Q: I have an 11-inch-by-14-inch copper lithograph by Paul Ritter that I rescued from being melted down. I’ve done some research and all I can find is a little about the artist. Any info and possible value?
A: The item seen in images sent is a flat sheet of copper with lines etched into the surface.
The copper block is not a litho; it’s the plate from which the art, an etching on paper, is struck. The process to make the design involves etching a design into copper with acid. The end product is a series of prints on paper.
Admittedly, terms are often used loosely in prints.
According to paintings and prints specialist Joe Stanfield of John Toomey Gallery in Oak Park, Ill., what our reader has is the negative for an artwork created by Ritter. In 2012, Toomey Gallery sold a “great” Picasso etching at auction for $158,600.
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Not much is known about the German-American artist (1829-1907). Nor does he have much of a market. Auction databases show that most of Ritter’s work was oil on canvas landscapes. One sale came in 2012, when a view of New Hampshire’s White Mountains sold at auction for $4,000. Other works did not sell.
Ritter is not known as a print artist, so that does make the copper plate rare and unusual. But smart collectors know that collecting is full of wild cards, and this is one. Though rare, the plate is not valuable because there’s little to no demand for Ritter. Nor are there many prints; Stanfield has been in business for years and has never seen one.
Plates are not interesting to buyers because they’re not the finished product or artwork. Nor are they what a collector hangs on the wall.
“They are the kind of thing that friends of an artist have access to,” adds Stanfield. “To my knowledge, none has come to sale.”
Hypothetically, original plates or woodblocks from only a handful of print artists — say, Durer or Picasso — could have possible value on their own.
As to selling, Stanfield thinks “it could be kind of an interest thing, such as mounting the plate next to a print struck from that plate.”
Our reader should also know that, as images are struck from a copper plate, the surface wears down. By the final strike, etched lines are worn and the design is blurred.
Operating on Stanfield’s opinion, I suggest enjoying the plate for what it is, or posting it in an online auction. Someone out there may find it ... interesting.
FYI: To reach Stanfield, write to joe@johntoomeygallery.com
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