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| Using acid-free paper for all fine art graphics, limited editions, mattboards, and backings prevents acid burns (yellowish-brown burn lines) from appearing on artwork over time. |
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| What are Archival Inks? |
| Specialized inks used in fine art printmaking that have been optimized for the relevant printmaking technique, desired color saturation, and image longevity. |
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| What are Archival Papers? |
| Papers used in fine art printmaking that have textured surfaces and extra heavy weight. These papers are particularly conductive to accepting archival inks and paints for contrast, color saturation, and image longevity. One hundred percent rag paper is constructed of cotton fibers. Traditionally archival rag paper is considered museum quality. Watercolor paper and fine art printmaking papers are examples of archival rag paper. |
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| What is medium? |
| Medium is the material or technical means of artistic expression. Types include oils, acrylics, ink, pencil, charcoal, and etc. Reproduction medium types include lithography, giclée, silkscreen, and etc. Mixed media is the use of two or more materials and/or reproduction means. |
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| What is Signed and Numbered or S/N? |
| S/N means "signed and numbered". This indicates the work is hand signed by the artist in a numbered limited edition. Prints that are authenticated with the artists signature, the total number of impressions in the edition, and the order in which the impression is signed. The artist's signature and a number is executed in pencil at the bottom of the print. Pencil is used on prints because it does not effect paper over time. The number appears as a fraction. Numbering example: S/N 5/200. Number example: L/E 5/200 would indicate the fifth print of a "limited edition" of 500 prints. |
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| What is a Limited Edition or L/E? |
| A pre-determined number of identical prints of an image are produced from a master plate, stone, or other method, after which no more impressions are allowed. The edition size is the sum of all numbered pieces and proofs. The prints are then signed by the artist, sometimes titled, and sequentially numbered showing both the print's number and the total edition size. Each print is referred to as a "limited edition print". The original print plates are typically destroyed after the production is completed. |
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| What is a Limited Production? |
| Fine craft and fine art items handcrafted individually in small-scale production. The artist creates new original works as similar to the artwork shown as possible. Slight differences make each work of art unique. Limited Production items that have already been created and are ready for shipping are labeled "Available." All other Limited Production artworks are labeled "Made Upon Order" and are created when an order is received. The length of time required to make and deliver such artwork varies and is noted for each item. |
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| What is an Open Edition? |
| A production of work which is not limited by number of pieces produced or days of production. There may be several later reproductions of the same work done in exactly the same or a different manner without restriction. |
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| What is a Hors de Commerce (H/C) or Hors de Commerce Edition (H/E)? |
| Hors de Commerce (Not for trade) are the prints pulled from the regular edition but marked by the artist for business use only. These prints are outside the edition but are the same as the edition and are used as gifts or payments to those involved in the production of the edition. Also the artist will use these prints for entering shows, exhibits, or giving away as samples. Some collectors prefer to acquire and collect these prints. For that reason, these prints generally find their way to the market place through regular channels and are sold. They are marked "H/C" or "H/E" and are usually numbered but not always. Print marking example: H/C or H/E 1/10. |
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| What is an Artist Proof (A/P) or Artist Edition (A/E)? |
| Common practice is that when a limited edition is created there will generally be approximately 10% additional run off as Artist's Proofs. These fine art prints are made when the rest of the edition is printed but are reserved for the artist's personal use, for museums, or as the artist chooses. They are exactly the same in quality. These proofs may be designated as artist's proofs (A/P or A/E). These prints are sometimes numbered and sometimes they are not. The print marking for the first print of an edition of 25 artist proof prints would be A/P or A/E 1/25. By art market standards Artist Proofs usually rank higher in value to S/N's of an edition. |
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| What is a Remarque or RE or rem? |
| A current practice by some artists is the addition of a small personalized drawing near the artist's penciled signature in the margin of the edition. The simple sketch or drawing is usually rendered in pencil, but can be rendered in color. An edition print containing one of these hand embellishments or drawings is called a Remarque. Print marking example: "RE 1/25" is the first print of an edition of 25 Remarques. By art market standards Remarques usually rank higher in value to S/N's, A/P's, A/E's, H/P's or H/E's of an edition. |
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| What is a Certificate of Authenticity? |
| A document issued with limited edition prints, with the print publisher information, title of the image, size of the image, reproduction media or method, and number of the prints in the edition. Certificates may also contain a statement about the work from the artist. Typically issued by the publisher or artist but sometimes issued by the seller such as at an auction house when dealing with old or famous works. |
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| What is a Giclée? |
| The Giclée movement is about twenty-five years old. This type of fine art print has become more precise with the advent of the revolutionary printing process Giclée (jhee-clay) a French term meaning "spray of ink". In the Giclée process, a fine stream of dye base or pigment based ink is sprayed onto archival paper or canvas. Each piece of paper or canvas is carefully hand mounted onto a drum which rotates during printing. No plates or screens are used in giclée printing. Exact calculation of hue, value and density direct the ink from four nozzles. This produces a combination of more than 500 chromatic changes (with over three million colors possible) of highly saturated, non-toxic water-based ink. The prints have a higher resolution than lithographs and the dynamic color range is greater than serigraphs (or sometimes called silkscreens). Giclée prints are known for their brilliant color range, detail and subtleties they capture. |
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| What is the quality of the Giclée reproduction method? |
| Through scientific experimentation, research and laboratory testing for light fastness, it has been discovered that the Giclée time span (before the colors start to fade) is over 100 years, and as much as 200 years in some cases. The Giclée has become an accepted archival printmaking process for the avant-garde artist of today. Giclées are one of the finest reproduction methods available today. Some major museums showing giclées include: the Metropolitan Museum, New York, Philadelphia Museum of Art, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, and the British Museum. |
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| What is a lithograph? |
| Approximately one hundred years ago in Paris the arrival of color lithography brought about what came to be known as the Color Revolution in the world of fine art printing. (Lithography as a technology had existed for nearly a century at that time, but its usage in creating works of art was not yet realized.) A whole new realm of possibilities was now open to the fine artist. It was astonishing to the art world that artists and printers using multiple lithographic stones could produce an image that was vividly alive with bold, intense color. Typically, many plates are used to create a lithograph, as each color or part of the image requires a different plate. The artist was able to create multiple works of art on paper, in a fraction of the time spent on an original painting. This was truly a revolutionary development and it set in motion a series of events that was to change the way the world thought of prints and fine art printmaking forever. As a result of the enthusiasm for the new method, artists and collectors came to appreciate that the print had qualities and characteristics not found in oil painting and an artistic integrity all their own. These characteristic advantages resulted in color lithographs being created by almost all of the great artists of the 20th Century. Which in turn paved the way for what is known today as the "limited edition" print. |
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| What constitutes an original print? |
| One thing seems to be certain for a work of art to be considered an original print, it must have been produced by hand, one at a time to the artist's personal standard. Ideally, a fixed, limited number should be produced, the fewer the better. Among the many aspects of the color lithograph and giclée that is attractive to the artist is the ease of creation, multiple prints of the same work of art, immediacy, accuracy, durability, and perhaps the most important is the "hands-on" aspect of the process. |
