We get asked a lot what is a Giclée? This term was coined by Jack Duganne in 1991. It originally applied to fine art prints which were done on Iris printers. Today it simply means the piece you are looking at is a print. Why the word Giclée? The word refers to a French term meaning “to spray”, referring to how an inkjet printer works and how Giclée prints are produced. These large format inkjet printers use small spraying devices that can both match color and apply ink precisely, giving artists a high-quality print of their original art.

A Giclée of an artists original artwork is something that is affordable and can capture the look you are desiring in a particular space for much less than the original art work would cost. Giclée’s can be printed on canvas, paper and aluminum. The only thing that sets them apart from an original piece of art is brushstrokes. Many artist’s though have addressed this with hand-embellishment done by the artist once the printing is completed. Once the canvas is stretchered the artist then can apply added texture to the canvas to enhance area’s that they want to pop with color. One of our vineyard painters Susan Hoehn does this hand embellishing to her large vineyard pieces.

Giclée’s are usually numbered in a bottom corner, example would be 1/500 which means the piece you are looking at is number one in a edition size of five hundred. Giclée prints can be distributed and sold so that they can be enjoyed by many more people than an original piece of art work. Giclée’s are affordable and some come in more than one size to fit the wall you want to place it on. There are also open ended editions such as Will Bullas who prints his pieces on aluminum, they are not numbered and they will continue creating a particular piece as long as it sells or sometimes they retire pieces to make room for new ones.

Giclée’s are a wonderful way to decorate your space, they bring color and interest into any room. Art can bring a tranquility, vibrant color or even cherished memories of a place into your space, art makes a house a home you want to hang out in.

The images with this post are all Giclée’s