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ASK THE ARTSPERTS AP ART www.harmonmeek.com

In the early days of

by Juliana Meek and Kristine Meek printmaking, a printer’s
plate, particularly in

Dear Artsperts: the case of copper
plate etchings, would

My wife and I have a print hanging in our dull over the use and

kitchen and I noticed the other day it says “AP”in the most well-defined

the lower left corner in pencil. What does the AP prints would be the
stand for? Is it worth more because it says “AP” first ones off the press.

instead of a number? Because of the dulling

Signed, and to ensure print
quality,proofs would be
Penciled In pulled at the beginning
and throughout the
Dear Penciled,
The “AP” you see written on your print process. These proofs

stands for “Artist Proof ”. This means the print were called the artist’s

was not included in the numbered edition. It proofs and belonged

may or may not be identical to the prints in the to the artist. The

numbered edition corresponding to this image. remaining number prints belonged to the printmaker who purchased the rights to create a

There is a chance that the artist made changes limited number of prints from the artist’s work.

between this “proof ” and the finished numbered Today, offset lithographic prints or Giclée prints (ink-jet printing) makes each print

edition, though in most contemporary cases the identical in quality from the very first to the last print, even if there are a thousand prints.

Artist Proofs are the same in appearance to the However the notion that at Artist Proof is somehow special and therefore worth more, has

numbered works. remained in popular belief.

Typically today an edition of lithograph, serigraph or Giclée prints will include an overage

of about 10 percent - 20 percent that an artist can have produced in addition to the numbered

works and these can be labeled “Artist Proof ”. So in an addition of say 250 limited edition

works there can also be 50 more identical works with the words “AP” instead of a number.

So some people think that an AP work is rarer since it is one out of 50 instead of one out of

250, though there were 300 identical works created. In the case of European prints it may be

“EA”.This can also be seen as “TP”, which is a trial proof that is a proof for the printmaker or

“PP” for printer’s proof.

While an Artist Proof does not need to be numbered, it may be numbered e.g. A.P. 37/50.

However, the increased desirability and value of an artist proof is a historical notion that has

not been true since prior to the 1940’s when copper plating fell out of use.Today all prints are

identical. The only difference is in ownership, with the artist’s proofs belonging to the artist

and the numbered prints belonging to the printmaker. But ownership of the works has no

bearing on the value.

Sincerely,

The Artsperts

Left: Lithograph print labeled “AP 1 /2” by Richard Haas,“General Electric Building” 22” x 17”, 2005
Right: Lithograph print by Adolf Dehn labeled “artist’s proof ”,“Haitian Market Women”, edition of 30, 13” x 17”, 1949

30 Life in Naples | November 2016