
An artist's proof is an impression (copy) of a limited
edition print that is reserved for the artist and not counted in the edition number. It is usually pencilled as "A/P" to indicated this. By convention they are not usually more than 10% of the main edition quantity. There may also a few printer's proofs, marked "P/P".
A "working proof" or "trial proof" is an impression of a print taken in the
printmaking
Printmaking is the process of creating work of art, artworks by printing, normally on paper, but also on fabric, wood, metal, and other surfaces. "Traditional printmaking" normally covers only the process of creating prints using a hand proces ...
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.
[Prints and Printmaking, Antony Griffiths, British Museum Press (in UK), 2nd edn, 1996 ] There can also be ''printer's proofs'' 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 sometimes the number of artist's proofs, which belong to the artist, can be twenty or more. By convention, the artist is not supposed to sell these at once. However, some artists use it as a method of re-issuing an edition that has sold out, marking such editions for example 'Artist's Proof no.8 of 50.'
History

The term "proof" is generally, but not consistently, applied only to prints from the late eighteenth-century onwards, beginning with the English
mezzotint
Mezzotint is a monochrome printmaking process of the intaglio (printmaking), intaglio family. It was the first printing process that yielded half-tones without using line- or dot-based techniques like hatching, cross-hatching or stipple. Mezzo ...
ers, who began the practice of issuing small editions of proofs for collectors, often before the "lettering" or inscription below the image was added.
The practices of signing or numbering impressions in the main edition had not begun, and in the absence of this, it is normally only when the image is clearly different from the final form that the term proof has any meaning.
In
old master print
An old master print (also spaced masterprint) is a work of art produced by a printing process within the Western tradition (mostly by Old Masters). The term remains current in the art trade, and there is no easy alternative in English to distingu ...
s, a proof will be described as belonging to a different
state
State most commonly refers to:
* State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory
**Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country
**Nation state, a ...
of the print. States are numbered I, II, III etc., in the sequence they were produced, which can normally be determined.
For example,
Rembrandt
Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn (; ; 15 July 1606 – 4 October 1669), mononymously known as Rembrandt was a Dutch Golden Age painter, printmaker, and Drawing, draughtsman. He is generally considered one of the greatest visual artists in ...
, who had his own printing-press and printed at least the earliest copies of his
etching
Etching is traditionally the process of using strong acid or mordant to cut into the unprotected parts of a metal surface to create a design in intaglio (incised) in the metal. In modern manufacturing, other chemicals may be used on other type ...
s himself, was a great taker of proofs, but these are normally described as different states - his record was nine for one etching, although this involved returning to an older print he had sold many copies of, and largely reworking it.
But the term proof can be used in the case of a clear working proof of an
old master print
An old master print (also spaced masterprint) is a work of art produced by a printing process within the Western tradition (mostly by Old Masters). The term remains current in the art trade, and there is no easy alternative in English to distingu ...
, like the two impressions of
Albrecht Dürer
Albrecht Dürer ( , ;; 21 May 1471 – 6 April 1528),Müller, Peter O. (1993) ''Substantiv-Derivation in Den Schriften Albrecht Dürers'', Walter de Gruyter. . sometimes spelled in English as Durer or Duerer, was a German painter, Old master prin ...
's ''Adam and Eve'' (1504,
British Museum
The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...
and
Albertina, Vienna
The Albertina is a museum in the Innere Stadt (First District) of Vienna, Austria. It houses one of the largest and most important print rooms in the world with approximately 65,000 drawings and approximately 1 million old master prints, as wel ...
) which show the figures largely finished but the background with only the main outlines lightly done.
Status
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
drawing
Drawing is a Visual arts, visual art that uses an instrument to mark paper or another two-dimensional surface, or a digital representation of such. Traditionally, the instruments used to make a drawing include pencils, crayons, and ink pens, some ...
s,
painting
Painting is a Visual arts, visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called "matrix" or "Support (art), support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with ...
s, or
sculpture
Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...
.
Some lithographs may be hand signed in the border and labeled "Epreuve D'Artiste", which means Artist's Proof, which also increases its value.
Collectors also usually prefer final artist's proofs even when they are identical to the main edition; if nothing else the print may have been presented to a friend by the artist. 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 has special value because of its extra rarity and its possible differences from the "standard" print, factors that are often reflected in its price.
Printshop technicians
Since many printmaking processes require expensive equipment, most artists choose to work with specialist printers. The print shop provides technicians skilled in the process; the artist provides the art. It is customary in these cases to pay the technicians with a signed artist's proof, in addition to his wages. The print shop will also retain a proof, normally signed off as "bon à tirer" ("good for printing" in French) to use as a control example against which the other impressions are compared. This has resulted in some very impressive collections of prints owned by printmakers themselves.
An artist's proof is also known as a "comp" or "complimentary" if given to printers.
See also
*
Old master print
An old master print (also spaced masterprint) is a work of art produced by a printing process within the Western tradition (mostly by Old Masters). The term remains current in the art trade, and there is no easy alternative in English to distingu ...
*
Ozalid
Ozalid is a registered trademark of a type of paper used for "test prints" in the monochrome classic offset process. The word "Ozalid" is an anagram of "diazol", the name of the substance that the company "Ozalid" used in the fabrication of this ...
*
Prepress proofing
A contract proof usually serves as an agreement between customer and printer (publishing), printer and as a color reference guide for adjusting the press (machine), press before the final press run. Most contract proofs are a prepress proof.
The ...
References
External links
{{Commons category
Printmaking techniques of which many have artist's proofs created in their process.
Printmaking