Our Five Picks From The London Original Print Fair
London Original Print Fair 2025 
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Celebrating its 40th anniversary, the London Original Print Fair (LOPF) opened its doors at Somerset House from March 20–23, bringing together print galleries and publishers for a dynamic showcase of both primary and secondary market artists. With works ranging from the low hundreds to the thousands, the fair highlighted a key trend in today’s art market: affordable works are driving engagement and reshaping the collecting landscape.
During our visit to the fair, opening day was lively, with exhibitors actively engaging with collectors and a strong sense of enthusiasm in the air. We observed several key trends aligning with the broader market, while also selecting our top five standout works and comparing their prices to value trends in MyArtBroker's MyPortfolio. But the overall takeaway was clear: a busy fair signals an active market for prints, and active markets mean buyers.
Top Five Print Picks
Yayoi Kusama, Pumpkin (1992)
Yayoi Kusama remains both iconic and timeless, with her prints holding the same high value and rarity as her paintings. At the fair, a framed 1992 green Pumpkin was available for £33,600. While yellow pumpkins remain the most sought-after, green variants are significantly rarer, making them particularly desirable for collectors.
This type of high-value, exclusive print is more frequently traded privately than seen at auction. In fact, this edition has only surfaced at auction once, in 2021 at Phi Auctions, where it sold for £27,726. Given the steady market growth of Kusama’s green Pumpkin prints, similar editions have shown an average annual growth rate (AAGR) of 25% over the past five years. If this trajectory continues, the work could appreciate significantly beyond its current asking price and reach a value of £102,540 in five years.
Damien Hirst, Hell
Created in 2012, Hell, a signed edition of 55 by Damien Hirst is a foil block screenprint, featuring rows of stubbed-out cigarettes - some marked with traces of lipstick - and a single, prominent Cohiba cigar at the centre. The clash between the sleek, reflective surface and the grimy, discarded subject matter captures the tension and spectacle that defined Hirst’s most provocative era. It’s everything we love - and miss - about his rebellious YBA heyday: all smoke, all mirrors.
With a fair price tag of £11,800 framed, this price reflects a gallery premium that takes into account presentation, curation, and access to a specific collector base. On our platform, the same work is listed on MyPortfolio with an aggregated valuation of £3,500 - £5,500 accounting for both public and private sales. Auction data shows it has only sold publicly once, in 2017, for £5,504 - with an AAGR of -7%. While secondary market performance has been modest, this piece is priced for its rarity and exemplifies the kind of Hirst work that collectors often seek out for its edge and symbolism.
Contrejour in the French Style, Two Vases in the Louvre © David HockneyDavid Hockney, Contrejour in the French Style, Two Vases in the Louvre
Two rare David Hockney prints were unmissable, Contrejour in the French Style and Two Vases in the Louvre, both highlighting his signature exploration of space, light, and perspective. Absent from the market since 2022, these works present a compelling opportunity for collectors, with AAGR of 11% and 6%, respectively.
According to MyArtBroker’s MyPortfolio, valuations for these prints range between £30,000 and £60,000, based on past public and private sales. Contrejour in the French Style is also featured in Christie’s current online sale with a high estimate of £70,000, offering a relevant public benchmark for market demand.
Priced at £95,000 each by the gallery, the valuation reflects the premium placed on rarity, condition, and direct collector access - underscoring how sought-after and quintessential Hockney’s work is valued in today’s market.
Harland Miller, Tonight We Make History
A standout at the fair was a selection of works by Harland Miller. While Miller’s public market can show fluctuations, we consider him immensely underrated - his colouring and print production are unmatched, with a vibrancy that feels almost electric as the colours bounce and reflect off the surface.
Smaller-format editions of Tonight We Make History, published in November 2024 with updated colourways, were available for around £8,000. For comparison, an earlier yellow edition of the same size from 2018 reached a high of £24,000 in 2023. Although the public market for these works has softened slightly, showing an AAGR of -5%, MyArtBroker’s MyPortfolio still values these works at a low estimate of £11,500, making the £8,000 price point an attractive opportunity for Miller enthusiasts.
It Was All About Loving You © Tracey Emin 2022 Tracey Emin, It Was All About Loving You
Also in our. top five picks was a medium-sized gestural nude study by Tracey Emin, titled It Was All About Loving You (2022), measuring 80 x 120 cm. Rendered in her signature expressive linework, the piece captures the raw intimacy and emotional immediacy that define Emin’s practice.
Her print market is gaining real momentum, and it’s one to watch closely. According to MyArtBroker’s MyPortfolio, Emin’s print market have seen a five-year AAGR of 10%, reflecting growing collector demand. Her editions offer a more accessible entry point into her work - at a fraction of the cost of her paintings - while still delivering the same emotional impact and recognisable style.
Still highly active and producing new work, Emin was recently featured in our Female Printmakers Report, reinforcing her continued influence in the market. This particular edition was listed at £12,000, a price that aligns with her rising profile and the increasing interest in her limited-edition prints.
50 Cent Piece © Jean-Michel Basquiat 1982-3/2019Collecting Trends
The Shift In The Art Market: Why Print Fairs Matter
While major commercial fairs like Frieze and Art Basel have struggled to regain pre-pandemic attendance, smaller fairs - particularly print fairs - present an exciting sector. A key driver behind this shift is accessibility, both in terms of cost and collectability. Unlike high-end fairs, where entry fees alone can exceed £100 - not to mention travel expenses - print fairs offer a more welcoming and diverse environment. With price points spanning from affordable works by emerging artists to prints by blue chip names, print fairs attract both new collectors beginning their journey and buyers expanding into higher-value acquisitions. This dynamic fosters a unique balance within the market ecosystem, bridging accessibility with investment potential.
I Will Not Allow the Dark Skies to Affect Me © David Shrigley 2025The New Collector Mindset: Research, Engagement, and Online Follow-Up
Speaking with exhibitors, a key takeaway from LOPF was the rise of thoughtful collecting, with impulse buying appearing less common. Penny Walker Gallery, which specialises in primary market artists and exclusively showcased women artists at the fair, noted that during VIP preview night, collectors were eager to engage directly with the artists who were present. This reflects a growing collecting trend - one that underscores the idea that building a connection with the artist enhances both the perceived and emotional value of a piece.
Additionally, many dealers observed that collectors are increasingly choosing to browse in person, step away, and complete purchases online later - a deliberate buying strategy that reflects the growing role of digital technology in today’s art market. Rather than indicating hesitation, this shift signals a broader adaptation to the hybrid collecting model, where physical fairs act as discovery platforms and digital marketplaces enable final transactions.
While some of this behaviour may stem from continued market caution, it also points to a deeper evolution in collecting - one centred on informed decision-making, meaningful engagement, and strategic acquisition. This ethos is at the core of what we do at MyArtBroker. Our digital marketplace was designed to prioritise accessibility and transparency, and tools like MyPortfolio, our collection management system, help collectors make informed, data-driven decisions in the evolving print market.
Marilyn © Peter Blake 2025Galleries & Publishers: Collaboration Driving Accessibility
A standout trend at print fairs is the increasing collaboration between galleries, publishers, and artists, joining forces to produce limited-edition prints that are helping to drive the accessible print market forward. While such partnerships are not new, they’ve become a key strategic tool for both emerging and blue-chip artists looking to broaden their reach and engage a wider base of collectors. It’s a topic we explored in depth during our live panel discussion, Scaling Access, where leading voices from Avant Arte, Jealous Gallery, and the Woolwich Contemporary Print Fair shared insights into how these collaborations are reshaping access, value, and visibility in the contemporary art market.
Several print publishing galleries, including CCA and Jealous, showcased a mix of primary market artists and established names such as David Shrigley, Peter Blake, and Damien Hirst. Jealous gallery featured a new Shrigley edition, I Will Not Allow the Dark Skies to Affect Me, depicting an innocent yellow bird under a dark raincloud, infused with the artists signature satirical humour and irony. Meanwhile, CCA’s headline release was a complete set of Blake’s three-print Marilyn Monroe portrait series, a highly limited drop priced at £6,000, an attractive price for a complete set by a named artist.
The Latest portrait of Mrs. Partridge © Lenora Carrington 2011Smart Investments: Prints as a Blue Chip Entry Point
There were also noteworthy investment opportunities at the fair. Tin Man Gallery sold several Leonora Carrington prints for around £8,000 - a compelling price for an artist whose original works are currently performing exceptionally well on the secondary market.
Manifold Editions presented a large-scale Miller print, Tonight We Make History, which sold for £33,600, while Lougher Contemporary achieved £8,600 for a Peter Doig print. Also on offer was one of our top picks, Kusama's green Pumpkin - a rarer colourway of her iconic series - priced at £33,500.
What stood out most prominently across conversations with dealers was a recurring collector sentiment: when speaking to new buyers interested in major names like Kusama, Miller, or Hirst, there is often a tendency to compare prints with originals, which can command millions at auction. But what many collectors are beginning to understand is that prints are created with intention - a way for artists to make their work accessible to a broader audience, a practice that dates back centuries.
Print collecting offers serious advantages. It’s a medium often more resilient to market volatility, and while the appreciation curve may be slower, prints by artists like Carrington, Kusama, Hockney, or other blue chip names rarely lose their value. In fact, print collecting continues to act as both an entry point and a gateway - with many new collectors starting with affordable editions, gradually becoming more engaged, and ultimately transitioning into higher-value acquisitions, helping to fuel the broader market ecosystem.
Market shifts and energy were palapable throughout the event. The energy, conversations, and collector enthusiasm echoed what recent reports have already highlighted - affordable works, direct artist engagement, and a hybrid digital-physical model are reshaping the future of collecting.
