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What is a VirtualOriginal™
Giclée?
by
Erik Ciel
Publisher/Art Consultant
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In one sentence: An uncompromising reproduction of an original
painting. When I coined and trademarked the name VirtualOriginal, my
purpose was to characterize both our proprietary printing
process and its end result. My goal and that of the artists I
represent was to give their collectors reproductions so true
that the prints were 'virtually' indistinguishable from the
originals. |
 any
people
felt this was a silly,
purposeless goal; even some artists and printmakers said, “Why waste
your time? They’re never going to see the original; they’ll never know
the difference.”
What they didn’t get then, and many still
don’t, is that unless they are striving to give you as much of the magic
of the original as possible, then what they are selling you is a
glorified, watered down copy. As my friend,
Academy Award winner,
David Coons said recently, “Many printers know what to do, they just
don’t do it.”.
The Difference
The difference between giving you “just a
print” as opposed to a VirtualOriginal™ hinges upon factors too numerous
to mention and bore you with. Yet still, even though all the elements in
theory are equal, some are more equal than others. Foremost among the
equal is putting the best technology into the hands of a printmaker who
has absolute command of it and is also possessed of an unwavering
commitment to excellence.
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'High level, fine art print making is a profession, not
a hobby.' |
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The Printmaker
We live in a day and age where technology is
often seen as a panacea rather than a tool – the answer to everything
that ails you almost. Of course fine art print making is a
technology top heavy business, but all that technology is like a ship
set adrift without a master print maker at its helm. It is the
printmaker who must steer a work of art through the technological
labyrinth that can lead to a riveting giclée. It is his job to balance
a subjective awareness of an artist’s intent with totally un-subjective,
unforgiving hardware and software that cannot understand art.
A printmaker must push the technology to its
limits, yet keep his role transparent. The best see themselves as an
extension of their artists’ arsenal of tools; helping the artist bring a
level of quality and power to their prints that would be almost
impossible for them to achieve on their own. More about that later;
first though, you need a little background.
What exactly is a Giclée? –
pronounced "zhee-clay"
Jack Duganne, the renowned print maker,
coined the term Giclée in the early 1990’s. Just to be sure of my facts,
I asked Jack how he came up with it.
Here is his reply, and I quote: “The word
giclée is based specifically upon the French word for ‘nozzle’
which is ‘gicleur’. The verb ‘to spray’ is ‘gicler’
and the direct object of spraying is ‘giclée’, or ‘that which
is sprayed by a nozzle’. It was created to separate fine art digital
prints from commercial digital prints – much like serigraph is used to
separate fine art silk screen prints from commercial silk screens, like
signs and banners.” End quote.
The second need giclée
addressed was to yield a short name for the process that had a
nice ring and bit of mystique to it.
And finally, Giclée helped differentiate
this new generation of fine art prints from previous print making
methods; most notably four color offset lithographs. A giclée’s image
was the result of ink being sprayed, almost painted, onto canvas or
paper – with continuous tones and no discernable dots. They yielded a
richness of color and resolution no offset print could match.
Theoretically, the only limits being the color range of the inks, the
print heads, the quality of the scan, the substrata used and the
software running it all. What was truly exciting was that even in 1991
the prints produced by Jack Duganne and fellow Giclée pioneer David
Coons were handily outstripping the old method and pointing to the
coming revolution in digital fine art printmaking. Thus, a special name
was justified, called for, sought and found: Giclée!
Fast Forwarding to the Present
Where it is now possible for anyone with the
price of admission (and in many cases no experience) to buy printing
equipment capable of exceeding anything previously available in history.
Unfortunately, the equipment still can’t run itself regardless of its
potential.
And therein lies the rub; because today many
artists are hearkening to a siren song (see:
Circe warns
Odysseus).
The lyrics go like this: “Make
the art, print the art and keep all the money for yourself. We’ll show
you how. We’ve made it so easy anyone can do it.” Yep, sure they
have.
High level, fine art print
making is a profession, not a hobby. Mastery of the complexities
and variables involved, and yielding exquisite results, cannot be
attained using a “systematized” approach designed to submerge variables
out of sight.
The Secret is the Same
The secret to producing a superb work of art
and a superb Giclée are exactly the same. In both cases, it is not the
ingredients you may have on hand; but rather, knowing how to combine
those ingredients creatively, intelligently, technically and
artistically in a way that transports your work beyond ordinary to
extraordinary.
Success?
It took a tremendous investment of time and
resources to enable us to produce works we finally felt qualified as
VirtualOriginals™. Was it worth it and did we succeed?
They say seeing is believing. If that is so,
then seeing so many people over the past years years (including experts
in the field) literally mistaking our Virtual Originals™ for originals
tells me we did something right. It is now possible for a reasonable
amount of money to furnish one's home with art that carries all the
impact of art that would cost you tens of thousands of dollars - if you
bought the original - for a fraction of what the originals would cost.
The day of the VirtualOriginal™, that both helps advertise the quality
of the artist's talent accurately and allows anyone with a
moderate amount of money to spend to own and enjoy the "punch" of that
artist's best, most costly originals is now; it has arrived.
An Exciting Time to be an Artist
Today is one of the most exciting times an
artist could hope to live in. For the first time it is possible to take
all the talent, effort, sacrifice and suffering that go into the
creation of an original work and share it with many collectors. Unlike
the past, where too often a well heeled person bought the original for a
pittance and then carted it off; possibly never to be seen again, while
the artist went back to the drawing board and starving.
True, exceptional art is not a reflection of
any one person or artist, but goes beyond individuality and the finite.
The best art can transport us beyond ourselves and help connect us to
the infinite. Such power, such grace is meant to be shared, enjoyed and
loved by the many – not just the few, and today it can be.
Additional Pertinent
Information
What is
a “litho” or lithograph?
Please do not make the
mistake of grouping or associating Giclées with the old four color
offset litho (lithograph) of the past – the process still used today for
most printing we see, i.e. catalogs, newspapers, posters, etc. Even a
poorly done giclée usually has better color and reproduction quality
than an offset print.
How long
can I expect my Giclée to last?
Our Giclées are
produced with archival, pigmented inks. Pigmented inks are the most
stable of inks and are rated to last over 100 years.
What do
Museums think about Giclées?
Giclées have been shown
in museums and galleries throughout the world. Listed below are a few of
the museums that have shown Giclées and/or have Giclées in their
collections:
The Metropolitan Museum
(New York)
Los Angeles Museum of
Contemporary Art
The Corcoran Gallery
(Washington DC)
The Los Angeles County
Museum
Philadelphia Museum of
Art
Laguna Art Museum
San Francisco Museum of
Modern Art
Zimmerli Museum –
Rutgers Univ.
The New York Public
Library Collection
The Washington Post
Collection
The Butler Institute of
American Art
The British Art Museum
Copyright © 2006 by Erik Ciel,
Publisher/Artist’s Representative.
Further reading
•
Unabridged Interview
with Erik Ciel
(Art Business News Magazine; Jan 2007) |
