A friend of mine came to me recently wondering what to do with the empty walls in their new house. “Try prints,” I said.

But from where? What should I get? And how much are they?

It’s normal to feel overwhelmed and disoriented for first time buyers, regardless of one’s budget, motivation or gravitation. Yet, “prints open the door to collecting. You can own meaningful work by artists you love, even blue-chip names, at an achievable price. It’s a space driven by discovery, not gatekeeping,” writes Sheena Carrington, Market Editor at MyArtBroker, a Modern & Contemporary prints & editions platform.

Prints and editions, according to ArtTactic, have grown its auction market share by 52% over the last 10 years. In the latest Prints and Editions Post-war and Contemporary Report 2025, the auction sales total for this segment has increased by 12.1% this year to date compared to 2024, but still 27.1% lower from its 10-year peak in 2022. In which, the $500,000 to $1 million price bracket surfed the biggest wave in transaction value, climbing 119.4% to $3.84 million in 2025 (6 lots) from $1.75 million last year (3 lots). Off the rostrums, print fairs and genre-specific online platforms are rocking the boat with their experience-driven curations and budget-friendly price tags, which range from $700 to $25,000, offering plenty of room to accommodate newcomers from all corners of life.

“We’re also seeing growing interest through cross-disciplinary collaborations that bring new audiences into the field, as with our recent partnership with the British theatre company Punchdrunk,” observes Cia Durante, Director of Partnerships and VIP at Woolwich Contemporary Print Fair.

This democratising trait of prints and multiples resonates particularly well with a generation that is simultaneously digital-savvy and craves for real-world connections and the tactility of physical objects. “Historically, prints were not numbered; they were printed in large numbers and a way of creating affordable imagery for the masses. Today, our fine art prints are largely hand-finished and take many hours to individually hone into existence,” comments Meryl Ainslie, Founder of Rabley Gallery.

Thanks to social media, these specifics behind the scenes are now at the forefront of a thorough discovery and buying cycle for the information-driven minds. “High-resolution digital previews, online catalogues and image-sharing tools increase transparency and ease of research, giving younger collectors more confidence in what they are buying,” responds Robert Kennan, Head of Modern and Contemporary Editions at Phillips.

So what are they buying? “Younger collectors tend to gravitate toward more affordable works by emerging artists, or new formats altogether,” adds Carrington. “Such as physical editions with digital components,” echoes Kennan. That brings to mind the project Damien Hurst did back in 2021 with Heni, an international art services business, where collectors had to choose between keeping an NFT or the physical painting from an edition of 10,000. In the end, just over half of the owners chose to keep it in the real world.

Four years later, the material realm still dominates, but the mind likes to wander. In the first half of 2025, Dutch graphic artist Maurits Cornelis Escher’s (1898–1972) prints scored the highest returns, championing up to 16-time their pre-sale mid estimates. Though not associated with the Surrealist movement, Escher’s mathematical works evoke a similar sense of fantastical and imaginative quality that offer a temporary visceral escape for viewers.

For those who are more investment-focused, Pop-art prints continue to hold their ground. Three of David Hockney’s works top the auction chart this year, all sold at Sotheby’s The David Hockney Sale: The Arrival of Spring in October, which scored $6.56 million* (2.25-time its pre-sale mid estimates). “Given Hockney’s position as the top British artist and the second highest-selling printmaker of the past decade, it is hardly surprising that Sotheby’s and Phillips both held dedicated single-artist sales focusing on his prints this Autumn; and that they performed well despite tough conditions in the broader market,” notes Lindsay Dewar, COO and Head of Analytics at ArtTactic.

As with my friend’s walls that are still empty, there are many places to turn to. The community-centric online platform Avant Arte is one, artists’ own channels are another. Or the many art fairs happening throughout the year. While I can’t make the decisions for them, at least they know where to start. ■

_{^{*Excluding buyer’s premium and converted into USD using rates from XE.com}}

_{^{Cover image courtesy of Phillips, Ellen Gallagher’s DeLuxe (2004-05) sold at Phillips in April 2025}}