Selling a Gerhard Richter print
Most of Richter's HENI prints are unsigned and numbered on a label, by design. Knowing which edition you have comes before anything else.
Gerhard Richter (born 1932) is among the most valued living painters, and his paintings are out of reach for most collectors. HENI has published prints after them since 2014, and they are the way many people own his work.
Nearly all of these are facsimile prints: photographic reproductions of a painting at or near its own scale, mounted on aluminium, in editions of 50 to 500. They are unsigned, and most are numbered on a label on the back. That is how they were issued, and a buyer who knows Richter's prints will expect it. The exception is December 2020, a small signed edition.
Every Gerhard Richter HENI series and title
25 titles, as HENI lists them. If yours is here, we can tell you what it is worth now and the best way to sell it.
December 2020 (A to F)
Six works after watercolours Richter made in 2020, reproduced at full scale. An edition of 25 plus 5 artist's proofs, each numbered and signed by the artist, so far scarcer than the facsimiles below.
- December 2020 (A)
- December 2020 (B)
- December 2020 (C)
- December 2020 (D)
- December 2020 (E)
- December 2020 (F)
The 2014 facsimilesP1 to P11
Chromogenic prints on aluminium, several Diasec mounted, each in an edition of 500. Abstraktes Bild is unsigned; the rest are unsigned and numbered on the label. Flow appears four times (P4 to P7) and Bagdad twice (P9 and P10), so the code is what tells them apart.
- Abstraktes Bild
- Haggadah
- Blumenstrauß
- Flow
- Ifrit
- Bagdad
- Aladin
Annunciation after TitianP12
2015. A Diasec mounted Giclée of 125 x 200 cm in an edition of 50, the smallest of the facsimile editions. Unsigned, numbered on the label.
- Annunciation after Titian
FenceP13
2015, after the 2008 photo painting. Edition of 500, unsigned, numbered on the label.
- Fence
Flow (large)P15 and P16
2016, after the 2013 Flow paintings. Diasec mounted chromogenic prints of 100 x 200 cm, editions of 500, unsigned and numbered on the label.
- Flow (P15)
- Flow (P16)
TulipsP17
2017, after the 1995 photo painting. Edition of 500, unsigned, numbered on the label.
- Tulips
WaldhausP18
2018, after the 2004 painting, 142 x 98 cm. Edition of 200, unsigned.
- Waldhaus
CageP19
2020, six Diasec mounted Giclée prints of 100 x 100 cm after the Cage Paintings of 2006. Each in an edition of 200, unsigned and numbered on the label.
- Cage 1
- Cage 2
- Cage 3
- Cage 4
- Cage 5
- Cage 6
Before you sell
- Find the code on the label
- Flow alone exists as six different HENI editions in two sizes. The code (P4, P15 and so on) and the number on the label are what identify yours, so photograph the back first.
- Unsigned is correct
- The facsimile prints were issued unsigned. A missing signature is not a fault on these, and a signature that does appear on one is a question to settle before selling.
- Edition size sets the market
- Most of these are editions of 500, Waldhaus and Cage 200, Annunciation after Titian 50 and December 2020 just 25. The smaller the edition, the fewer come up for sale, and the price follows.
- Mind the surface
- Diasec and chromogenic prints scratch and mark easily, and a scratched face cannot be put right. Keep the original packing if you have it, and do not clean the surface.
Common questions
My Richter print is not signed. Is it genuine?
Very likely. HENI's Richter facsimiles were issued unsigned, and most are numbered on a label on the back. Send photographs of the front, the label and your paperwork and we will confirm the edition.
Are Richter's HENI prints worth selling?
Yes, but expectations should follow the edition. An unsigned facsimile in an edition of 500 is a different object from a signed print in an edition of 25. We will tell you plainly where yours sits and whether to sell now.
I have a Richter print not published by HENI.
Richter has made prints and editions with other publishers since the 1960s, many of them signed. Send photographs; the questions are the same, but the paperwork differs.
Where can I sell a Gerhard Richter print?
At auction, through a private sale to a collector or gallery, or through HENI's own resale service for its past releases. We are independent of all of them, so we can compare them for your print.
Whitebank Fine Art is an art advisory and gallery. It is not affiliated with HENI, the artists, their studios or any auction house. Titles and edition details are as HENI published them. Nothing here is investment advice.
Send photographs of the front, the label or back and your HENI paperwork for a no obligation estimate. See also Gerhard Richter in the A to Z, Selling at auction and Auction fees explained. All HENI artists.
