There’s a most interesting sale coming up at Sotheby’s in London on March 28th. It consists of what the auction house deservedly calls a ’spectacular’ collection of Picasso prints. Etchings, Lithographs etc. tend to be regarded as secondary or even lower items in a painter’s output, but there’s nothing lower about these splendid productions.
Pablo Picasso, La Minotauro Machie, 1935
Indeed, the sale contains one marvellous piece, an etching from 1935 entitled ‘La Minotauro Machie’. Traditionally, people have bought prints as a cheap way into the painter’s oeuvre, but this etching isn’t exactly low-priced - the estimate is £550,000 to £750,000. Believe me, it’s worth it. This is a great work by any criteria.
Even if you drop a long way from the rarity of this undisputed masterpiece, you’re still going to be paying a lot. The Master’s delicious lithograph of a dove, produced in large numbers in 1949 as part of his communist-inspired peace involvement, is estimated at £30,000 - £40,000. Yet graphics remains high value route into Picasso, and a mighty lucrative one: this collector will reap wonderful profits from the sale.
To do likewise, note that buying prints should be conducted with as much care as buying paintings. You want the best works by the best artists you can afford. The Picassos were genuine bargains when they were produced and for many years thereafter, because the ambitious collectors looked elsewhere. Don’t make the same mistake.
I don’t know what other artists the anonymous Sotheby’s seller has purchased, but his decision to go big on Picasso prints allowed the implementation of two rules of genuinely great collecting. One, concentrate on one field, or one artist, or a related group of artists. Two, build a collection important enough to be sold as a whole. Obeying these rules requires discipline, but can provide enormous pleasure - and enormous profit.
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