I recieved an email today from an art lover who asked the following question regarding buying a Giclee art print. 

Dear RD, Being the art man that you are, I have a question for you.

Have you heard of a reproduction process for paintings called Giclee? I have a print at home that used this process and it looks great. I wanted to purchase another one that is listed on ebay, but it has some yellow spots all over it. The seller isn't really sure what they are. Soda perhaps?

Do you know, or know who might know how to carefully remove these spots? I know this process puts a sealer on the picture.

Thanks a bunch!

G. Clay Collector

Dear G,

Thanks for writing me, Yes I have, infact all my personal reproduction art is printed in the form of Giclee. The quality is outstanding and some of the inks are guaranteed for 100 or more years. A good investment. Now the next part of the question regarding the damaged or flawed giclee. This is where things change dramatically.

Unless you are in love with the flawed print I would exercise caution. A quality print would not spot up unless bad inks are used in the process. Chemicals, food or smoke may have spilled on it causing on-going deterioration and making it worthless. Perhaps this Giclee was printed off a home computer, made with poor quality everyday ink. Perhaps the image was taken from a photo of framed print under glass with a reflection over it. I have seen it all. There next part of your question deals with online bidding. This is also difficult to judge from your computer screen. Is there a lot of action on the bid? This could indicate where it is collectable as is. One or two bidders? I say walk away. Has it been re-listed? Do a Google search and se if there is an expired listing for the same piece.This is reproduction here, not an original.

Next and most important Ask the right person, Go to the original source if possible and that would be the artist. If this is a living artist, contact them and ask about it. Most well known artist have websites, send them an email.

Myself I would not invest unless it was sentimental. Since it is a Giclée (reproduction print), there may be others available for purchase that are perfect or near perfect. Here are some questions: Is this a signed and numbered Giclée by a well-known artist? If so, it may have a little value even when damaged, but not much, unless the artist is deceased and cannot sign any more prints.

Like when buying any another type of collectable damage has everything to do with its value. Think of Antiques Road show on PBS, when someone shows up with a vase that's chipped that they paid 100.00 dollars for at an antique shop and it has a crack in it and the appraiser says, "because of the damage this vase is worth about 5.00, however, had it been in perfect condition it would be worth 5,000.00 dollars, same principle. Since this is not your family heirloom or sentimental I would say pass. You can always contact the artist for one in better shape unless you are in love with the yellow spots. There are deals on EBay but most of it is yard sale toss away.

The next part of your question, was removing the spots and putting a sealer over the print. Once again this is continuing to alter the picture and will cause further damage if done wrong. A professional restoration artist can help here but could be cost prohibitive.

Now if this was an original I might say go for it, and take it to a restorer, but an unsigned and un-numbered Giclée is a print that can be reproduced anytime from the artists print source. The artist would then take the damaged print, destroy it and re-issue the print. This is the advantage of Giclée and disadvantage at the same time.

With any thing art investment do some research first.

So what is a Giclee?

Ask if this art is an original, is it a Giclée? A Giclée is one of the newest and most popular forms of reproduction. Most artists use this printing process today. You can find these prints hanging in the worlds finest museums today. There is nothing wrong with a Giclee. The world changes including printing processes so welcome to change. Thanks to the digital camera and the computer printer age this is replacing the lithograph that was printed on a printing press, now we have computerized printers. That is the difference. The way of printing the reproduction changed virtually overnight. As time goes on new forms of art printing and production will keep coming into existence. Giclée prints are excellent ways to enter the world of art collecting, especially one that are hand embellished and one of a kind.

Many commercial galleries only sell Giclée on canvas and paper. When reproduced correctly colors are as close to the original as can possible. They may not say that the print is a Giclée or type of print is, so ask. Be educated. The tag will most likely say: painting by artist name. Not original by artist name. This can cause confusion and you can see the fine line between the wordings of the two items. A Giclée on canvas is more durable than one on paper and will last generations longer if this is of concern to you.

Some Giclée are so good it is hard to tell them from the original. The Giclée or reproduction should not cost more than the original unless they have original artwork on the print itself. This is popular among many of the finest artist today. These Giclée's are what is called hand embellished or over painted by the artist and they are actually one of a kind originals and a good investment, sometime they are called serigraphs too. There are museums that collect Giclée. Some Giclée are over-painted by art assistants or production teams. These should be less expensive, however this is not always the case.

As with any print or original artwork for that matter, do not leave them in direct sunlight or direct lighting that is always turned on, as this will fade anything man-made and even some things that are made by nature. Always use common sense with precious objects.

Once again, do your home work and invest wisely and you will have an art collection that is not only pleasing but will last. Art collecting is a fun and very rewarding and personal outlet for ones creativity, it can be rewarding financially as well as to ones spirit as the art speaks to each one of us individually.

Happy art collecting!

RD

RD Riccoboni ^TM is a professional artist, gallery owner,inspirational business coach, engaging speaker, entrepreneur and author. One of America's favorite artists Mr. Riccoboni's successful gallery Beacon Artworks is located in Old Town San Diego State Historic Park in beautiful San Diego California.

Visit http://beacon-artworks.com/ to see some of his paintings. RD Riccoboni ^TM is known to his friends as Mr. Manifestor. You can read more about him in Debbi Chambers anthology Manifest Success available at all Booksellers.