What is a Giclee?

A Giclee is a reproduction of a work of art that is so good

that it can replace the original on a museum wall.

Giclee (pronounced zhee-klay)

The word "giclée" is derived from the French meaning a spray or a spurt of liquid.

The Term : The term  "giclee print" connotes an elevation in printmaking technology. Images are generated from high resolution digital scans of original paintings and printed with archival quality pigments .

The Process : Giclee prints are created typically using 6 or more color heads in extremely high resolution nk-jet printers. These modern technology printers are capable of producing incredibly detailed prints for both the fine art and photographic markets.   Giclees are superior to traditional lithography in nearly every way. The colors are brighter, last longer, and are so high-resolution that they are virtually 'continuous tone', rather than tiny dots. The range, or "gamut" of color for giclees is far beyond that of lithography, and details are crisper.

     Lithography uses tiny dots of four colors--cyan, magenta, yellow and black--to fool the eye into seeing various hues and shades. Colors are "created" by printing different size dots of these four colors.

Giclees use inkjet technology, but far more sophisticated than your desktop printer. The process employs six or more colors--light cyan, cyan, light magenta, magenta, yellow and black (somteimes TWO blacks)--of lightfast (fade resistant,) pigmented inks and finer, more numerous, replaceable printheads resulting in a wider color gamut, and the ability to use various media to print on. The ink is sprayed onto the page, actually mixing the color on the page to create truer shades and hues.

The Quality : The quality of the giclee print exceeds the traditional silver-halide and gelatin printing processes and is commonly found in museums, art galleries, and photographic galleries. 
     Dozens of museums have mounted exhibitions or purchased giclées for their permanent collections. These include The Metropolitan Museum (New York), the Guggenheim (New York), the Museum of Fine Arts (Boston), the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (Boston), the Philadelphia Museum, the Butler Institute (Youngstown, OH), the Corcoran (DC), the National Gallery for Women in the Arts (DC), the Kennedy Center for Performing Arts (DC), the Walker Art Center, the Smithsonian Institution Libraries, the New York Public Library Graphic Collection, the High Museum (Atlanta), the California Museum of Photography, the National Museum of Mexico and the San Jose Museum, among others. Auctions of giclee prints have fetched $10,800 for Annie Leibovitz, $9,600 for Chuck Close, and $22,800 for Wolfgang Tillmans.

The reality:  In many cases, extremely valuable and delicate works of art in museums are stored in temperature and humidity controlled vaults while giclee reproductions are actually hanging on the walls of the museum. The museum visitors believe they are looking at the origininals.