Mark Maggiori's paintings of the American West are among the most recognisable being made today: towering cumulus skies, long desert light, a lone rider small against all of it. If you are looking at buying one of his prints, there are a few things worth understanding first — particularly how his editions are structured, because the same image is often released several different ways.
This is a practical guide rather than a biography. We currently hold 205 Maggiori works, so most of what follows comes from handling them.
Who he is, briefly
Maggiori was born in France in 1977, in Fontainebleau near Paris, and trained at the Académie Julian — the same school attended by several founders of the Taos Society of Artists, the group who did much to establish Western painting as a serious subject a century earlier.
Before painting he was the frontman of the French metal band Pleymo, who signed to Sony in 2001 and toured for about a decade. He turned to painting the American West around 2014. That is an unusual route into one of the most tradition-bound genres in American art, and it is part of why the work reads as it does — the compositions owe as much to cinema and album art as to the Taos painters.
His subjects are the landscapes of the American Southwest, cowboys, and Native American figures, usually under the enormous and carefully observed cloud formations that have become his signature.
Understanding a Maggiori edition
This is the part that confuses new collectors, and it is worth getting right before you buy.
The same image comes in several sizes
Maggiori releases many images at more than one size, labelled with codes you will see appended to the title — Regular, Large, XL and XXL. Of the 205 works we hold, 49 carry a size code of some kind.
These are separate editions, not different copies of one edition. An XXL is not simply a bigger print of the same run; it has its own edition size and its own numbering. Two collectors can both own number 12 of the same image and own genuinely different things.
So when you are comparing prices between sellers, check the size code first. A gap that looks like a bargain is often two different editions.
Paper and canvas are different editions too
Many images are issued both on paper and on canvas. In our holdings, 34 works are canvas editions. Canvas releases are typically smaller runs and are usually supplied rolled or unstretched, which means you will need to budget for stretching and framing on top of the purchase price.
Neither is inherently better. Paper editions tend to be larger runs at lower prices; canvas tends to be scarcer and reads differently on a wall. It is a question of what you want, not of quality.
Edition sizes vary enormously
This surprises people. Across the Maggiori works we hold, edition sizes run from 39 to 751. Some releases are tightly limited; others are issued in several hundred.
Edition size is one of the clearest factors in how a print is valued over time, so it is worth knowing the number before you buy rather than after. We list it on every work.
What the prints actually are
Most are archival pigment prints — giclée — on heavy cotton rag paper, commonly 290 to 300 GSM, with some on Moab Entrada. These are the materials used for serious fine art printing: pigment rather than dye, on acid-free cotton, which is what gives an archival print its longevity when it is kept out of direct sun.
What to check before you buy
- The size code. Regular, Large, XL or XXL — this is the single most common mix-up.
- Paper or canvas, and whether a canvas is stretched or rolled.
- The edition size and the specific number. Both should be stated by the seller.
- Signature and numbering. Confirm how the work is signed and numbered.
- Condition, particularly the corners and edges on paper works, and any handling marks.
- What paperwork comes with it. Ask the seller what documentation the work has — a certificate, the original receipt or gallery paperwork all help when you come to resell.
Where to start
Maggiori prints in our collection currently range from $375 to just under $11,000, spanning work made between 2018 and 2026. That range is wide enough that there is usually an entry point regardless of budget — generally the larger paper editions at the lower end, and scarce canvas and XXL releases at the top.
If you are buying your first, the honest advice is to pick the image you actually want to live with rather than the one you think will perform best. The market for his work is still young.
Browse all Mark Maggiori works available now →
Questions about a specific edition, its condition, or framing a rolled canvas? Send us a message — we would rather answer before you buy than after.
