To understand what a giclee is, a bit of art history may be helpful.

For about a century artists and galleries have extended the availability of imagery by reproducing original artwork in the form of lithography. Lithography uses etched plates. Each plate holds a different color and when pressed, one after the other, recreates the image on paper. Because the plates had to be fine tuned to register perfectly and the colors adjusted to the artist’s satisfaction, the first prints off the press were usually different than the bulk of the edition that followed.

Thus was born the artist’s proof. The irregular, test run prints extended an edition and its value. It is the edition within an edition. It also became a way for a collector to own a unique artwork that was integral to a creative process. The industry standard for artist proofs became 25 in an edition.

In the lithographic process, the inks were refined and made archival museum quality paper, a standard. All designed for longevity. The lithograph’s limitations became guidelines for the printing industry. For example, because the etched plates fade after about 1000 presses, the art industry looks at editions of 1000 or less as part of the definition of a limited edition. To be considered fine art the materials used in its making must be archival – meaning acid-free and it must be signed/numbered by the artist.

Signed and numbered (S/N) refers to the practice of an artist signing their name, typically on the lower right side in the border below the image, then numbering on the lower left side in border below the image. Numbering is predetermined when the publisher decides the size of the edition, prints that much paper, then has the artist sign, ie. 1/250, 2/250. Artist Proofs are numbered: A/P # 1/25, A/P #2/25, etc.

Until computers were refined, lithography reigned in the limited edition world. Then came giclees. Giclee is French for “spray ink.” It’s a computerized process whose inks have been adapted for the art world (made archival); been tested against lithographic inks and have proven superior. Their versatility has advanced the reproduction process to exacting imagery printable on paper or canvas by computers. Instead of having to go through an extensive and sometimes unreliable photographic process, an original artwork is scanned and a high quality reproduction is available, in various sizes in less time for a smaller initial investment. When printed by reputable publishers and signed and numbered by the artist, giclees are fine art.

One of the modern qualities giclees loan to the look of art is in the gallery wrap. A gallery wrap is when a canvas is stretched – usually on medium or heavy weight stretcher bars. Stretcher bars are the wooden frame that a canvas is stapled to. When a canvas is stretched around the bars and stapled to the back so no staples show on the side of the canvas, and then the image is painted, or printed around the sides, that is a gallery wrap.