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Presentation It's all about perception! - part 1 of 1 2 3

by Mike McNamee Published 01/06/2013

Storage - Hahnemuhle Archive and Portfolio boxes Launched at Focus this year, these are acid-free, age-resistant storage boxes for protecting precious prints in a secure, contaminant-free environment, as befits high-value prints. They are a flat-pack design 1.6mm thick for the A4 size and 3mm for the A3, A3+ and A2 sizes. Prices for the boxes start at £5.50. At the request of galleries they are a plain dove-grey colour on the outside and a natural paper cream on the inside.

While they could be used for occasional transport boxes for prints they are more suited to sitting on shelves looking after their contents. For transport the Nomad boxes are a sturdier and more expensive solution but perhaps a combination of the two might fit the bill nicely if you have to take a portfolio of prints on a long journey. One tip for such ventures - don't be too greedy on your contents, prints (and especially mounted prints) are rather heavy, if you pack too many of them into a box you are inviting a strain injury!

Limited Edition Holograms and Certificates of Authenticity These inexpensive items can say so much about a fine art print, and add so much to their perceived value that they are indispensable in their market sector. For those who are unfamiliar with the limited edition print world it works like this:

The artist issues a limited number of prints each of which is individually signed and numbered. Once the 'edition' has been sold out it is important to maintain faith with the earlier buyers and not issue any further prints of the image, and that includes different sizes. It is also usual to issue a 'Certificate of Authenticity' with each print, again numbered and signed by the artist.* The size of an edition in theory at least governs the value of a print. By way of example, Irving Penn used to make editions of one, two or three platinum prints and this is why they sell for hundreds of thousands of pounds (the name helps!).

To bring the long-standing tradition right into the 21st century, you can now add a matched, numbered hologram marker to both the certificate and the back of the print to confirm its provenance. Thus the holograms are sold as uniquely numbered, matched pairs. They lift the status of a print beyond their unit cost (they are £79 for 25 certificates and 50 holograms) - they shout, 'I'm a very important print, high value and cherished!'

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1st Published 01/06/2013
last update 09/12/2022 14:57:31

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