After-work
An after-work is a copy of a work by a named artist, made by someone else. The word after in front of an artist's name, as in "after Yoshitomo Nara", is the catalogue convention for it: a copy of any date after a work by the artist, and not a work by the artist.
Definition
Cataloguers use a ladder of terms to say how close an object stands to a named artist. At the bottom of that ladder is after: in British catalogue practice, a copy of any date after a work by the artist. The history of art is full of after-works. An engraving after Raphael is a print by an engraver reproducing a Raphael painting; Dominique Barrière's print after Claude Lorrain is a work by the French engraver copying a Lorrain painting. In those cases the after-work has its own maker and its own value.
We use the term in the same sense. An after-work in our hands is a copy, a tribute or a reproduction of a known image, described as such, and it carries no claim that the named artist made, signed or approved it.
Origin
In our reading, copying is as old as art teaching, and reproductive engraving carried famous paintings to people who would never see them long before photography did. Modern reproductions widened the field: offset lithographs, screenprinted copies and inkjet prints, which since 1991 have often been called giclées, a word coined by the printmaker Jack Duganne. These can be finely made, and some are numbered or stamped, which is exactly why the word after matters. A numbered and signed photographic reproduction is still a reproduction.
Key facts
| Meaning | A copy of any date after a work by the named artist |
|---|---|
| Maker | Not the named artist |
| Common forms | Copies in paint, offset lithographs, screenprinted copies, giclée prints, tribute drawings |
| Against an edition | An edition is made or authorised by the artist; an after-work is not |
| Against a fake | A fake claims to be by the artist; an honest after-work says it is not |
How to identify it
- Read the title first. If after appears before the name, the object is described as a copy. If the description is vague, ask.
- Read the medium. Under a loupe, offset prints show a dot pattern and inkjet prints show soft-edged droplets; neither matches a hand-pulled silkscreen or lithograph.
- Read the paperwork. For artists with an authenticating body, such as Banksy's Pest Control Office, a work without that body's certificate is likely to be a copy.
- Read the number with care. A number on a reproduction tells you the size of the reproduction run, not that the artist approved it.
Where it appears in the collection
We label after-works plainly. An after Yoshitomo Nara girl at desk, framed, an after Yayoi Kusama seahorse, a screenprint-style copy, and an after Banksy Walled Off Hotel carousel reproduction print are described as copies. How to tell a Banksy original, edition or after-work apart is read in our Banksy guide, and the artists' own editions in our guide to Yoshitomo Nara and our guide to Yayoi Kusama. Kusama's work sits on our Yayoi Kusama shelf.
Related entries
- Edition number and artist's proof: what an authorised edition looks like.
- Certificate of authenticity: who can issue one.
- Silkscreen print: the technique, with how to tell it from offset and inkjet.
Sources
- Rowley's, "Buyers Guide", cataloguing terms. rowleyfineart.com
- Brave Fine Art, "Our Guide to Attributions". bravefineart.com
- Giclée, encyclopaedia entry. wikipedia.org
- Edition (printmaking), encyclopaedia entry. wikipedia.org
- Pest Control Office, "Check or register artwork". pestcontroloffice.com
Last reviewed 14 November 2026. The Japonista Curation and Concierge Team, Tokyo, Japan.