Incollect Magazine - Issue 3

2022 Incollect Magazine 115 Robert Rogal from Ro Gallery in New York deals a lot with Lichtenstein and Warhol and other first and second generation Pop artists. The gallery was founded in 1972 and today they have a 10,0000 sq foot building in Long Island City with over 8,000 artworks. He sells to galleries wholesale as well as direct to interior designers and decorators and says that while the demand for high end print works by recognized artists is increasing, acquiring material to sell to his clients is a lot harder. “We have been buying art for 50 years,” he says “and I buy art almost every day. But finding those new good works at the right price isn’t easy. Prices have gone up so far and so fast that the inventory is almost too hard to replace. That is why we have been moving into other areas such as Picasso prints in anticipation of the 50th anniversary of his death next year.” Other dealers like Aehlig confirm that for them, as well as for collectors, it is getting harder and harder to find value in the Pop print market. Rogal is nonetheless optimistic about the growing market for Pop art prints and brand name artists in general. “We live in a collectible world, people are spending money on collectible sneakers and baseball cards. The world is collectibles today. They are even selling pieces of furniture or clothing from old television shows. To me however there always will be real value in a good piece of artwork by a recognized artist which you can live with and enjoy coming home to.” Alex Katz (b. 1927), Grey Day, 1992. Screenprint on rag paper, 22 x 72 in. Signed and numbered in pencil, edition of 26/75. Printed by Styria Studio, NY. Published by Chalk and Vermilion Fine Arts, Greenwich, CT. Image courtesy of Ro Gallery. Left: Keith Haring (1958–1990), Icons – Three Eyes, 1990. Screenprint with embossing on Arches Paper, 24 x 27½ inches, unsigned. Edition of 250 (Printer’s Proof). Reference: Keith Haring: Editions on Paper 1982–1990, The Complete Printed Works by Cantz, edited by Klaus Littman, pp. 170–71. Right: Andy Warhol (1928–1987), Brooklyn Bridge, 1983. Screenprint on Lenox Museum Board, 39¼ x 39¼ in. Signed and numbered l.l. Edition of 145/200. Printed by Rupert Jasen Smith, NY. Published by The 1983 Brooklyn Bridge Centennial Commission, Inc, NY. Reference: FS II.290, page 129. Images courtesy of Ro Gallery.