Giclee Misconceptions

We see a lot of websites selling giclee art, offering printing services or simply criticizing the technology. One particular site states that a giclee is not art that will have any value for collectors. The site proceeds to state that there is nothing wrong with the technique but no one should buy a giclee for investment. The logic behind this way of thinking is that a giclee is after all produced by a machine; then, how dare an artist sell a limited edition created by a machine? How does a buyer expect to receive anything that will possibly appreciate?

Let's examine this flawed logic: a giclee is created by a machine: so was the Gutenberg Bible, which was produced with moveable type and oil based inks. Different machines, different times, same possible result. If you buy something that is rare, sought by collectors, it will fetch a pretty penny. Let' s go to an extreme. If Leonardo or Picasso had made a signed limited edition of 100 giclees of their artwork, do you think collectors would not value them because they were reproduced by a machine? Nonsense.

If art marketing has taught us anything, it is that it is not the medium that matters, it is the rarity and desirability of a piece that will command value. This same website also talks about longevity. The well intentioned writer mentions that any statement made about giclee and archival properties is worthless. Saying that a giclee will last 75 years is impossible to verify because all tests pointing to this amount of time are accelerated. Well, what are we supposed to do: wait for almost a century to verify it is true?

Accelerated tests have been conducted in many fields, including the pharmaceutical industry. In the case of giclee, extremely high amounts of UV light, humidity etc are applied to simulate what will happen in a long period of time. One more note about archivability: over the centuries artists have produced paintings that would crack because of faulty paint density layering, acidic substrates, unfit raw materials. This has never stopped a good work of art not to be appreciated and valued.

To be fair, the other side (printers and dealers) is contributing to the misconceptions: I receive calls from artists who order canvas giclees of their art and receive delicate, flat reproductions. What they were promised was instead a fine reproduction of their work. It does not have to be this way. Ask many questions before you embark into a giclee print project.

Do not expect to follow the hype of many sites who promise that once you made your giclees with them the world will magically buy all of them. Again, it is not the medium that counts; you still have to have shows, market your work and constantly beat the road.

Conclusion

The reason why the giclee technique is becoming so popular lies in the fact that an artist can actually make a decent income in addition to selling the original art. If he or she wishes, the original does not even have to be sold.

Digital artists create giclees as their original medium. Photographers can offer their work on fine art papers and canvas. In addition, some artists use painting techniques that are very time consuming. If they were to depend on just the originals, they could not make it. Giclee offers another outlet.

Am I saying giclees are right for everybody? Absolutely not. On the other hand they can be a tremendous asset in the hands of a business inclined agent, artist or photographer.