How to Research Comparable Art Print Sales
A useful comparable is a completed transaction for the same or a genuinely similar object. An online asking price shows what a seller hopes to receive, not what the market accepted.
Identify the print before searching
Record the exact title, artist, medium, dimensions, edition, publisher, date and signature status. Search spelling variations and catalogue numbers. If several editions use the same image, separate them before collecting prices.
Where to look
Review reputable auction archives, specialist dealers, publisher records and documented private-sale data available to you. Save the sale date, venue, lot description, photographs, condition, estimate, hammer price, buyer’s premium and currency. Confirm whether a result was sold, passed or withdrawn.
Compare like with like
Consider condition, proof status, framing, provenance, location, sale venue and timing. Convert currencies using the sale-date rate and distinguish hammer price from the price including buyer’s premium. One unusual result should not define the whole market.
Form a reasoned range
Prefer several recent, well-described sales. Explain why records were included or excluded and report a range rather than false precision when evidence is limited. Retail, auction and insurance-replacement contexts can produce different value conclusions.