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Giclee Versus Oil Painting.

What is a giclee?

Many websites include a document which says "giclee means to spray". Well, "giclee" doesn't mean "to spray". "Giclee" isn't an infinitive. "Giclee" is the feminine of a past participle. Is that important, or is that pedantic nitpicking? For understanding how a giclee print is made, or deciding whether you should buy one, the grammar of the word has no direct importance. However, it might be useful to know that the person who is supplying your information is probably not very well educated, and probably doesn't really know much about the product he is selling on his website. That doesn't mean he's going to cheat you, but before you spend a moderate sum on an artwork, you should talk to someone who really knows something about the subject, or start learning something about the subject yourself.

Just as they will tell you, giclee printing is ink-jet printing, the same process used by the ink-jet printer hooked up to your computer right now. The cheapest computer printers commonly used today. Does that mean that giclee printing is bad? Well not necessarily. Fine art lithography uses essentially the same process as the cheapest mass production printing machines, fine art etchings and engravings are made by a process which was used until very recently for the cheapest book illustrations. Again, before you buy an artwork, you should understand both what it is, and what it isn't, and what the salesman who is trying to sell it to you is really doing.
If giclee and ink-jet printing is the same thing, why do people strain to use the more obscure and foreign-sounding name? Well of course surely the more technical term alludes to a more elaborate artistic finish, which it is evident will help the less knowledgeable art lover feel they are getting more for their money than is sadly the reality, it is Still a Print.

How long will this “Fine Giclee Art” last?

Many of the giclee sites claim that a giclee print will last for approximately thirty years. Giclee technology hasn't existed for nearly thirty years, so that there's no way to test such statements directly. Some of the more candid sites explain that these estimates are based on laboratory simulations of aging. In other words, maybe your print will last that long, maybe not, however here at our studio, we have clear examples of giclees that have faded, after all who wants an image on the wall that starts fading from the day it is hung, inks degrade slowly and evenly under specific light conditions, its not that one day it will be there and thirty years later you walk in and it’s gone. No degradation starts from the time it is printed. In other words, if you're thinking of buying a giclee as an investment, don't.
Finally giclees are ink jet prints, in French glicee means to ejacula....uh never mind...but should you want to have some fun in a gallery...don’t forget to ask!

So in conclusion there is no contest, you can never beat the handcrafted oil paintings by Europe’s finest masters in their chosen field of art history, bringing to life, as closely as possible the masters of the art movements before. These oil paintings will stand the test of time, reliant on the traditional materials and techniques, which have hardly changed through the centuries. The personal involvement and pleasure from a commission, of an oil painting will be there for future generations, a true family heirloom.