Search Sort Posts:  Oldest to newest Newest to oldest

27/02/2006, 10:51 AM timmy Joined on 27/02/2006 Posts 2 Giclee Prints? Hi Simon Mitchell, I wonder if you can help me ... I have been into a new gallery in Norfolk and have had a conversation with an administrator about Giclee prints. I am somewhat confused as these prints seems to be so expensive? I wondered if it was possible to explain why they cost so much and what they actually are? The impression that I got was that giclee was a medium, type of paint?, and the value was so high as the artist were actually finishing them by hand? (Hand embellished) what is the difference between lythograph, silk screen and giclee? HELP!!! Yours truly, Timmy    Report

28/02/2006, 9:44 AM simonmitchell Joined on 22/02/2006 Posts 12 Re: Giclee Prints? I will look into this and get back to you, unless.... Can anyone help Timmy at all? Cheers Simon    Report

01/03/2006, 8:59 AM simonmitchell Joined on 22/02/2006 Posts 12 Re: Giclee Prints? Timmy Here is your answer Simon Giclee is the French for "to squirt" (Ink Injection). This is basically an inkjet print (poster equivalent). The quality of the inks is superior to that of most printing processes using between 8 & 12 high quality colours, arguably even better than commercial printing. Giclee has a much longer shelf life and would stand up to about 70 years' before noticeable colour fading/difference and most giclee printers will use a high quality acid free museum standard of paper. "Print on demand" is a technical term for giclee printing because you can produce a one off giclee image, reprint in six months time and get exactly the same quality and colour, thus making it vastly superior when compared to lithograph printing (traditional printing technique) where, when set up, the whole run of prints has to be produced as stopping and restarting a run in lithograph printing will effect the colours. Lithograph printing was the traditional method of producing a print. An artist would have their work scanned/copied and plates would be made. These plates would then be inked and printed in runs of hundreds; (usually 500 or 750) stamped by a Guild to mark as authentic, and signed by the artist. Due to this process an Artist who has had their work "printed" or "in print" was usually because of their success or commerciality and the considerable costs attributed to producing such large runs of prints. (i.e. an unsuccessful, poorer artist, could not produce prints of their art works as the process involved was to expensive unless they were backed by a large company such as Solomon and Whitehead. With giclee printing, heaven forbid, if I was to produce a painting I would be able to have it scanned or photographed and release a range of giclee prints, lets say of 500, and produce print number 1/500, never sell any of them and still have released a limited edition print! With that in mind if I was to have done the same thing in lithograph  then I would still have the cost of scanning or photographing the image along with the additional cost of producing all 500 prints, it was this process that made printing works of art expensive and ... exclusive. This is where technology has caught up with a traditional  industry and provided a solution, in giclee, to the restrictions attributed with lithograph but at the same time has "cheapened" the value of the print industry as there is now no real restriction and "anyone" could produce a giclee print therefore rendering the "value" of owning one down to one aspect... the artists signature. Homing in on this particular point, the real question is how valuable is the artists signature? A London based, top, auctioneer recently said "owning a giclee print is like buying a signed poster ... we do not deal with this form of medium as it has very little commercial resale value."Hand finished or hand embellished printing is where an artist, or assistant, would add a small amount of paint or texture to a print after it has been produced to try and make it appear original. A good example of this would be Montague Dawson a marine based artist from the 70's, published by Solomon & Whitehead. He would produce a print and then have a team of people mimic brush strokes over the printed image in varnish to make the print look like an original. In today's modern terms a hand embellished print would probably have been hand touched by the artist ... but this would still be a print and not an original. Purists would state that neither giclee nor lithograph is a true printing process at all and unless a plate/s is made and inked or coloured by hand then it is a reproduction. I just get the feeling that over time unless the art industry police the mass generation of giclee prints (see e-bay for an example) then they will ultimately not be worth the paper they are printed on.    Report

01/03/2006, 2:38 PM timmy Joined on 27/02/2006 Posts 2 Re: Giclee Prints? Dear Simon, Many thanks for your informative answer. I feel clearer on the printing process yet still intrigued as to why some of the prints are so much money ... it was interesting to note that an auctioneer dismissed altogether. many thanks Tim    Report

12/06/2007, 1:47 PM Angelwings Joined on 12/06/2007 Posts 1 Re: Giclee Prints? One of the reasons you think giclee's cost so much is that artist's actually can make some money when they sell theml.  Whea you put a painting in a gallery, after painting the thing, getting it framed etc., drive to the gallery and they then take their percentage, something up to 40+%, what the artist actually gets is precious little.  So, by having prints made you can just about survive.  So, you are not just paying for the thing to be reproduced but you are supporting the artist to continue creating more images that you might like to buy.    Report

18/06/2007, 7:53 AM Jack Joined on 18/06/2007 Posts 1 Re: Giclee Prints? I agree with angelwings. Something else to note is that with regard to the auctioneer's opinion  any work of art can only be judged by the signature if you define 'value' in that way. If you buy art as an investment then you will buy whatever is around and popular at the time. If you buy art because you like actually the work then your definition of value lies in a different place. Giclee prints are absolutely fine as long as they are part of a limited edition or print run and are signed, from an investment point oif view. I own giclees of many photographers for instance and in the last few years their monetary value has increased astronomically, but it was not my reason for buying them. Jack      Report

21/08/2008, 3:37 PM JSR Solution Joined on 21/08/2008 Posts 3 Re: Giclee Prints? Hi Timmy, May be i can help you some days before i was also in your condition then my one of the good friend help me out in this issue. I can tell you one site from where you can get all these type of pop art, giclee art work on very cheap art as well as a lot of other options also. Thanks Adam    Report

EDP24 Forums » EDP24 Features » Arts, Antiques ... » Giclee Prints?

(Quick links) Forums Home |- Search Forums |- Active Topics |- Unanswered Posts User Options |- Sign In |- Join this community |- Forgot Password EDP24 General |- Announcement |- News |- Sport |-- Golf |-- Local football |-- King's Lynn FC |-- Speedway |-- Cricket |-- Angling |- Community Noticeboard |- EDP Event magazine - Your Reviews |-- Music - Next Big Thing |---- 2004 |---- 2005 |---- 2006 |---- Band promotion |- User Polls EDP24 Features |- Norfolk's Big Quit |- Arts, Antiques and Collectables |- EDP Book Club |- Norfolk Equestrian |- Frontline - forces forum |- Memories |- Reunion |-- ExPats |-- Workplace |-- Forces |-- Friends & Neighbours |-- Schools |-- Family History and Local Connections |- Spooky Norfolk |- Shop Here |- Support your pub