Collecting editions by Dame Tracey Emin

Dame Tracey Emin was catapulted into the public eye in the 1990's as one of the YBA's (Young British Artists) when her Turner Prize nominated installation My Bed, sparked fierce critical and public debate around just what could be defined as 'art'. Created during a particularly painful break-up in 1998 and subsequently bought by Charles Saatchi, the work reveals deep personal emotions and grief brought about by separation.

Now seen as one of the most important artist's of her generation, Emin's new landmark Second Life exhibition which opened at the Tate Modern last month will see her firmly in the public spotlight once again. Tracing 40 years of Emin’s groundbreaking practice, the show brings together career-defining works, alongside others never previously exhibited before. Through a mixture of painting, video, textiles, neons, writing, sculpture and installation, Emin continues to challenge boundaries, using the female body and her own personal experiences as a powerful vessel to explore passion, pain and healing.

Emin's trajectory, particularly over the last 10 years, has been underpinned by strong performances for her original works at auction, culminating in a £2.5m sale for My Bed at Christies in 2014 and a £2.2m sale (also at Christies) of her painting Like a Cloud of Blood.

Given the artist's popularity and the significant increase in value of her original works at auction, many of her editions are still reasonably priced for many collectors, with smaller-scale works often being available from between £1,000 and £5,000. Larger-scale works, neons and bronzes are often released by her primary galleries (White Cube, Xavier Hufkins and Galleria Lorcan O'Neill Roma) whilst prints are often released by Counter Editions, her chosen print-maker in Margate.

Emin's career as a print-maker started whilst she was studying at the Maidstone College of Art in the 1980s where she produced woodcuts, monotypes and lithographs - often characterized by a raw, expressionistic style influenced by German and Austrian Expressionists. 

To date, Emin has produced a large volume of editioned works, believed to be over 650 distinct prints, neons, bronzes and textile editions. Her editions often include signed, limited runs of prints, such as lithographs and etchings, commonly featuring, neon text, or autobiographical themes which are a collector's dream. Her prints are normally signed, titled and numbered by the artist, recto and readily available on the secondary market.

Emin's figurative nudes are particularly popular and works including Kate Moss (2006), No Surrender (2019) and Choose Love (2024) are all strong examples of this ouevre. Between 2014 and 2021, Emin International published a series of seven Neon offset lithographic posters which were all hand signed and capture the raw emotional intensity of the original works in a more accessible format. Available in editions of 500, each of these posters are widely available at prices between £1,000 and £2,500.

Please contact us directly if you are looking to sell or source works by Tracey Emin.

Photograph courtesy of David Levene