Art Market Finds Bright Spot in Booming Print Sales

On opening night of the International Fine Print Dealers Association (IFPDA) Print Fair, a line stretched around New York’s Park Avenue Armory—a surprising sight, perhaps, for a medium long considered niche. But something is shifting in the world of prints, and recent sales and visitor figures suggest it might be more than just a trend—it may be a renaissance.

A record number of print-focused events last month highlighted growing momentum in the sector, with dealers and artists reporting strong sales and rising interest from a new generation of collectors, despite the broader art market slowdown of the last two years. This newfound enthusiasm for what used to be a sleepier corner of the trade was evident at IFPDA’s four-day event, which concluded on March 30 with a record overall turnout of 21,000 visitors—a 14 percent increase year over year. Moreover, the fair saw a 57 percent rise in VIP registrations.

“The buzz was incredible,” said Jenny Gibbs, the executive director of IFPDA, noting around 5,000 people were in attendance on the fair’s opening night.

Running concurrently to the event were two newer print fairs, including the inaugural Brooklyn Fine Art Print Fair and the fourth run of Paris Print Fair. A week earlier, throngs of print collectors had already descended on the London Original Print Fair, which concluded its 40th edition on March 23. There, strong sales and a solid turnout created “a real sense of optimism” for the print market, according to Helen Rosslyn, the fair’s director. “We see no signs of the market slowing down.”

According to the Artnet Price Database, 54,602 print lots were sold at auction in 2024—the highest number in a decade—even as the total sales value for prints fell 14 percent year over year, from roughly $427 million in 2023 to $368.4 million in 2024. That decline was significantly smaller than the 27 percent drop in overall global fine art auction sales during the same period. Meanwhile, collectors added 16 percent more prints, multiples, and photographs to their collections, according to the 2024 UBS Survey of Global Collecting.

Adding to the optimism in the print market is the growing number of next-generation collectors who are increasingly joining veteran buyers at fairs and auctions in this sales category even if they remain elusive in others. Carolin von Massenbach, head of prints and multiples at Bonhams U.K., said the auction house has seen a surge in online bidding and “an exponential increase in first-time buyers.” Both Gibbs and Rosslyn noted that Gen Z and millennial collectors are playing an increasingly important role in driving demand for prints and editions at their events, too.

“This shift lines up with the much-ballyhooed transfer of generational wealth and the arrival of Gen Z collectors,” noted Gibbs. At the IFPDA Fair, she observed that galleries have been selling not only ultra contemporary works to new clients aged in their 30s and 40s, but also classic materials by established names, such as Joan Miró or Marc Chagall, “something that they had always hoped to be able to own themselves.”

The trend is reflected in auction sales data. In 2024, the total sales value of Modern prints at auction totaled $72.8 million, compared to $55.6 million for contemporary and $43.3 million for Old Masters. Overall, the Modern category has seen far fewer fluctuations in total sales value than contemporary and Old Masters prints, peaking in 2023 with an annual sales total of $85.6 million. Echoing broader art market shifts, sales of contemporary prints have declined since 2021, when they reached an all-time high of around $133 million.

Artnet Price Database’s tracking shows that Andy Warhol was the top selling artist in the print category over the past decade from 2015 to 2024, with a total sales value at $501 million. He is followed by Picasso, Banksy, Jeff Koons, and Rembrandt van Rijin.

Women artists, including Yayoi Kusama and Bridget Riley, are also gaining traction in the print market. Kusama is the sixth-highest selling artist and the only woman artist in the top 10 over the past decade, according to Artnet Price Database.

Currently, Pop Art and works by David Hockney are among the most sought-after categories in the print market, according to print specialists from Christie’s, Bonhams, and Artnet Auctions.

Works by Roy Lichtenstein, particularly the “Nude” series (1994), and Andy Warhol’s “Endangered Species” (1983) series, are the most sought-after, according to Laetitia Guillotin, a prints specialist at Artnet Auctions and Private Sales. “They’re big, bold, colorful, and iconic. They fit the contemporary taste.”

Even if Modern print works reign supreme at auction, the changing roster of exhibitors at the London Original Print Fair reflects the shift in market tastes toward more contemporary works. When the fair launched in 1985, two-thirds of its galleries specialized in Old Master prints. Today, 75 percent focus on contemporary art.

Blue-chip galleries are helping drive this shift by collaborating with leading contemporary artists. White Cube returned to the London Original Print Fair this year for the first time since 2013, showcasing a selection of works including a 2022 screen print by Tracey Emin priced at £12,000. “The editions market is an exciting space to be working in right now,” noted Honey Luard, senior director of editorial at White Cube. The accessible price points of prints and multiples have been welcomed by many artists as they help to engage a broader spectrum of audiences, she added.

Meanwhile, some artists are pushing the traditional boundaries of the medium. At the recent IFPDA Print Fair, for instance, Hauser and Wirth sold several works by Rashid Johnson, including a new eight-foot-long editioned mural.

The prints market also seems primed for further growth. While the accessible price points of prints appeal to next-gen collectors, print editions are also an effective fundraising tool for young museum patron groups, says Mazdak Sanii, CEO and co-founder of Avant Arte.

The platform, which said half of its global client base is aged under 40, has collaborated with institutions such as the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) and the National Portrait Gallery in London for its fundraising editions program. Avant Arte’s recent collaboration with George Condo on a limited-edition print series raised over $2.5 million for the Dia Art Foundation’s public access programs. According to the platform’s 2025 Collectors Report, 70 percent of surveyed users said buying fundraising editions is their preferred way to support museums— and demand is growing, said Sanii.

“We have found the most effective method to encourage this support through fundraising editions is to focus firstly on the artist and the work—then, once they have purchased the edition, there is a meaningful opportunity to communicate its impact in supporting the museum,” he noted.

Interest in prints is also growing in Asia. In December, Hong Kong’s M+ will present a show dedicated to Chinese-French master Zao Wou-ki’s printmaking practice. The Singapore-based STPI—Creative Workshop and Gallery, which specializes in the mediums of print and paper and held a show focusing on Zao’s prints in 2016, is planning  a symposium focusing on prints along with a curated exhibition in January 2026 in the Asian city-state.

“We want to bring the print renaissance to Asia,” said Emi Eu, executive director of STPI. Unlike Europe and America, prints are yet to be widely embraced in Asia, and they largely been considered as reproduction, rather than a proper medium, but she is determined to change that. “We want to inform viewers, potential buyers and collectors that prints made by artists’ hands with the help from professional printers are valuable works of art.”

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