Edition Charter

Jardin de Vera publishes elevated prints as editions. Each edition begins with authorization, is approved in physical form, and is released with a certificate and registry record.

An edition carries selected material qualities of a work through surface, relief, finish, scale, and presentation. It is made to be lived with as an object of craft, while preserving the distinction between the original work and the editioned object.

This Charter states the standard behind every Vera edition. Written agreements with artists, estates, galleries, museums, foundations, and other rights holders give effect to that standard in each project.

A Vera edition is defined by the work selected, the authority behind the release, the approved physical proof, the number or release structure, the certificate, and the registry record.

The object and its record belong together. An edition reaches its full form when its authorization, number, certificate, and registry entry can be read as one.

Vera will never represent an edition as the original artwork. The original remains singular. The edition has its own standard of value, based on authorization, material quality, release discipline, and provenance.

Vera releases works only with the approval of the proper rights holder. Depending on the work, that may be the artist, an estate, a gallery with the relevant rights, a museum, a foundation, or another authorized representative.

Authorization must be specific to the work and the edition format. It must cover the rights needed to scan, proof, produce, present, and sell the edition. Where a work is governed by an estate, institution, catalogue raisonne process, or moral-rights requirement, Vera follows that process before release.

Every edition should carry the authority of the people or institutions responsible for the work.

An elevated print must be judged as an object. Surface, relief, finish, scale, and proportion require judgment in physical form.

Before release, Vera prepares a physical proof for approval by the relevant artist, estate, gallery, institution, or rights holder. The approved proof sets the standard for the edition. If the proof falls short, the edition is revised or withheld.

The approved proof is the point at which the work, the rights holder, and Vera meet in the object itself.

Each edition is released with declared terms. These include the work, rights holder, format, scale, substrate, edition size or release structure, numbering, certificate, and registry entry.

The release record should remain stable after publication. A holder should be able to return to the certificate and registry years later and understand what was released, under whose authority, and in what form.

The number is part of the promise. The fuller promise is that the release remains clear, documented, and faithful to the standard under which it was published.

A later related release may be considered only when it protects the value and clarity of the edition as a whole.

Any later release must be approved by the proper rights holder, identified clearly, and recorded in relation to the earlier release. Earlier holders should be able to see exactly what they own and how the later release differs. It may differ by format, scale, substrate, purpose, date, release class, or another declared attribute.

There may be cases where a later release serves the work: a distinct study format, a museum benefit release, an estate-approved archival release, or a replacement object for a damaged registered edition. In each case, the record must make the relationship clear.

Artist proofs, estate proofs, publisher proofs, exhibition proofs, replacements, voided objects, and destroyed objects belong in the edition record.

Every commercial Vera edition receives a Certificate of Authenticity. Each certificate carries a unique certificate number and identifies the work, artist, edition number or class, release structure, production date, and registry reference.

The registry is the public record that supports the certificate. It allows the edition to remain legible after the first sale, whether it is kept, gifted, insured, inherited, or transferred.

Some records remain private by necessity. Buyer identities, private agreements, and sensitive production details stay outside the public registry unless disclosure is appropriate. The public record should still be sufficient to confirm that the object belongs to the release it claims.

Vera editions are made with artist, estate, or rights-holder participation. That participation includes approval and economic share.

The people and institutions responsible for a work should remain connected to the edition made from it. Their role is part of the edition's legitimacy and part of its history.

An edition continues to carry Vera's name after it is sold. Its price, number, certificate, registry entry, and condition record all contribute to how it is understood over time.

Vera releases editions sparingly and prices them with care. An edition should not be treated as surplus stock. The market should be able to trust that Vera's decisions after release are consistent with the promise made at release.

The original work remains apart from every edition. Its singular act of making, full historical status, and ownership history remain with the original.

The edition exists on different terms. It is authorized, materially considered, numbered or otherwise release-defined, certified, and recorded. Its value depends on those terms being kept with care.

Vera's records must remain worthy of the objects they support. If an edition is replaced, voided, destroyed, withheld, corrected, or followed by a related release, the record should show it.

This Charter is the public standard by which Vera editions are published. It exists so that artists, estates, institutions, buyers, and future holders can understand the care behind the object and the record that travels with it.