The London Original Print Fair (LOPF), the UK’s longest-running art fair, opened on Thursday, showing that the event still has energy, even in its 40th year.
Founded in 1985, LOPF has transformed from a select gathering of 16 exhibitors into Europe’s largest works-on-paper fair, with more than 40 exhibitors and a year-round online selling platform. Keeping the nonprofit alive and kicking for four decades has been no easy task, and its longevity is testament to the dedication of its organizers.
“We have not missed a year since 1985, which has definitely involved some ducking and diving along the way,” LOPF cofounder and director Helen Rosslyn told ARTnews. “I cannot believe I have been running it for so long. The pandemic probably provided our biggest challenge, as we had to cancel just six weeks before the fair was due to start. But the bonus was that we had just upgraded our website, and we used those six weeks to put the fair online.”
It runs through March 23 at London’s Somerset House and exhibitors include White Cube Editions, Hauser & Wirth Editions, Tate, Taymour Grahne Projects, and RAW Editions. To celebrate LOPF’s 40th anniversary, the fair is hosting an exhibition, titled “Prints from Private Collections: 40 Years of Print Collecting,” that features rarely seen works from private collections. There are prints by everyone from Old Masters to contemporary artists, with works the likes of Pablo Picasso, Andy Warhol, Jean-Michel Basquiat, David Hockney, Albrecht Dürer, Henri Matisse, and Tracey Emin. There will also be works by emerging and mid-level artists.
“The concept of the fair has remained exactly the same—it’s an opportunity for print dealers to come together and show the best of their stock,” Rosslyn, who specialized in prints when she was at Christie’s, said. “It’s a great place for visitors to meet a whole range of dealers and see a broad spectrum of work.”
For the first 34 years of its existence, LOPF was hosted at the Royal Academy in London. It was then forced online for two editions during COVID before moving to Somerset House in 2022. Moving to Somerset House “has allowed us to expand and give exhibitors more space and perhaps most important it is a hub for many creative industries, so there is a strong sense that art in all its forms is alive and thriving here,” Rosslyn added.
Hauser & Wirth signed up to the fair two years ago. This year, the mega-gallery’s booth is showing a large silkscreen print by Rashid Johnson, plus works by Henry Taylor, George Condo, and Rita Ackermann. “LOPF has always had a highly regarded reputation in the print world, and that’s reflective of the dedication and knowledge that the team have put into supporting the medium over the last 40 years,” Hauser & Wirth’s director, Anders Bergstrom, told ARTnews. “We’re excited to be back this year showcasing some incredible works. The fact that it’s been run by the same team since its founding is truly remarkable, and it’s incredible to see what Helen Rosslyn, Gordon Cooke, and Alice St Clair have achieved over the past four decades.”
LOPF assistant director St Clair, Rosslyn’s daughter, told ARTnews that the involvement of galleries like White Cube and Hauser & Wirth “is an enormous vote of confidence and something that makes us very proud.”
“Of course, though, the fair wouldn’t exist without our dedicated print galleries and dealers who have been celebrating prints with us for the last 40 years,” she said.
White Cube senior director of editorial Honey Laurd told ARTnews she’s “thrilled” to be participating in LOPF’s milestone year: “The fair is expertly steered by Rosslyn, St Clair, and Gorden Cooke [its cofounder and chairman]. Having worked with artists to produce prints and multiples for more than 30 years, White Cube understands the level of expertise and the commitment necessary to successfully sustain a project of this kind over several decades.”
Several mega-galleries have strengthened print operations since Covid, partly because they felt encouraged to do so by the rise of online print sales during the pandemic. Hauser & Wirth Editions, which champions new and historical prints, opened in a standalone building in New York in 2023, while David Zwirner launched its print-publishing operation, Utopia Editions, in 2021. Pace Gallery was ahead of the times, setting up Pace Prints, then called Pace Editions, back in 1968.
Prints and editions have proven resilient amid a broader slowdown of the art market that has been ongoing for around two years. LOPF is one of four dedicated print fairs happening this month across three countries; two are in New York, and the third is in Paris. As shown in recent art market reports, the sector is drawing a growing number of younger collectors. Art Basel and UBS’s 2024 Survey of Global Collecting found that Gen Z respondents reported the highest spending on prints and editions compared to every other generation.
What is St Clair most excited about for this year’s LOPF? “I am looking forward to seeing what Oisin Byrne will have on display at Advanced Graphics,” she told ARTnews. “I always love what he does. I am also excited to see the new Peter Blake print being published by CCA Galleries and Worton Hall. Peter is 92 and has produced this specially to launch at LOPF. Tin Man Art, one of our new exhibitors, will have some collaborative works by Stanley Donwood and Thom Yorke [of the band Radiohead]. I already own two Stanley Donwood prints, so perhaps I need a third.”
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