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Black Mountain Gallery: art work by British contemporary artists Mark Williams and Muriel Williams |
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limited editions, open editions, artist's proofs & certificates of authenticity...
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LIMITED EDITIONS (LE): There's a limit to the number of copies we produce. Limited editions automatically have rarity value, because once we've sold out of an edition, no more prints of any format will ever be produced, either here or in other countries. Though we reserve the right to reproduce images for publicity or information purposes: (which means magazine/newspaper articles, books, etc.) Limited editions are always numbered like this: PRINT NUMBER / TOTAL NUMBER OF PRINTS MADE usually near the artist's signature & title.
(example: 36/295 on this one means this is print number 187 out of a total number of 295 prints of "SUNFLOWER (I)" produced) OPEN EDITIONS (OE): There's no limit - we print as many as people want to buy. Whilst they may not have rarity value of the limited editions, our open editions are still printed to the same high standards. Open editions may or may not be signed (ours are) but they should NEVER be numbered. We believe the practice of numbering an open edition, whilst rare amongst professionals, is inherently misleading. |
ARTIST'S PROOFS (AP): It's standard practice for an artist to print a few "artist's proofs" in addition to a limited edition run. These are usually reserved for the artist's personal use: for example, for exhibitions (so they can be displayed even after a print run has sold out) or for gifts to friends, etc. Artists proofs shouldn't number more than about 10% of the edition size, because they are rarer, they are considered more valuable than the standard limited edition print run. They are numbered like limited editions but with the prefix "AP" eg AP 1/10, etc. CERTIFICATE OF AUTHENTICITY Called the C.O.A. in the art trade. This is a document which helps guard against piracy and show the work is genuine. For limited editions, the C.O.A. should always be serial numbered (this is a code number, different to the edition number). We keep detailed records of which serial number matches every print, and who bought what. Prints sold through our stockists include a form for you to personally fill in and return to us, to register your print in your name.
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