How to tell a lithograph from a reproduction
Jerry Polizzi · · Updated
A lithograph is a print pulled from a drawing made on a stone or a metal plate. A reproduction is a later copy of a finished image, often a poster, printed from a photograph of that image. Both can be worth keeping. They are different objects.
The signature
On an original print the signature is usually in pencil, in the margin below the image, and it sits in the paper. Artists took up that habit in the late nineteenth century so a collector could separate a print they had approved from a photomechanical copy.
A signature printed in the same ink as the picture was drawn on the stone. It can still belong to an original lithograph. By itself, that printed signature does not settle the question. The pencil signature under the image is the mark the market learned to trust.
The edition number
Look next for a number, written as a fraction such as 38/250, or in Roman numerals on a proof. Enrico Baj, The General is numbered 38/250 at the left and signed lower right. Printer's proofs and hors commerce impressions sit outside the numbered edition. The abbreviations are explained in what the pencil marks on a print mean.
In a modern edition the number is a count of impressions that were meant to match. A low number is not a higher grade. On an old etching plate the early impressions can be sharper, because copper wears. That is a different process, and it does not describe a stone printed as a matched edition.
Paper, ink, and the dots
Original lithographs are often on named papers such as Arches or Rives. The crayon or the wash has an irregular grain, and the ink can sit with a slight relief you can see in raking light. A commercial reproduction is usually flatter. Under a magnifying glass the picture breaks into a regular dot.
A deep rectangular dent around the image is a plate mark. It belongs to an etching or an engraving, which are printed under pressure. A lithograph is printed from a flat surface and usually has none. Some reproductions are embossed with a false plate mark. If the dent is the main reason a seller calls the sheet an original, ask to see the pencil marks as well.
If you are still unsure
Bring the sheet in, or send photographs of the front, the pencil marks, and the back. What to photograph is the short list. A work the gallery sells is covered by the authenticity guarantee, including a full refund if you are not satisfied.
These notes are the advice we give across the counter. They are not an appraisal and not a conservation report.
Questions
Is a lithograph a copy of a painting?
It can be either thing. An original lithograph is a work made to be printed. A reproductive lithograph, or an offset poster, is a copy of a painting or a drawing that already existed. The pencil marks and the printing tell them apart.
Does a lower print number mean a better impression?
In a modern edition, no. The fraction records the count, and the impressions are meant to match. Early impressions of an old etching can be sharper because the plate wears. That does not make 1/250 the prize of a modern lithograph.
Are posters worthless if they are reproductions?
No. A vintage poster can be a serious object. It is a different object from the artist's print, and it should be described as what it is.