Welcome, as autumn is bringing first frosts in Vermont.

Technology is always evolving, even in the fine art world, and making giclees has become increasingly popular and accepted by galleries and museums.  A giclee is the first and only fine-art print utilizing an ink-jet printer and the finest archival pigment-based ink printed on archival paper or canvas. Giclee, pronounced “zhee-clay”, is the term coined by the American printmaker, Jack Duganne in 1991, to describe the way the ink is applied to the surface during the printing process. The word is derived from the French verb,”gicler”, to spray or to squirt. Duganne settled on the noun form, giclée. The main difference between a standard ink-jet print and a giclée is that giclees are produced using pigment-based inks rather than dye-bases inks found in in the lower cost ink-jet prints. Pigment based inks are natural coloring matter derived from animal or plant tissue and have far superior UV resistance, holding color quality and vibrancy much better than synthetic dyes. Archival in quality, pigment-based inks are said to last anywhere from one hundred to two hundred years without significant fading.

The production of a giclee is not inexpensive for the artist, as the technology used to create these scans and prints is expensive and the output slow, produced one at a time. The archival pigments are also costly. That said, a giclée will be less expensive to buy than the artist’s original. The high quality and long life-span of giclees insure that the prints will appreciate in value. Giclee prints are numbered, and the more limited in number of prints, the more valuable they are considered. Giclees can also be made smaller or larger than the original.

As a painter of both oils and watercolors, I see the advantage of giclees especially applying to the watercolor medium. Unlike oils, watercolors need protection from sunlight. Museums often keep fine watercolors in dark storage, or exhibit them in reduced light. I remember going to the British museum in New Haven, Connecticut, to view watercolors that were shown only by advanced appointment. By contrast, a giclée watercolor can be safely displayed in sunlight of a home or museum. Both watercolorists and oil painters who make giclees, have the advantage of making fine work available to more collectors at reduced prices.

The Image Loft in Manchester Center, Vermont produced giclees of my painting Cherry Blossom Triptych (watercolor on  Asian paper)

Size of original: 12”x 26”        Size of giclees:12”x 26”