Toxic Mary

Toxic Mary uses the composition of a Renaissance Madonna and child and turns it into an accusation, which is a deliberate provocation and has the same commercial effect as Napalm's subject does.

It is a strong image with committed buyers, and it is also one that some buyers will not put on a wall. That narrows the pool rather than reducing the value, and it is a reason to think about who the likely buyer is before deciding between a saleroom and a private sale.

The signed edition is reported at 150 against 500 unsigned, and on this image the gap between the two has tended to be wider than the edition sizes alone would suggest.

That is worth knowing before a valuation, because it means an owner of an unsigned impression who has read a headline signed result will have a figure in mind that the market will not support, and an owner of a signed impression may be underestimating. Value the edition you have.

The full sheet with all four margins, the pencil line along the bottom edge close enough to read the numbering and any proof marking, the signature if there is one, and the publisher's blind stamp with light raking across it.

Then the reverse. Tape, hinges and old backing boards are where the condition story is written on a print of this age, and none of it is visible from the front until it has already migrated through.