Premier Prints and Multiples Sale Signals a Shift Toward Modern Masters
A spring auction of prints and multiples is offering a snapshot of a market in motion: new buyers are arriving in force, entry-level prices are inching upward, and collector attention is drifting from the newest names toward historically significant material.
Artnet Auctions’ Premier Prints and Multiples sale is currently open for bidding, with the auction running through April 9. The timing places it alongside other seasonal bellwethers, including the IFPDA Print Fair, which returns to New York April 9–12.
Prints and multiples have long served as a first step for collectors who want blue-chip artists without the price tag of a major painting or sculpture. But the category is changing quickly. Artnet data indicates that between 2020 and 2025, 50 percent of prints and multiples lots were purchased by first-time Artnet Auctions buyers — a sign, according to Conner Williams, head of prints and multiples at Artnet Auctions, that the collector base is being reshaped. “Evolving tastes within the category, and the growth of certain segments, reflect broader shifts in the collector base,” Williams said.
A Market Tilting Historic
Recent auction totals underscore the direction of travel. In 2024, Modern prints brought $72.8 million at auction, outpacing contemporary prints at $55.6 million. The gap has widened since contemporary prints peaked at around $133 million in 2021 and then declined steadily, according to the Artnet Price Database.
That shift is visible in the current sale’s mix, which spans from a 1970s print by Frank Stella to editions by Jeff Koons, and includes works by artists who remain highly liquid in the secondary market. Among the historically anchored offerings is Pablo Picasso’s “Joueur de diaule” (1947), a white earthenware ceramic plate partially engraved and finished with colored engobe and glaze in yellow and black. It carries an estimate of $8,000–$12,000.
Another example of Modern material positioned at an accessible level is “Blue/Red-Orange/Green” (1970–1971) by American modern artist Ellsworth Kelly (1923–2015). Printed as a lithograph on Arjomari paper in an edition of 64, the work reflects Kelly’s disciplined experiments in color and form, and is estimated at $8,000–$12,000.
Williams described a buyer pool that has become more selective as the supply of top-tier material has softened. “Over the past year and a half — an interval marked by a notable softening in material coming to auction — buyers have grown strikingly discerning,” he said. “While there’s been a clear tapering in demand for more contemporary prints, enthusiasm for historical material remains both vibrant and steadfast.”
Pop’s Internal Recalibration
Even within Pop — a sector that has remained consistently strong — tastes are not static. American artist Andy Warhol (1928–1987) continues to draw demand, but Williams noted that certain historically and politically themed subjects, including “Mao” (1972) and “Red Lenin” (1987), have softened at auction. By contrast, series such as “Sunsets” (1972) and “Endangered Species” (1983) are holding collector attention. Two works from Warhol’s animal series “Cows” are included in the sale, estimated at $18,000–$25,000 and $20,000–$30,000.
Alongside Warhol, British artist David Hockney (b. 1937) remains one of the most sought-after names in prints. In October 2024, a print from his iPad drawing series “The Arrival of Spring in Woldgate, East Yorkshire” (2011) sold at Sotheby’s London for £762,000 (about $1 million), more than four times its high estimate, setting a new record for the artist’s prints.
Taken together, the season’s numbers and offerings suggest a category that is no longer simply a “starter” market. As new collectors enter and seasoned buyers become more exacting, prints and multiples are increasingly functioning as a barometer: not just of what’s affordable, but of what feels historically durable — and worth owning — right now.
