where to sign matted prints?

saltydog

Hi dear Dgrinners,

I don't know whether there's a standard answer for this and of course I've seen this done dozens of time at shows, art markets etc. but now I can't visualize it...

I've got to drop off matted and signed prints (not framed) and am not sure how. Well, the signature goes on the bottom of the print so it's visible inside the mat, right? I mean, the signature shouldn't be hidden, correct? (The mats are hinged and open and the prints affixed with photo corners so they can be removed).

I also need to note the title (location/date) somewhere but that would go on the mat, right? Would you put it underneath the signature or rather at the opposite corner? Let's say the sig is lower right, then title lower right as well, or rather lower left?

Thanks for any input,
J.

Angelo

I always title bottom left and sign bottom right and always on the matte itself.

Sometimes use an engraved brass plaque with both title and siggy, mounted center on a beveled matte

saltydog

Thanks for the fast reply Angelo.

Okay, so you don't sign the print itself? That's what I was wondering, in their guidelines it states "signed and matted print", but aesthetically, I'd think it would be better to sign the mat instead of scribbeling directly on my photograph... As far as I can remember, signing the mat is more common, correct?

Art Scott

I always sign the lower right corner of the print (just like a painter would) just high enuff to be above any matt if the client is paying for a signed print....most of my clients want to do their own matting as they are mostly out of state and do not want to pay shipping on a matted print .....I normally also sign the matts with sig lower right side and the title and date lower left side in light pencil....

claudermilk

Guess I'm backwards. I sign bottom left and title bottom right on the mat in pencil.

Angelo

a quick trip to any gallery or museum will convince you to sign the matte, not the print.... but hey, what do I know?

cabbey

Angelo wrote:

a quick trip to any gallery or museum will convince you to sign the matte, not the print.... but hey, what do I know?

I dunno, might depend on what museum you go to, and how big your ego is. Last time I was in a museum, almost every single piece on display was signed on the image, not the matte, not the frame. But then that was just those old egoists like Rembrandt, Degas, Picaso and Seurat. A quick look around the house, shows that of the 5 pieces of "real" art here, 4 of them are visibly "signed" on the work. (I'm positive two of them aren't real signatures, they're part of the litho from the original.)

claudermilk

Yeah, but paintings are not normally matted. Different mediums. By coincidence, I am reading the section of Ansel Adams' The Print covering this topic; he dry mounted his photos, signed the mount board at the lower right of the print, then cut the mat to give the print a little border showing the mount board.

Angelo

cabbey wrote:

I dunno, might depend on what museum you go to, and how big your ego is. Last time I was in a museum, almost every single piece on display was signed on the image, not the matte, not the frame. But then that was just those old egoists like Rembrandt, Degas, Picaso and Seurat. A quick look around the house, shows that of the 5 pieces of "real" art here, 4 of them are visibly "signed" on the work. (I'm positive two of them aren't real signatures, they're part of the litho from the original.)

we've been discussing photographs, not paintings.

saltydog

Hmm, not that I am any less confused now ... So I went to a little gallery here which represents a local photographer and discovered that his large pieces were signed on the print, his smaller pieces signed on the mat. When I asked the gallery guy however, he advised me to sign on the print if the guidelines state "signed and matted print". He gave the same reason as Art Scott, especially if it calls for open mats - some people like to "re-mat" their pieces.

My ego is still pretty small so I would have preferred the mat option, but since I have to drop them off today, I'll have to make up my mind soon and I guess I'll sign the prints. If they scream, then I'll have a lot of re-printing to do fast .

Thanks for your input everybody!

Greetings,
Jana