Are Originals Really Better Than Prints?

Do you prefer owning a print of an image or an original?  It’s an interesting question for an art connoisseur.  Let’s set the stage before we get started.   Perhaps you’re joining the art market (perhaps not for the first time) and you see lots of options available.  There’s photos, paintings, drawings, digital creations, mixed media, and more.  That’s just the tip of the iceberg for wall art.  So, next, you might notice that there are originals and prints on the market.  Doubtless, there are more prints available than originals.  Each has their own price point.  The budget-conscious art buyer might simply choose the cheaper option and call it good.  However, is that the right call for you as an art connoisseur?  That’s exactly what we’re discussing today: whether or not originals are better than prints.

Out of necessity, we’ll break this discussion down into 3 categories: when originals are better than prints, when prints are better than originals, and when originals simply aren’t available.  Also, please keep in mind that the reasons listed are not all-encompassing.  You may easily find a reason for yourself which I missed.  So, let’s dive into it.

When Originals are Better than Prints

There are certainly a few times where original pieces of art are better to own than than prints are.  Let’s discuss some of those situations.

Investment Purposes

If you want to invest in fine art, then originals are definitely better than prints.  In fact, originals are the only thing which carries any value in the art investment market.  No one wants prints unless prints are the ONLY way to obtain the image.  See the section below discussing when prints are the only option for some good examples there.  As for times when there is an original, the art market places practically no value on prints.  They have no resale value either except for the few dollars a second-hand store might expect to collect for discarded wall art.

Luxury

Need I say more here?  Ok, I will just for those few who might not understand it already.  Once you reach a certain income status in life where you no longer need to live paycheck-to-paycheck, then you gain a surplus of money.  You can use that surplus however you want.  Many people choose to use that surplus to acquire goods and services which most people consider luxuries.  Those goods and services come with high price tags for reasons.  Fine art originals fall under that heading, especially from artists with a high reputation.  You can show off your status of having money to burn with a tasteful display of curated fine art originals on your wall throughout your home and office.

A Gift from the Artist

If you’re friends with or related to an artist, then you might find yourself receiving art as a gift sometimes.  Now tell me.  If you were to receive a gift of art from that person, would you rather see an original or a print?  I know what I’d rather see.  I want an original.  Giving a gift of an original piece of art shows just how much the artist values you if they took time and effort to create something specifically for you.  Now compare that idea to receiving a print instead.  It almost feels like you’re an afterthought.  It’s like you’re not good enough to put all that time and effort into.  To be fair, that slight might not be intended, but it’s still there.

Support the Artist

Perhaps you are a fan or perhaps you really connect with the artist on some level.  You want to do something to support him/her in his/her artistic endeavors.  The best way to support an artist is to buy their work.  Now, since we’re in a situation where both prints and originals are available, which do you think would support the artist?  That’s a bit of a trick question as truly buying either will support the artist.  However, buying originals will support the artist much better than buying prints will.  It’s definitely attached to the price tag there.  Since originals often command a much higher price than prints do, buying an original will supply the artist with more money to continue creating with than the price of a print will.

When Prints are Better than Originals

Now, on the flip side, there are times when it’s better to own a print than an original piece of art.  Let’s discuss some of those situations.

Budget

Let’s be frank.  Not everyone who wants to collect and appreciate art can afford the high price tags of many originals.  Budget constraints crop up for many people.  Young college students and young families are often members of this group of people as are the unemployed and under-employed.  When you can’t afford originals for your art collection, then you might consider buying prints.  They are much easier on the budget and will provide much of the same viewing pleasure of the original.  If budget is a concern for you, then prints are probably better than originals.

Problematic Original

Sometimes an original piece of art will not serve your needs for all kinds of reasons not connected to money.  Perhaps the original is too big or too small.  Perhaps its too old and fragile.  Maybe you can’t keep up with maintenance for your own reasons.  Whatever the reason, you may find that you want a particular piece of art but it won’t work for you for non-budgetary reasons.  In cases like these, you can look into buying a print to fill that spot on your wall.  A problematic original need not prevent you from enjoying a particular piece of wall art when prints are available for sale.

Prints are Replaceable

If you find yourself in a situation where climate change activists decide to throw a can of tomato soup all over your wall art, then you’ll be happy you chose to display a print instead of the original.  While this is a remarkably extreme and specific situation, it did happen in real life.  However, it does illustrate something which the parents of young families know all too well.  Life is messy.  Do you want to risk a beautiful original piece of art to the excited spaghetti flinging of a toddler?  I don’t.  Thus, you might consider buying a print instead of an original because of one simple fact.  Prints are replaceable.  If life happens and your art becomes sun-faded, torn, stained, lost, stolen, or more, then you need not worry so much.  You can buy another print to replace it with and move forward.

In the case of limited-edition prints, the print is not so replaceable because of its numbered and limited edition status.  Sadly, you probably should consider an open-edition print if you must worry about replacing your wall art.  At least then, you won’t need to worry about losing a limited-edition print.

When Prints are Your Only Option Because Originals aren’t Available

Now that we’ve discussed when prints and originals are available, let’s talk about when you can’t choose between both options.  Please keep in mind that this category does NOT include art where the original exists and simply is not for-sale at the moment.  We make the assumption that it will be at some point in the future for the purposes of this article.  Yes this includes art like the Mona Lisa.  The Louvre COULD decide to sell it at some point in the future.

Modern Photography

If you want to buy fine art photography or digitally generated art, then you simply cannot buy an original.  You must buy a print because there’s no such thing as an original in the physical sense.

Ok, sure.  In the old days, you still very much had a physical item in the form of a negative.  However, you still needed to create a print from that negative.  If you wanted a fully original photo, then you needed to look at Daguerreotype photography.  Those photos were completely originals and one-of-a-kind. The photographer created the image directly on a piece of metal which became final print, if you will.  Because of the nature of this process, you could not reproduce them.

However, we mostly abandoned that early foray in photography in favor of reproducibility with film and later digital photography.  Even owning negatives is becoming difficult as negatives degrade and deteriorate over time.  Even the process of developing negatives is becoming a niche and lost art.  Now, you can only buy a modern photography print.

Digital Art

Digital art is quite popular these days.  Artists create it using digital rather than physical (analog) mediums.  Many times, it’s creating something from scratch using Photoshop or similar programs.  As this art is entirely digitally generated (yes this even includes digital photography), then there is no physical original.  There is an original computer file, but nothing you can hold in your hand.  Because of this, it’s literally impossible to offer any physical copy of the image and also call it the original piece of art.  It is merely a print and will ever only be a print.

Destroyed Originals

There are times and places where an artist created an original piece of art which is, for reasons, no longer with us.  This means that the original is destroyed.  Whether by accident or design, it doesn’t matter.  What does matter is that the original no longer exists.  In cases such as these, then you can only buy a print if such exist.  There’s no other option.  If you do indeed want to own a copy of a piece of art whose original is destroyed, then a print is the way to go.

Conclusion

So, now we circle around back to the original question: are originals really better than prints?  The answer depends upon circumstances.  There are definitely times where originals are better, or even the only option.  However, there are also situations where prints are definitely better than originals are.  There’s even situations where this question doesn’t apply because there is no original to worry about.

In conclusion, you know your circumstances best.  You know whether or not a print or an original piece of art will work out better for you.  However, if you find that you have space on your wall for some new art, and don’t mind a photo print, then you might check out my online store where I sell top-quality landscape photography.