As auction season rears its head, advisors and collectors turn their attention to the secondary market. Despite sluggish fair and gallery sales so far this year, blue-chip artists remain in high demand. Unattainable for many collectors, these prized artists become increasingly accessible through the prints and multiples they produced. From contemporary favorites like Francis Bacon and Cy Twombly to historic icons like Albrecht Dürer and Rembrandt van Rijn, the prints marketplace can be as varied as any other medium. Art enthusiasts can observe this diversity on Invaluable, a marketplace that offers sought-after works from auction houses and galleries all over the world. Operating from a privileged vantage point, Invaluable and its curatorial team are able to observe trends as they happen, like the latest upswing in the multiples marketplace.“We’re seeing more new and established collectors looking to expand their collection online,” explained curatorial head Amanda Nolan. “Prints are the perfect entry-point for scooping up works by blue-chip artists that have shaped the course of art history.”We asked Nolan what to look out for in the coming auction season, which spans from April 25 to May 12, and she shared a selection of pieces that represent the increasingly vibrant landscape.When it comes to the Contemporary and Post-War bracket, it is not surprising that Andy Warhol reigns supreme. An iconoclast in and out of the studio, Warhol’s dedicated printmaking practice demanded that a new generation consider screen printing as a serious art form. At Phillips’ upcoming Evening Edition sale, collectors can find not one, but two noteworthy Warhol editions to take home: “Moonwalk” and “Mickey Mouse, from Myths.” Simple and striking, these prints exemplify the reason to invest in the often overlooked medium.If Pop isn’t your thing, Nolan suggests a more expressive piece by the likes of Pablo Picasso or Francis Bacon. Picasso’s recent sculpture show at the Museum of Modern Art only strengthened his market, so sanctioned editions, like his charming “Tete de Femme” at Shannon’s Fine Art Auctioneers, offer clients the ability to take home a piece of history minus the debt. The same goes for Bacon. His “Man’s Head (Portrait of George Dyer Talking)” from 1966 is available from Doyle New York and represents an important work from the late artist’s career. Both infamously unaffordable, the edition market makes the artists feel surprisingly within reach. Leaving one with the question: What to bid on first?
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