Prints and editions

Prints exist for two reasons. The first is that a painting can come home before an original can, and so anyone who loves the work can own it. The second is that the originals can stay at the price they deserve. The two reasons are the same reason, from either end.

There is one ladder, from open editions on archival paper, up through signed limited editions of twenty-five, to hand-finished collector’s proofs of ten. A collector chooses the rung.

Open edition

Giclée on archival cotton paper, printed to order and posted by a specialist fine-art lab in the United Kingdom. Unsigned and unnumbered; the size of the run is set by demand, not by scarcity.

• A4: sixty pounds unframed.
• A3: ninety-five pounds unframed.
• A2: one hundred and fifty pounds unframed.

Framed uplifts: A4 plus ninety pounds, A3 plus one hundred and ten pounds, A2 plus one hundred and forty pounds. The frame is a plain museum-style hardwood moulding with an acid-free mount, glazed with anti-reflective glass. The frame colour is chosen to sit with the image.

Signed limited edition

An edition of twenty-five. Every print is hand-signed and numbered by Anahita in pencil, and comes with a certificate that carries the same edition number. Prints in this tier are sent from the studio, not from the lab, so that her hand is on each one before it leaves.

• A3: two hundred and twenty pounds.
• A2: three hundred and forty pounds.
• A1: five hundred and twenty pounds.

When an edition of twenty-five sells out it is closed and never reopened. The last print carries the same number as the first: one of twenty-five.

Collector’s proof

An edition of ten, hand-finished by the artist. Each proof begins as a giclée print and is then worked into by Anahita in mixed media, so each one is a little different. Six hundred to nine hundred pounds, by enquiry.

Collector’s proofs come with a numbered certificate and travel from the studio to the collector by insured post. Because each one is worked by hand, they take a little longer; a fortnight to three weeks is usual.

Paper and lab

The paper is a heavy, warm-white cotton archival stock chosen for the way it holds Anahita’s blues and reds. The lab is a specialist fine-art house in the United Kingdom, chosen for its colour management, its consistency and the fact that the studio can talk to a printmaker on the telephone when a run needs an eye. Anahita signs a first proof for every image before a run is approved.

Colour, and what a print is

A print is not the original. The lab profiles each image so the colour is faithful to a photograph taken under studio conditions. On a screen, colours can shift a little; on paper, they hold. If a print does not settle with you, please write within fourteen days of receiving it and the studio will make it right.

Why prints protect the originals

The originals are one of one, and their value comes from that fact. Every time a print is sold, the print reaches a home that might not have reached the original, and the original stays where it belongs: on a wall in one house, at the price on the page. The two ends of the ladder hold each other up.

Delivery

Open-edition prints are printed to order and shipped directly by the lab within the United Kingdom. Signed limited editions and collector’s proofs are sent from the studio by tracked post. Timescales are set out at checkout and confirmed with the lab regularly. If a print is a gift and a deadline matters, please say so at checkout and Anahita will keep you posted.