Here's one I made earlier

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Frances Follin visits the London Original Print Fair 2011

A Peter Blake or Gilbert & George for under £1000? For the price of a weekend away, it is possible to buy work by famous artists, and the place to come is the London Original Print Fair. This year, it was held from Tuesday 19 to Thursday 21 April in the extensive galleries on the first floor of the Royal Academy of Art, in London’s Piccadilly.

Just as the adverts used to tell us that an engagement ring cost about a month’s wages, so an original print will cost you the price of that weekend away – however much you might be inclined to spend on getting away from it all. While you could spend many thousands on one print, at the CCA Galleries stand on the Wednesday morning, red dots proclaimed that seven people had already decided to blow a more modest £990 on the print Matchboxes by Sir Peter Blake (that’s unframed: they will have paid more if they wanted the frame too). It’s easy to see the appeal of this one – a large, colourful depiction of the faces of numerous matchboxes. Boxes branded in English proclaim ‘Made in Sweden’ (are matches a big export for Sweden?); the Hotel Vancouver and the Mount Royal Hotel, Canada, promote themselves. The brand name ‘Goodlite’ seems obvious, but why brand a box of matches ‘Three Mangoes’? Conversation would never flag with this on the wall.

Two beautiful colour landscape-based images by Barbara Rae RA (b.1943) were offered for £950 unframed. One – Caebthrn Thaidhg – had accumulated three dots, while its companion, Lacken Cross, had sold none. A puzzle to me, as I thought it the better of the two.

If all this is a bit cheap for you, keep looking. At the William Weston Gallery stand, a Warhol print, Birth of Venus – Sandro Botticelli Details of Renaissance Paintings (1984) was available for £85,000 (an English footballer’s weekend away). For the comparatively modest £30,000, a surviving kinetic work by the Venezuelan artist, Jesus Raphael Soto (1923–2005) could be yours, having somehow made its way into the ‘Print’ fair. This fragile piece (Vibration bleue et jaune, 1969: see photograph) was originally one of a series of 300 but at least half of these have probably deteriorated beyond repair, the gallery’s Nicholas Postma explained. Fine flat metal strips supported from above on fine wires move in every draught, causing ever-changing optical effects as they sway in front of striped backgrounds (the other side of the piece is similar, with another set of hanging strips). A conservation nightmare but fascinating to watch.

Sometimes little details of provenance are given. At Jennings Fine Art, a delicate New York cityscape by English artist C.R.W. Nevinson (1889–1946), Looking through Brooklyn Bridge, had once belonged to the composer Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872–1958). Presumably he paid nothing like the £40,000 now being asked.

Richard Saltoun and Karsten Schubert shared a stand, offering a variety of work by artists who made their names as early as the 1960s – Bridget Riley, Joe Tilson, Eduardo Paolozzi and Barry Flanagan. Alison Wilding, better known for her sculptures, had prints on show here too. Riley’s prints ranged from early Op art monochromes (£24,000 and up) to a deliciously coloured screenprint, And About, made this year and selling for £3500.

Amid all the commercial stands, there was room for one from the Royal College of Art, with a group of prints by graduating students, which will go on show shortly at the Royal Shakespeare Company’s theatre in Stratford upon Avon. Senior tutor Martin Hampson was on hand to answer visitors’ questions about the work on show. The RCA has been publishing prints since the 1950s. All RCA students learn to make prints and have to produce a set as part of their course. Established artists donate works for sale to raise money to fund bursaries and to provide materials for students. Those wanting to benefit the next generation of artists would be pleased that profits from the RCA’s stand at the Print Fair go to the college’s Printmaking Appeal Fund.

In similar vein, RA Editions offer prints by Royal Academicians such as Gary Hume, Derek Boshier, Tracey Emin and Eileen Cooper, and by graduate students and associates of the Royal Academy Schools. The RA Schools have a policy of inviting established artists, many with international reputations, to work alongside the most promising postgraduate students. Proceeds of sales benefit the Schools’ endowment fund and of course the students benefit greatly from being able to work with major artists.

If all the above is a bit modern for your tastes, Emanuel von Baeyer had prints dating back to the 16^th century, from Italy, France and Germany. You might think that anything like this would be in a museum somewhere, or hidden away in a private collection never to see the light of day again. Yet here it is, on show in the heart of London, with prices that start at around £1000. Examples are shown at www.evbaeyer-cabinet.com

This year’s show ended before we launched Cassone, but look out for next year’s. You might pick up something to treasure for ever. And if you have only the price of admission (£10 this year) you will still take away some priceless memories.