Archival Giclee Printing   -   Fine Art Printing

All Fine Art Prints and Giclee Prints 16x20 and larger in size are part of a special limited edition. Fine Art Prints are signed, dated and numbered, and part of a limited edition of 250.  Giclee Prints are signed, dated and numbered, and part of a limited edition of 100.

Valuing fine art prints

Fine art printmaking is based on the concept of creating a master plate, negative, or digital file known as the matrix. This is used to transfer the image onto paper. Nowadays printmaking is an art form that has many subdivisions, each of which is an art form in its own right: etching, lithography, linocut, graphic art, film, medium and large format photography, digital photography, etc. The printmaking process is generally a complex one, using a variety of different techniques, and medium, depending on the type of print. The artist creates different surface textures, color effects and forms, just as in painting, producing a unique work of art, defined by the artist’s style and personality.

What is an edition?

When all the prints are created from the matrix to be identical, this is called an 'Edition'. The artist generally limits the edition to a certain number of their choice. He or she then indicates in (usually in the bottom left hand corner) the number of each individual piece and the total number of copies in the edition, for example, 5/250.


Categories:
Bon à tirer

Finally every edition has what is called the Bon à tirer (the best of the edition). There is only one of these as it is the final one of the Artist’s Proofs, the model of perfection which the whole edition will be identical to.
Generally, once the printing of the whole edition is over, the artist destroys the matrix so that no additional prints can be made

Hors de Comerce (H/C)

Occasionally you can come across prints marked with H/C. This stands for Hors de Comerce, or “Not for Sale”. These are prints made extra to the edition and the artist’s proofs that the artist intended to give away as presents or simply not for sale. Given the fact that there are very few of these, over time and especially if the artist becomes famous, the Hors de Comerce prints have a higher commercial and collectors value than those within the numbered edition.

The artist’s proofs

While the artist is the creator if the matrix, which is the fundamental part of the artwork in printmaking, it is not uncommon for the actual printing to be done by an editorial. However, the first few prints are made at least in the presence of the artist who can then make any necessary modifications or changes to the matrix. These prints are called the artist’s proofs. Each one is considered a unique and one-of-a-kind artwork and has a higher commercial value than the rest of the edition. Generally they make up between 5% and 10% of the total edition number. Therefore the edition may be 100 and there are 10 artists proofs totaling 110 images all together. The proofs are marked with roman numerals, for example: II/V (second of the 5 total proofs).

Trial Proofs

The trial proofs are the most valuable proofs and do not form part of the edition. These proofs are used by the artist while he or she is conceptualizing the artwork and therefore show us the step by step how the print was created. The artist may have tried to see how the artwork would look with a different color combination or added to the composition and printed it to see how it would look. Then they may have made final modifications based on this before declaring the matrix finished.