Is Your Picasso Print Real? Originals, Reproductions and What They Sell For

Some Picasso prints are worth thousands. Many are reproductions. Here is how to tell an original etching or lithograph from a copy, and what Picasso prints sell for.

SebastianCharles Auctions

Picasso is one of the most searched artists in the world, and his prints are some of the most common "valuable" pictures we see in estates. Some are real Picasso prints worth thousands. Many more are reproductions worth very little. And a few reproductions still sell for real money. Here is how to tell which kind you have.

What counts as an original Picasso print

An original print is one Picasso made himself, by drawing or cutting directly on a copper plate, a lithographic stone or a linoleum block. Master printers then pulled the impressions in his workshops, such as Mourlot for lithographs, Crommelynck and Lacourière for etchings, and Arnéra for linocuts. The main types are:

• Etchings and aquatints, printed from metal plates
• Lithographs, printed from stone or zinc plates
• Linocuts, printed from carved linoleum blocks, many from the 1950s and 1960s

Picasso hand signed his prints in pencil. A signed impression usually sells for about twice an unsigned one from the same edition. Prints "signed in the plate," where the signature is part of the printed image, sell closer to unsigned prices.

The prints that confuse people

• Unsigned original impressions. Picasso did not sign every print. The famous Vollard Suite of 100 etchings, made from 1930 to 1937, was mostly never signed. Unsigned does not mean fake.
• Marina Picasso Estate prints. These are color lithographs made after Picasso's works in the late 1970s and 1980s, in editions of 500, and signed by his granddaughter Marina Picasso, not by Picasso. They carry a "Collection Marina Picasso" stamp. Picasso did not make them.
• Exhibition posters. Many Picasso posters were printed by Mourlot for exhibitions and often carry a printed signature. They are decorative and collectible, but they are posters.
• Reproductions. Photographic or offset copies of his images, including pages from books and museum prints.

The Picasso 347 example

In 1968, Picasso made a series of 347 etchings in about seven months, printed by the brothers Aldo and Piero Crommelynck and published by Galerie Louise Leiris in Paris. Original impressions from the 347 Suite are true Picasso prints.

In 1970, Random House published "Picasso 347," a two volume boxed book that reproduces all 347 etchings. The pages are offset reproductions, not original etchings, and people mistake them for originals all the time. Copies of the book usually sell for a few hundred dollars at auction. We sold a Picasso 347 two volume box set for $3,800, against an estimate of $200 to $400. Even a reproduction can surprise you when the right bidders see it.

How to tell an original from a reproduction

• Look for a plate mark. An etching is printed under heavy pressure, which leaves an indented rectangle in the paper around the image. A reproduction has no plate mark.
• Use a magnifying glass. Offset reproductions show a regular pattern of tiny dots. An original lithograph or etching shows solid lines and natural texture.
• Check the signature. A real pencil signature has a slight graphite shine and sits on top of the paper. A printed signature looks flat and is part of the image.
• Check the edition number. Signed editions are usually numbered in pencil, such as 12/50, in the lower margin.
• Look at the paper. Original prints are on fine art paper like Arches, often with a watermark you can see when you hold the sheet up to light. The Vollard Suite was printed on Montval paper watermarked "Vollard" or "Picasso."
• Look for a catalogue number. Picasso's prints are recorded in catalogues raisonnés by Bloch, Baer and Mourlot. A genuine print can be matched to an entry. Posters are catalogued by Czwiklitzer.

Be careful with signatures. Forged pencil signatures are common, especially on unsigned Vollard Suite etchings. That is one more reason to have a print examined before you sell.

What Picasso prints sell for

The range is enormous. A signed and numbered Picasso lithograph sold at Rago in 2024 for $3,780. A pencil signed plate from the Vollard Suite sold at Phillips for $12,600. A 1962 linocut brought $83,000 at Bonhams in 2024. At the very top, his 1935 etching "La Minotauromachie" has sold for more than $1 million several times. Subject, condition, signature, edition size and paper all move the price.

The same problem with Dalí

Salvador Dalí prints are even trickier. Dalí signed thousands of blank sheets of paper before the images were printed, and a 1986 sworn statement said he had signed nothing but contracts and checks since 1980. Some Dalí prints are real and sell well. We sold a group of three lithographs from Dalí's 1973 Hawaii California Suite for $3,700, against an estimate of $200 to $400. Others are worth little. The same checks above apply.

Get your Picasso print looked at

Leave the print in its frame. Take photos of the front, a close up of the signature and any numbers, and the back of the frame with any gallery labels. If you can see the margins, photograph those too. Send it all through our free estimate form. Sebastian reviews every inquiry personally and will tell you what you have. If you have Picasso ceramics instead, read our guide to Picasso pottery, and see more prints we have sold in our prints department.