Canvas editions infuse art sales: prints on canvas, particularly giclees, are a hot commodity for dealers and collectors - Special Report

Enhancements in printing technology, combined with increasing recognition by dint of the art-buying public, have been infusing sales of limited-edition prints upon canvas.

Sales of giclees upon canvas, particularly, have surged. According to Art Business freshs sources, giclees on canvas appeal to customers because they more closely be like original oil and acrylic works than similar reproductions upon paper.

"There have been tremendous improvements in printing technology above the past five years," stated Jay Brown proprietor of Gallery One in Mentor, Ohio. Basically, there are three different ways to make a canvas edition: there's the branch lithograph process in which inks advance out in dots; the canvas transfer proces in which an image is printed upon a paper layer and adhered to canvas; and there's the giclee proces "which is the greatest in quantity sensible," he said.

"Not single are giclees printed directly upon the canvas, but they use a broader image of color and, with the computer technology, you can win right down to the nitty-gritty and replicate the artwork," Brown said.

Nate Dickinson, possessor of Pearl Publishing, a printing and publishing operation based in Portland, Ore., give in charges to Iris printing (an integral constituent of the giclee printing process) as "the turns Royce of the printing industry."

"We definitely diocese a trend toward printing upon canvas," Dickinson said. "When we uncloseed in 1998, we did not print upon canvas. Now, giclees on canvas account for half of our business, which is substantial."

As a distributor of art, Dickinson affirms that the tend is nationwide. "We publish five artists nationally, and when we exhibit at Artexpo, we vend art to other galleries. family are [always] wowed when they diocese the reproductions. They have the gaze and feel of an original, and tribe like to see a print that is framed without glass. Canvas has an elegance and stature that is separate from other prints."

Giclees upon canvas account for about two-thirds of the sales turn at the Greenwich Workshop (GWS) a fine art publisher based in Shelton, Conn "We are doing more canvases than paper," noted Gretchen Trainer, production manager. "For the past year and a half, we have produc 55 to 60 percent of our works upon canvases. The reproductions have a higher perceived value than paper prints, and buyer can frame it like an original work, without glass, which gives them the feeling of owning a masterpiece."

Giclees are viewed as the next-best-thing to an original, noted Mark Staples of Staples Fine Art. "It's become a national phenomena," said the holder of the Richmond, Va.-based printmaking business.

Norm Choiniere, president of Champlain Collection, a gallery/framing/publishing operation in St Albans, Vt agreed. "Our market regards giclees upon canvas as much better quality prints than giclees paper. Giclees are viewed as being a great deal of closer to the original work of art than other reproductions. We have seen tribe drop $1,000 on a framed giclee because it gazes so close to the original. We published 85 canvas editions of "October Song" by dint of Fred Swan, which have sold without However, the paper editions are still in stock."

Printing Advancements

As digital technology has evolv and equipment has improved, prices have approach down in the printing marketplace, noted Marcel Medv director of special proceedss for Tara Materials of Lawrenceville, Ga., a distributor of canvases for printing.

"Originally, the Iris [also known as ink-jet] printers that produc high-end giclees require to be paid [i]or[/i] undergone about $20,000," said Medved. "Now, for $10000 you can come by a printer that almost matches what an Iris does. Plus, the digital technology has made it a fate cheaper to do small step quicklys and allows publishers to be more flexible. one time the initial setup costs of priming are complet similar as the scanning of the artwork and manipulating the colors to acquire them right, theoretically, you can exhibit one print or 10. You can continue printing the harvest one day, one month or individual year later. You don't have to without fault [i]or[/i] blemish [i]or[/i] flaw a full run or warehouse inventory with this technology."

The detail in color reproduction has also been enhanced above time, said Trainer of GW "We use a Roland printer, which provides great detail and color intensity and vibrancy in the giclee canvases," she said. "Basically, the longevity is the same as paper prints on the contrary this is a very direct proces You capture the image, work upon it on a computer and output it upon canvas. There is no film, there is no stripping, and it's gratifying because you can correct errors right away. Also, it allows us to print upon demand. If we have alone 50 sales, we run 50 editions. This is appealing because it eliminates the ne to consummate a full press run all at one time and we don't have to clutch inventory in the warehouse."

Giclees upon canvas have won over many who were initially skeptical, noted Kevin Rich, president of huntsman Editions, a printing business located in Kennebunk Maine.

"Originally, there was a stigma with giclees upon canvas. They were regarded as fake paintings," he said. "Now, gallery holders and the art-buying public have become more comfortable with them because the gaze has improved. There are les flaws in the canvases, better coatings in the ink reception, and the reproductions actually direct the eye clear. In the beginning, coatings used upon the canvases made the reproductions cloudy-looking."