What are giclee prints?
Giclee pronounced "zhee-clay" is a form of
the French word gicler
meaning "jet or
nozzle."
The name is a whimsical reference to the
ink jet printers used in the process.
A giclee is a high resolution digital print made
from archival ink
and media combination. Giclee
is also a recognized fine art print
category like
lithographs and seriographs and is ideal for doing
short-run limited editions. Giclee prints were
originally developed
in 1989 as a plate-less
alternative to common offset lithography.
Advances in technology, inks, and media have
allowed them to
develop to the point that today
they are recognized by the art
community as the
best method available for fine art reproduction.
Giclee prints look and feel like original art.
They are made on real
artist materials such as
watercolor papers and canvas. Prints have
continuous tone so it is often difficult to distinguish
between giclee
prints and original artwork.
Canvas giclees can also be "hand
retouched" to more
closely resemble the texture of the original
artwork, if so desired by the artist. They offer richness
in detail,
depth, and brilliant color not available
in traditional printing
methods. Archival inks,
papers, and canvases used throughout
give giclees a life span that far exceeds
that of other reproductions.
Giclee technology is now accepted in hundreds of
fine art galleries
around the world including the
Metropolitan and Guggenheim
Museums in New York
City, the Corcoran Museum in
Washington, DC
and the High Museum in Atlanta.
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