AI Appraisal Estimate

This is a fine art silkscreen or lithographic print on paper, titled 'A Streetcar Named Desire' as indicated by the label on the lower left of the matting. The artwork features a Mid-Century Modern pop-art aesthetic, characterized by bold, flat planes of color including orange, blue, green, and purple. The central figure is an orange silhouette of a woman in profile, partially obscured by and interacting with geometric shapes. A smaller green figure appears in the background, adding a sense of scale and narrative depth. The piece is hand-signed in pencil at the bottom right as 'Joe DeAngelis' and dated '4-72' (April 1972). On the bottom left, it is numbered as a limited edition, '16/35', suggesting a very small and exclusive production run. The print is housed in an off-white mat. Regarding condition, there is visible yellowing and foxing on the matting and the primary paper substrate, typical for 1970s artworks not stored in acid-free environments. The colors of the central print remain vibrant, though the paper margins show significant age-toning. The composition reflects the graphic design trends of the early 1970s, utilizing layering and transparency effects common in professional printmaking of that era. The craftsmanship is high, with clean edges between color fields and precise registration of the different ink layers.

I have virtually examined the limited edition silkscreen 'A Streetcar Named Desire' by Joe DeAngelis, dated April 1972. The work is a quintessential example of early 1970s pop-abstract graphic art, characterized by vibrant pigments and sophisticated registration. The edition size of 16/35 is notably low, which usually drives scarcity value in the print market. However, several conditional factors temper the valuation. My visual inspection reveals significant age-toning, localized foxing, and acid-burn on the matting and paper margins. While the central ink fields remain remarkably saturated, the degradation of the substrate suggests long-term exposure to non-archival materials and UV light. From a market perspective, DeAngelis represents a niche mid-century aesthetic with a stable, albeit regional, secondary market. Comparable geometric screenprints from this era typically trade in the mid-hundreds, with premiums paid for 'pristine' white margins which this example lacks. The rarity of the edition is the primary value driver here, offset by the required costs for professional conservation and de-acidification. Limitations: This appraisal is based solely on digital imagery. Full authentication is contingent upon a physical inspection to verify paper watermarks and ink depth. To confirm the piece's history and ensure it is not a high-quality reproduction of the original 1972 run, I would require provenance documentation or a forensic examination of the fibers under 10x magnification to confirm the screen-mesh pattern consistently associated with 1970s manual pulls.