Tip Tuesday: Buying Giclee Prints

A common issue I run across with my clients is helping them find original art that is both affordable and large (over 36"-72"). Options for original art in this size range are costly and difficult to find because the time and artistic skill required to create pieces this large result in fewer artists working at this size. Oil paintings and photography in this range often run well over $1000 in addition to $300 or more to frame the piece. Multiply this price by the 3-5 pieces we all want in ours homes, and the cost for purchasing original art can add up quickly.

There are ways you can get around this cost or give the illusion of art occupying more wall space. Some options include:
1. Buying smaller pieces as sets and grouping them together to form one larger collection
2. Purchasing textiles and either wrapping them around a canvas stretcher or hanging them as a piece of art
3. Creating a 48" or larger piece by framing a smaller piece (in the 24-36" range) with oversize mats and frames

However, none of these can accurately reproduce the scale, texture, and dramatic statement that a single 60" oil painting on canvas brings to a space. Reproductions are an option, but most mass-produced reproductions are of such poor quality and lose much of their depth and texture when reproduced on paper. There is also little control or restrictions placed on the number of reproductions created, so there is little benefit in owning a reproduced piece in terms of originality.

However, there is another option that is gaining momentum...giclee printing.

Giclee prints (pronounced zhee-clay) are reproductions using high resolution digital scans of original paintings printed directly on canvas using archival quality inks. Recent technological improvements in the printmaking process allows 8-12 color ink-jet printers to create reproductions that surpass traditional silver-halide and gelatin printing processes. If you are skeptical about the quality, don't worry, several museums, including the Met and MoMA have giclee prints in their collection and some artists are selling giclee prints of their work for $10K-20K.

The main advantage to giclee prints are that they can be reproduced at almost any size to fit your budget for under half the cost of an original oil painting. And, since they are printed on canvas and at such high quality that the texture and depth of the original oil is still evident.

Other nice aspects of giclee prints is that many galleries offer gallery wrapping, small edition runs, and artist embellishments (this involves the artist painting oil on top of the giclee print giving further texture and originality to the print). Since the artist embellishes each print uniquely each giclee print is technically an original piece of art. This process is similar to the artist starting each painting with the same base coat or image and then adding new elements that customize each specific print. Besides the cost, this aspect of originality is one of the biggest selling points for giclee prints.

So, if you are trying to save a little bit of money but would like a piece of art that has texture, originality, and size, giclee prints are a great alternative.