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Fine art prints are lithographs, monoprints, woodcuts, screen prints and now, giclées. Artists have been making prints of their works for generations and thy have always taken advantage of the best technology to create them. Lithography, etching and offset presses have been the machines of choice up until the early 1990s when the giclée was born. 

In the 1980s, high-resolution Iris prints were created to produce proofs for the pre-press industry. But forward-thinking studios like Nash Editions, in Manhattan Beach, CA starting using the technology on their own. Co-founded in 1990 by musician Graham Nash and R. Mac Holbert, Nash Editions was the world’s first professional fine art digital printmaking studio and Jack Duganne was the studio’s Master Printer. While helping to refine the process, Duganne was also trying to find a term to describe it. Taking a cue from the inkjet nozzle, he found the French verb gicler, which means to squirt or spray, and using its noun form, la giclée.

The incredibly rich inks could handle thick substrates like watercolor paper and canvas and at the time there was nothing quite like it. The results were amazing and many artists and photographers looked at this medium as a revolutionary way to create exquisite prints. Today, fine art prints still need heavyweight, acid-free, archival papers or fine fiber canvas, non-fading archival inks, very high quality machines and printmakers with the expertise to handle the giclée process. When you experience the difference between my well-crafted prints and other prints available on the market, you will see the difference immediately.

High quality giclées are amazing to behold. Get as close as you can and you feel you are staring at the purest pigments on paper. And you feel that way because you are. Printer and paper are carefully matched to create an exquisite representation of the original artwork. The process is an art form in itself. All of this guarantees you a long-lasting, museum quality work of art. Each exclusive limited edition print is signed and numbered by me and comes with a Certificate of Authenticity. You have my promise. – Sandy O'Connor

Credit for original content: M. Karlen