Retna

Signed and numbered prints trade far below unique canvases. The lithograph Black on Blast, numbered 73 of 99 and published in Paris, made GBP 10,200 at Bonhams in 2023, a fraction of what canvases of comparable date reach. Bron

Works on paper are priced well under canvases. The watercolour Sacred Scars made USD 12,065 at Phillips in New York in 2024, while canvases in the same series of sales reached several times that. Bron

Much of the artist's public reputation rests on murals painted onto walls in Los Angeles, Miami, New York and Mexico City. Those works stay where they were made and cannot be consigned, so a photograph of a wall is not evidence of a saleable object. Bron

The artist works under a pseudonym and signs in several ways, on the overlap, on the reverse with a date, or along a lower edge, often with a long inscription. Check a consignment against the way the house that last sold it recorded the signature. Bron

Canvases by this artist are commonly signed and inscribed on the reverse rather than on the face. The verso usually carries the signature, the year and often a place name, so photograph it in full before consigning. Bron

The Mudra Lewis Foundation named on the artist's own site is a philanthropic family foundation and describes no role in reviewing works offered for sale, so the documentation a seller holds is the documentation that exists. Bron

Much of the output this artist is best known for is mural painting on walls owned by other parties, which never enters the trade. What reaches the saleroom is studio work on canvas and on paper. Bron

Results at the same house span a wide band according to scale and sale format, with monumental canvases placed in live evening and day sales and small canvases in timed online sales. Bron