful provenance that you can recognise a genuine one and there are various states or versions as he often added to and changed his drawings on the stones - not all his images were large either. The signature is irrelevant as they were ephemera at the time and hence only limited numbers survive and are authenticated by the print shop records or the type of paper and I suppose what is called curatorial experience or eye. There are many old stone advertising lithographs floating around that are wonderful artworks in their own right but not signed. Equally there are many copies, reproductions and facsimiles around.

Off-set Lithographs are generally commercial reproduction techniques akin to the newspaper/ magazine press or digitally or otherwise reproductions of an artists work originally created in another medium. Donald Friend's Bumboozla(?) lithographs for instance were off-set lithographs made from original sketchbook drawings. The question is- where is the hand of the artist in this process? Yes they are sometimes found in limited editions and also hand signed, traditionally in pencil.  If you use a magnifying glass you will see the dot pattern of the colour separation process - like that of newsprint - the smaller the dots the higher the quality. The prints of Albert Namatjira's watercolour paintings from the 1960's are a good example of high quality printing and are now collectable even without a signature.

Personally I think you are only really buying the autograph of the artist with these signed large edition off-set lithographs and if you want to do that then collect personally signed posters from artist exhibitions (sometimes endorsed to an individual and signed by the artist in true autograph style using what ever pencil, biro/pen, texta, etc that was handy) as they are rarer/more unique yet still off-set lithographs. Some off-set lithographs claim a pencil numbered edition and a signature - without looking with a magnifier to see the indentation in the paper surface caused by the pencil making the signature etc the best rule of thumb, assuming the seller is reputable, is you get what you pay for - use Google Image search to see who else is publishing the same image or check its provenance (history) if its been through the auction circuit.

Traditionally lithographs are made either by the artist drawing directly onto the stone, or metal lithography plate, or lithography transfer paper which is then processed/printed by the printer or the artist themselves. The artist approves all stages or proofs (a.k.a. States) and may retain several of these versions for his personal use/distribution. When the final version is approved it is marked Bon a tier (good to print) or A/P (approved to print) by the artist and signed. This A/P print may be reproduced again but usually comprises no more than 10% of the final edition number. The printer matches all the prints in the edition to the signed A/P.

Lithographic editions are to all extents and purposes identical image to image and are normally signed, dated, titled and numbered in the artist's own hand. Exceptions do occur where the artist is making many different editions or is very old. In this case the printer, or someone else in the workshop with a neat hand, writes the edition number & title and then the artist comes in and signs the full edition. This is common in some recent John Coburn and Charles Blackman prints (although Blackman does not sign the recent black and white (photographic stencil) screen-prints of his drawings that are coming on the market - some of the A/Ps are pencil initialled so they are rarer).

If you are interested in a lithograph, you need to ask who the printer was, what paper it was printed on, the size of the edition and number of A/Ps as well as any colour proofs that may have been signed by the artist, and the date it was printed and any proof of purchase history. All this lends authenticity and veracity to the genuine article.

ASK - if the seller can not answer your question then you can not answer anyone else that buys the lithograph from you should you want to sell in the future.

Artist Lithograph editions seem to be about 75 or under as a maximum. Different printmaking processes break down at different points and hence the edition is no longer identical. For example the drypoint technique of intaglio printmaking  (etching) has a very limited edition life unless the plate is steel faced and then it is still somewhat degraded. (This is partly why lower numbered prints in an edition, especially etchings, are more highly prized.)

Any edition over 100 are not truly limited editions in my opinion as the edge between limited artist edition and commercial published artist edition is very blurry (cf. a signed printed book) - only a hundred years or so will really tell.

(There are some screen-print exceptions, for example the Martin Sharp posters made for the Nimrod Theatre - despite being an edition of 1000 they were all personally signed, numbered, dated by the artist and whilst street posters they are good ones and may prove to be Lautrecs of the screenprinted ephemera  of the 1970's/80's in a few hundred years simply because they were signed and hence retained rather than consigned to the rubbish bin as soon as the play was over. What you could buy for $100 twenty years ago you can now buy for  $300 and they are, I think, worth looking at - but what $100 could buy in the 1980's was a great deal more than $300 will purchase today - so have they kept/increased their value or just gained a new appreciative audience?)

There have been a lot of limited editions of artists works commercially published by different printing houses and approved (i.e. signed) by the artists - there was a spate of these in the 1980s and look at the Marc Chagall lithographs that abound today. Some very well known Australian artists published prints that sold very well in editions greater than 100. The artists name sold the prints because people wanted (to possess) the art/artist and did not realise the short/long term value was probably only in the signature.

Contemporary artist lithographs will be signed by the artist and if printed by someone else will usually have a blind stamp or chop of the printer as well - usually this is found outside the area that would normally be seen in a window mount - any works not signed should be destroyed by the printer but again things still surface from time to time and is the truly wonderful thing about collecting prints.

Contemporary Prints may not seem to hold their value in the short term - a lot of recent contemporary collections are being split up, sold at auction and filtering on to eBay. Equally people are buying well on eBay then auctioning and making a nice living - you need to know what you are doing and who you are purchasing from.

Many high profile artists in Australia and elsewhere work with printers to make lithographs to widen the potential market for their larger, less generally accessible (price wise), Artworks, the initial retail framed price would incorporate GST, gallery commission, framing cost, master printer expenses and the market value of the artist translated to an editioned print.  Whilst the majority of these artists are excellent investments on linen (or Canvas) the prints currently are only selling for what buyers are willing to pay and thus print resale value varies a great deal.  Many commercial galleries dont handle prints simply because the return on investment (ie effort put into making a sale for commission) is not as good as the same effort put into selling a painting where the commission is greater in dollar terms. This is where eBay can be a treasure hunters paradise and money spent wisely now will bring great joy but not necessarily profit.

An original artist signed limited edition print, in any of the traditionally recognised printmaking techniques is still a better purchase than any art print, reproduction, facsimile or other decorative art purchase. Plus you are supporting real people (famous or undiscovered) not conglomerates churning out works for gigmanity with as much disdain for their buyers as for the artists whose livelihood they canibalise. Real art will always resell itself on eBay eventually. Again do your homework and develop an eye for what is good by exposing yourself to as much as possible and develop self knowledge of what you like - eBay is a big world and if you like it there will always be others who will like it too.

BOTTOM LINE - if you like a work and want to spend the rest of your life with it, then do your homework, and pay no more than you can afford (as there are plenty of other wonderful lithographs and other original artworks out there if you are patient). If the artist dies and there's a sudden demand by investment hunters (witness the sales of Pro Hart works) or individuals who just want a  piece (or souvineer ) of someone known/famous/dead, and even then ,only if you are willing to part with the print, then you or your heirs may make more in dollar terms in the future than you paid for it now. Consider that an incidental bonus to your years of enjoyment and not a reason to buy the work in the first place.

Since originally writing this guide I have seen an exponential rise in use of new last seconds bidding software tools (variously called sniper or bid napper etc) to place bids in the last seconds of an auction. As a seller this can be frustrating as no bids get placed early, buyers think the item has a problem, visitor numbers are sometimes not shown and its can be discouraging for browsing potential buyers, (and sellers) even though there may be anywhere between 16 and 70 people watching an item but only the seller can know this.

Sniper bids take some of the fun out of the auction process but whilst eBay allows them and offers a group bidding service themselves then they can be very useful particularly if you are a buyer on a budget or do not want to sit up all night to bid.

These programs allow you to put in the maximum price you want to pay and then forget it. If it was meant for you you will get it and if it was not then you still have your money to selectively invest in another item. The worst thing that can happen is being caught up in a bidding war, going over your budget and possibly over what the item is currently worth . The useful thing about these sniper services is that you avoid the emotional pressure in the last seconds of bidding. It does at least give you a sense of security that should an unscrupulous seller employ a snipper software then at least you don't go over budget. Only bid what you are prepared to pay and check where the decimal point is in the number you enter as your maximum bid.

Any art purchased has to be properly looked after - especially prints (art works on Paper). Check that the framing uses archival or museum quality mount/mat and fixings. All framing/matting usually has a life shorter than your print if it is to protect you purchase from environmental damage. Archival mounting/matting can be expensive and any quality purchase should also include you factoring in the cost of having the print at least rematted/remounted correctly by an experienced and reputable framer.

Store or hang your print carefully - cockroaches/silverfish for instance tend to avoid high quality rag paper but will make a fast meal of inferior or wood pulp based paper and sometimes cause serious collateral damage to prints poorly mounted/stored, and I have seen them selectively eat the ink off the surface of the paper as well. Never hang your print in direct sunlight or even semi direct sunlight or under those halogen/other lights that don't have proper uv filters - fading will destroy/devalue your print faster than foxing, mould, damp, pests and acid burn from poor quality mats/framing/ storage etc.

Buy for LOVE not PROFIT and when you do - DO YOUR HOMEWORK CAREFULLY - only then will the profit be all yours for years to come.

Cheers

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