American Art Publishing - Museum Quality Fine Art Giclee Reproductions
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What is a giclee?
Giclée literally means spray. It is pronounced "gee-clay". The term was coined in the 1980's by art producers experimenting with the then new inkjet printing technology. The art world fell in love with inkjet because the jet or spray of ink was so fine that there was no apparent dots or screening. A new idea of "print on demand" was soon realized because with inkjet, each print is printed one at a time. No longer did artists and publishers need to print 100's or 1000's of prints on a lithographic printing press and hope they could sell them all. As the technology and inks improved, the color gamut of the inks became greater than offset lithography. Very soon UV resistant "archival" inks were introduced and using acid free papers and canvases these "new" giclées proved through testing to be fade resistant for as long as 75-100 years. So, history lesson aside, an authentic giclée is an inkjet print on archival media using archival ink. Furthermore, a additional giclée veneer or varnish should be applied to canvas seal the print, add durability, and provide additional UV protection.
Our Giclees.
When you buy a giclee from American Art Publishing, you can rest assured you are getting the finest, museum quality fine art reproduction available today. Although American Art Publishing is relatively new to the online retail art market, we have been producing color separations for fine art artists, printers and publishers since 1971. In the 90's we began working with the giclee process.
All giclées sold at American Art Publishing are printed on archival rated canvas or archival rated Fine Art Papers. We use Epson printers and water-based Ultrachrome inks which are rated by Epson to last 75-125 years displayed indoors and out of direct sunlight. Canvas giclées received a satin giclée veneer for add protection.
How is a giclee made?
Our process begins with a scan of the original artwork on our Cruse scanner. This device produces a superior image capture, even lighting, and far more resolution that any photographic process. The scanned image is then color corrected and proofed until it matches the original art. The now match color image is printed on Epson printers on archival canvas or papers. Canvas giclees are coated with a water-based liquid to seal the canvas and ink and add durability. Our canvas and papers are selected through an exhaustive range of tests and color profiling. Only the best of the best are selected to use in production.
Limited Editions
Most giclees offered are limited editions. Each giclee is number accordingly to the stated edition sizes and comes with a fine art paper giclee printed certificate of authenticy.
Gallery Editions
Some of our giclees are Gallery Editions. They are made exactly the same way as the limited editions but are not numbered and also come with a fine art paper giclee printed certificate of authenticy.
What is a Certificate of Authenticity?
Certificates of Authenticity are your guarantee that your new piece of are is a licensed and faithful reproduction the original art. It is signed by the artist and an officer of our company.
How to care for your giclee.
To make your giclee last a lifetime, never apply household cleaners to the canvas and keep out of direct sunlight. Dust with a feather duster.
Canvas giclees
Canvas giclees are not intended to be viewed under glass. They can be stretched and framed just as an original oil painting.
Fine Art Paper or Watercolor Paper
Fine Art Paper Giclees are intended to be framed under glass. Avoid touching the surface of the giclee before framing. While fine art paper giclees have a very unique style and look just like a watercolor original, the nature of this watercolor type paper is such that it is not as durable as canvas.