Following the recent sale of Eric Slater's well-known The coastguard station (below) for £720, we now have A Sussex Mill (above) with a starting-bid of £250 from the same seller. Time was (and it was not so long ago) Slaters sold for £250. Not any more. Readers with an interest in Slater will have noticed that some prints have fetched a lot more - if I remember rightly one went not so long ago for around £1200.
The print on offer varies quite a lot from the version in James Trollope's book, Slater's Sussex. Generally, I think it's livelier and presumably Slater felt the same way about it. The blues are brighter and there is more green so the contrasts are greater but that only increases the colour-by-numbers effect that Slater undoubtedly has. They have period charm, yes. Are they worth £750? Most certainly not. Why are people prepared to pay so much? I really have no idea.
The prints certainly appear to be in good condition and how many are left to come out on the market is anybody's guess. The woodcuts with an edition given in the book are in 50s and so it surprises me they keep on turning up. I also wonder what will happen if something rare is being held back in reserve because I am quite certain that a market is being created here for those who seem willing to pay.
I'm tempted to fall back on the argument that it's worth what people are willing to pay. But equally, it wouldn't be £750 of my money. And as for four-figure prices, that seems an awful lot, particularly in the context of the broader print market. I can think of several quite important British and American printmakers whose work is generally fetching less than that.
ReplyDeleteThe old argument would be more relevant if there weren't an obvious sales pitch here. But people have been asking higher prices generally for Slater's since the eighties at least, so really it's nothing new and I know some people are very pleased to own them.
ReplyDeleteIndeed they are! Beautiful print! I tend to agree with Anthony: If people are willing to pay it, that means the print is worth it. Of course prices for Slater have exploded during the last years, but I think there are other artists in more absurd regions. Think of Margaret Patterson, Baumann or Edna Boies Hopkins, for example.
ReplyDeleteKlaus
But they could have done what you did, Klaus and bought them when they weren't so expensive. It's not so very long ago that you could buy 'The coastguard station' for less than £250. So, what has changed? Slater has been well known in colour woodcut circles for years. No, it's the sophisticated PR job that has done it.
ReplyDeleteAs for the Americans you mention, they always fetch more, but all the same the prices leave me speechless on occasions. but no one is more over-priced than Claude Flight. And so it goes on.
Charles,
ReplyDeletehave you seen the watercolour by Slater on ebay UK? Very interesting, very beautiful - and very expensive!
Klaus
I hadn't seen it, no, so thanks for pointing it out. It looks like it might have been an idea for a woodcut he never made.
ReplyDelete