Abstract Artist's Proof signed U. Star lower right. Marked AP lower left. Framed.

Condition: Scratches in plexiglass. 

Overall: 28 1/4 x 32 1/2 in. 

Sight: 1 3/4 x 26 1/4 in. 

#3542 . 

An artist’s proof (usually written as AP) is an impression of a print taken in the printmaking process to see the current printing state of a plate while the plate (or stone, or woodblock) is being worked on by the artist. A proof may show a clearly incomplete image, often called a working proof or trial impression, but in modern practice is usually used to describe an impression of the finished work that is identical to the numbered copies. There can also be printer’s proofs (PP) which are taken for the printer to see how the image is printing, or are final impressions the printer is allowed to keep. Artist’s proofs are not included in the count of a limited edition, and the number of artist’s proofs can vary depending on the desires of both the printer and the artist. By convention, the artist is not supposed to sell these, usually implying that they become available after they have passed away. However, some artists use it as a method of re-issuing an edition that has sold out. The term “proof” is generally applied only to prints from the late 18th Century onwards starting with the English mezzotinters, who began the practice of issuing small editions of proofs for collectors, often before the “lettering” or inscription below the image was added. Art historians, curators, and collectors view working proofs as especially desirable because of their rarity, the insight they may give into the progress of the work, and because they may well have belonged to the artist. Especially in the case of dead artists, they can be the only evidence of the artist’s incremental development of an image, something not usually available with drawings, paintings, or sculpture. Prints are generally sold as limited editions, with a print being cheaper than a drawing or painting because the artist/gallery makes more money by selling multiples. An artist’s proof, therefore, has special value, even as a print, because of its extra rarity and its possible differences from the “standard” print, sometimes with barely visible minute discrepancies from the finished artwork that highlights their uniqueness.

Scratches in plexiglass.