Urban Art Association

Ok this is something I have been thinking about for a while now...how much would u expect to pay for a signed print Vs and Unsigned print..lets talk about Banksy prints for example. The reason for this is that if both signed and unsigned are the same images and u get the marks etc why would a signed printbe worth so much more?

interesting but neither signed or unsigned prints have the artists physically finishing them etc they are both produced from the same stencial and and printed at the same time then some are signed and others arnt...the image....i.e art is the same..comments?

mose...thanks for ur comments...i value ur opinion....for me if it was a case of a few pounds for a signed vs unsigned i would prob go for the signed...but if its multiple times the price for a signed just for a signature i am not sure dont think it is necesarly worth it. I mainly posted this thread due to the large difference in prices between early banksy signed and unsigned pieces and now prices for unsigned pieces seem to be droping fast

I agree with some of your sentiment but I don't really see there being a debate about it.

Official unsigned prints have value. Sometimes might not be a lot, and signed prints are of course always worth more, but by how much? It's up to the market to decide but maybe on avg. 3-4 times more?

But I think there is a big distinction between reproductions like you mention and any prints authorized and overseen by the artist and 'considered by the artist themselves to be a part of their artistic output,' (and so would be considered part of their catalogue raisonné,) even if he /she doesn't sign it.

Another important factor is that it's printed from the original artists plates/matrix. Look up old master prints, such as Rembrandt etc. Signed prints of course worth more but unsigned are still worth a considerable sum. Plus lots of artists used to only sign their print in the plate.

Look at Duchamp, Picasso, they have a lot of unsigned prints that are worth serious money. They're still definitely collectible. In instances of Warhol, the same thing, and some prints that were in production at the time of his death (and so went unsigned) are worth almost as much as his signed prints.

I think with Banksy there is still definite value in the unsigned works, especially in ones that there are only unsigned versions of. I'm sure Banksy oversaw and approved the production of these prints. These were authorized and initiated by the artist to be a part of his official work. I think the value is really determined by the marketplace, scarcity, condition, and desirability of the image. But value is definitely there as now some unsigned prints are worth more than signed ones.

If you don't have enough money for a signed print but can afford an unsigned print it is very much a worthwhile purchase — in an intangible way it's much nicer to have an official Banksy print on a wall than some canvas knocked off by some stranger trying to make some side money on ebay. But of course if all you have is £40, nothing wrong with that either.