Works on Paper

2 questions

• What falls within works on paper?

  Drawings, watercolours, gouaches, pastels, and original prints such as etchings, engravings, lithographs and woodcuts. Where a work is a reproduction rather than an original impression, we say so plainly.

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• How are editions of prints described?

  We record the edition size, the numbering, the state within the published sequence, the presence of a signature or blind stamp, and whether the impression is an artist's proof or outside the numbered edition. Impressions from a later or restrike printing are always identified.

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Related guides

3 min read

Collecting Works on Paper

Works on paper reward close looking. This guide covers the distinction between unique works and printed impressions, what a watermark can establish, and how condition governs value in the field.

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