What
is Giclee?
The
Definition : Giclee (zhee-klay) - The French word "giclée"
is a feminine noun that means a spray or a spurt of liquid. The
word may have been derived from the French verb "gicler"
meaning "to squirt".
The Term : The term "giclee print"
connotes an elevation in printmaking technology. Images are generated
from high resolution digital scans and printed with archival quality
inks onto various substrates including canvas, fine art, and photo-base
paper. The giclee printing process provides better color accuracy
than other means of reproduction.
The Process : Giclee prints are created typically
using professional 8-Color to 12-Color ink-jet printers. Among the
manufacturers of these printers are vanguards such as Epson, MacDermid
Colorspan, & Hewlett-Packard. These modern technology printers
are capable of producing incredibly detailed prints for both the
fine art and photographic markets. Giclee prints are sometimes mistakenly
referred to as Iris prints, which are 4-Color ink-jet prints from
a printer pioneered in the late 1970s by Iris Graphics.
The Advantages : Giclee prints are advantageous
to artists who do not find it feasible to mass produce their work,
but want to reproduce their art as needed, or on-demand. Once an
image is digitally archived, additional reproductions can be made
with minimal effort and reasonable cost. The prohibitive up-front
cost of mass production for an edition is eliminated. Archived files
will not deteriorate in quality as negatives and film inherently
do. Another tremendous advantage of giclee printing is that digital
images can be reproduced to almost any size and onto various media,
giving the artist the ability to customize prints for a specific
client.
The Quality : The quality of the giclee print rivals
traditional silver-halide and gelatin printing processes and
is commonly found in museums, art galleries, and photographic galleries.
The Market : Numerous examples of giclee prints can be found in
New York City at the Metropolitan Museum, the Museum of Modern Art,
and the Chelsea Galleries. Recent auctions of giclee prints have
fetched $10,800 for Annie Leibovitz, $9,600 for Chuck Close, and
$22,800 for Wolfgang Tillmans (April 23/24 2004, Photographs, New
York, Phillips de Pury & Company.)
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