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Limited series
The convention of numbering or limiting an
edition is relatively recent. At the end of the
19th century artists started to indicate the
number of prints in a series or edition, which
developed into the concept of the limited series
or limited run.
Due to changes in taste and new artistic
currents such as the appearance and development
of photography, the reproduced print disappeared
and was replaced with the original artist’s
print. This development became stronger in the
20th century, and the increased value of the
original print created the necessity to limit
series to specific quantities and to control the
prints in each. These would be signed by the
author and thus acquired a new feature of value
– the artist’s signature. The first artists to
do so in France and England were Whistler,
Seymour Haden, Meryon and Toulouse-Lautrec
amongst others.
It was established that the limitation of each
series would be indicated on each print with the
corresponding numbering and once a series had
been finalised, the printing plate would be
marked with a sign such as a large cross across
its whole surface or more discrete lines in one
of its corners. Good examples of the latter are
the cancelled plates of La Tauromaquia by Pepe
Illo, entrusted by Picasso to the Picasso Museum
of Barcelona, or the plates cancelled by Manet,
which show two holes on the top and bottom sides
of the copper plate. Thus, any printing done
with these plates after their cancellation will
show these marks on the print. The latter is
common practice after an original series has
been finished and a plate cancelled: a proof is
printed to leave evidence of cancellation. In
exceptional cases post-series prints may be
produced which carry these cancellation marks
and are not signed by the artist.
The numbering of each limited series is
indicated with a fraction and written with
pencil in the bottom left-hand corner of the
print. The numerator indicates the ranking of
the print in the complete series and the
denominator the total amount of prints in an
edition. For example, 5/25 indicates the 5th
print in a series of 25.
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