Vintage wall art: how to choose
"Vintage wall art" covers antiques, reproductions and new prints made to look old. They are not the same, and the difference decides what you pay and what you get. Here is how to choose.
The print from this post.
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Antique, reproduction or vintage style?
- Antique prints are originals, often more than a hundred years old. They are rare, can be expensive and vary in condition.
- Reproductions are copies of an existing old artwork.
- Vintage-style prints are new pictures made in the look of an old technique. They are what our prints are: a digital artwork made in the style of a woodblock, an engraving or an etching, printed on archival paper. They are not antique and not hand-pulled.
Buy these prints
Know the techniques
Each has a recognisable look. A woodblock has flat colour and clean outlines. A wood engraving is made of fine lines. An etching has soft, bitten tone. A mezzotint has velvet black. A lithograph has flat colour and a grainy texture. The guide to each technique shows how to tell them apart.
Pick a palette
Vintage looks calm when you keep to a few colours. Cream paper, one or two inks, one accent. Our prints keep a cream border so they sit naturally together.
Frame for the age you want
Black frames feel formal and gallery-like. Oak feels warmer and older. White feels lighter. Whichever you choose, use it for every picture on the wall.
More: Shop by style.
Questions
- What is the difference between vintage and antique art prints?
- Antique means genuinely old, usually 100 years or more. Vintage style means a new print made to look like an old one.
- Are vintage-style prints worth buying?
- Yes, if you want the look without the cost and condition problems of antiques, and you know that it is a new print.