Page 60 - Studio International - June 1971

surrounding surface deterioration in print of printing converted the unique manuscript and as new as offset and collotype, that permit
publishing. into a multiple; the art of literature evolved the artist and his publisher to produce very
This very brief historical summary shows us rapidly from the super-preciousness of chained- large print editions and at consequently much
that until the nineteenth century, the multiple down illuminated manuscripts to open-ended lower cost.
form of original art—whether the print or the printed editions with, in most cases, no loss of When does a limited edition become an
sculpture—was executed as many times as was intrinsic content. In music, performances that unlimited edition ? As long as the edition is
needed; the only restriction, though seldom were the exclusive domain of the aristocracy disclosed, be it one hundred or one hundred
heeded, being the life of the source image itself. became democratized in the nineteenth century thousand, it is an edition that has been 'limited'
Open-ended, so to speak, this form of art had with the proliferation of concert halls and their to a specific number and there will presumably
`democratic' implications; the image could be performing groups, and in the twentieth be no more impressions unless a 'second
shared by many, at many locations, by the century became truly low-cost, open-ended edition' is declared and printed. Otherwise, the
ultimate type of exposure—through possession, multiples with the introduction of the recording edition is 'unlimited'. For some, though, the
and relatively low-cost possession at that. This technologies. The dramatic arts were also expression 'limited' only applies to a small
condition contrasts with the unique work of art, transformed into a 'multiple', first by the number of impressions. Collectors of traditional
such as a painting, which is destined for one wide-spread emergence of theatres and then by inclination often claim that when an edition
possessor and one location. Being unique, it their transmission through film and video reaches one thousand, the question of 'limited'
necessarily is far more costly—thus aristocratic projection. is academic. 'There might as well have been
by implication. The philosophic distinction, It is evident, then, that of the major artistic ten thousand printed', they comment cynically.
with its logistical basis, is self-evident. With expressions of man—i.e., literature, music, For them, the edition is so large that thepresent
the multiple work of art, the art went 'out to the drama, painting, printmaking and sculpture or potential rarity factor—that which, along
people', as, for example, a low-cost icon in the —it is only the last three that have clung to the with continuous demand, makes for value
fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, and as a social rarity classification and stubbornly remained a appreciation, is virtually eliminated. Although
document in the eighteenth century. With the very precious and exclusive domain. Painting, the work may have unquestionable art attributes
unique work of art, and what I have described of course, produces unique objects but, and indeed may be desirable from that point of
as 'the cult of the unique'1 by way of explaining paradoxically, printmaking and sculpture, as view, the deduction that 'equity' in the work
individual or institutional pride (and often discussed earlier, are indeed multiples, and the will not increase—that the art isn't a sound
arrogance) of possession, the people must 'come oldest form of matched artistic progeny in man's investment—diminishes its attractiveness. Their
to art' ,as to a shrine, with the connotation of history. point about non-appreciation may be valid,
awe and aggrandizement surrounding the Several major developments have occured although rarity can still emerge unpredictably
particular object and its possessor. since the advent in the nineteenth century of the from very common or high-yield art productions.
From the end of the nineteenth century to limited edition in sculpture and printmaking Their very commonness and non-
the near present, forced rarity, by establishing that promise to return these media to their preciousness, in numerous instances in the
`limited editions', has been almost the universal original role of producing less precious and very pasts, made rare those impressions that did
practice. In prints, nearly all works by artists of large editions, and consequently fulfilling the survive the throw-away attitude and were
note have been in editions ranging from, say, ultimate potential of widespread artistic re-evalued as desirable art objects. Out of
fifty, to two hundred and seventy-five transmission without the problem of image commonness can come rarity, by changing
impressions, with an average of about one deterioration. Introduced, ironically, prior to circumstances; making for what is almost a
hundred. In the field of sculpture, editions the advent of the limited edition, the traditional parody of the collector's dream: minimum
usually range from three casts to twelve,2 with hand-pulled lithographic process was developed investment bringing maximum equity yield.
the average being a six-cast edition. Thus, the early in the nineteenth century. 3 With the Nevertheless, the collector or his heir, if history
original potential of the multiple work of art — a avoidance of the use of thin and easily worn repeats itself, must wait many years for this
truly democratic-oriented one—was subverted, litho washes, thousands of impressions can and transformation to take place. It is usually a very
partly due to technical necessity, but more have been pulled from such stones,4 or the slow process. Assuming, though, that with a
often due to economic vagaries, into a rare and modern counterpart, the zinc plate, without more art-conscious public, large numbers of
precious commodity. Testifying to this noticeable image change. Then, there was the such works will not be thrown away and that
preciousness are recent auction prices. Multiple introduction of offset lithography, which, commonness will remain commonness, then
bronze casts by twentieth-century sculptors recently employed with new quality controls, rarity may no longer be a variable in the
Brancusi, Giacometti and Moore have gone for has yielded tens of thousands of impressions economics of appreciation. What may be left is
over $150,000 each. Multiple prints of the late without an image change. 5 The images were the quality of the art statement itself. But if our
nineteenth and early twentieth centuries by created by the artists specifically for qualification of this quality deepens and expands
Munch and Picasso have fetched over $4o,000 photographic transfer to the aluminium plates and consequently the demand for this art entity
each. In these instances, by the way, many or were directly executed by them on those increases, cannot even an edition of one or two
more casts or impressions were possible without plates. The serigraph or silkscreen process can thousand diminish from the market, or for that
jeopardizing the images. The irony of this now yield thousands of impressions by the use of matter, with the proliferation of art acquisition
development of making precious that which far more wearable synthetic fibre in the screen. and documentation, can't an edition of fifty
intrinsically need not be that precious, is that The epic development of photography allows thousand still stimulate a situation where
generally the artist is motivated to transmit his for an unlimited number of prints from the demand outraces supply ? Theoretically, then,
aesthetic and philosophical statement as far and same negative,6 and photographic transfer even very high-edition impressions can
wide as possible, to make his image as accessible techniques can be and are employed with conceivably appreciate in value. Ideally, the
as circumstances permit. This is certainly the traditional lithography, with offset lithography large or unlimited edition artwork, first issued
reason why, over the centuries, many painters and with serigraphy. Recently, the collotype at low price because so many have been printed,
devoted themselves to printmaking as well. It process was employed to yield highly refined should retain this attribute throughout its life—
was a more direct contact, a more one-to-one images from images on acetate films applied so that, as it is accessible to many from the
means of communication with the public with either directly by the artist or transferred beginning, it is equally accessible in its future.
whom the artist humanistically identified. photographically.? Put simply, there is an array Free from the vicissitudes of financial
In contrast, the other traditional arts fast of techniques, including processes as old as appreciation, the work can be judged solely for
became non-precious multiples. The invention wood engravings and hand-pulled lithography content, without being perceived in the same

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