What is a Giclée?

Whether you want to create a gallery wall or hang one large statement-making piece, you don’t have to break the bank to invest in beautiful, inspiring works of art in your home. What if we told you that you can own the next best thing to the original at a fraction of the price? The answer lies within a giclée print.

The French word “giclée” (zhee-CLAY) means to spray or squirt, a nod to the inkjet printer, the elevated printmaking technology that creates the art. A giclée print is produced directly from a high-resolution digital scan of the existing fine art or photograph printed on a large-format inkjet printer using archival quality ink. The result is far superior color accuracy, detail and texture compared to other means of reproduction, such as traditional lithographic printing. In fact, it’s often hard to tell the difference between the original and a giclée.

Giclée prints have become the reproduction of choice for collectors, galleries, museums, photographers and artists not just for their fidelity and quality, but also because they’re relatively easy to reproduce and eliminate the expense of mass production. Limited edition print giclées are considered one-of-kind-works of art, since each print is created individually as opposed to being mass produced on huge presses. Numerous examples of giclées can be found in renowned collections, including the Museum of Modern Art and the Metropolitan Museum in New York City.

The sheer versatilty of giclée printing is also unmatched. A giclée print can be reproduced on any type of medium, from canvas to watercolor paper to photo paper, and in any size (even billboards!). So whatever type of art you may be looking for, you can most likely find a giclée reproduction.

We’ve long been fans of giclée prints and have expanded our collection to include a larger variety, from maps to abstract.

Browse our extensive selection of wall decor online, or find inspiration on our Walls Pinterest Board.