Our art prints feature fine art images that have been digitally captured and lithographed onto high-quality paper. These beautiful reproductions may be enjoyed as is, without frames, or they can be custom framed online using our custom frame shop. Many of our thousands of fine art titles are available as unframed Art Prints.
We have two great ways to give you art with the textured look and feel of original canvas paintings – Canvas Transfers and Giclee Canvas. Although the processes are different for each, the result is the same: beautiful works of art with a depth that cannot be achieved on paper.
The deep surface texture of canvas works well framed or unframed, and you can choose from 4 elegant presentations to enhance your canvas art selections: Standard Framed, Deep Floater Framed, Museum Wrap and Deep Museum Wrap. For more information on framing canvas, see Canvas Framing Options. To best enhance the medium, our canvas transfers and giclee are not offered with mats or acrylic panes.
To create a canvas transfer, the original images are transferred from a paper print onto artist-grade canvas and sealed with a protective acrylic glaze. This process permanently embeds the images into the canvas, which lends the artwork the deep and lustrous texture characteristic of original oil paintings. Each canvas transfer is individually prepared by hand to your order.
Canvas transfers are available in Standard Frames, Deep Floater Frames, Museum Wraps and Deep Museum Wraps. Stretched and ready to hang, our unframed canvas offers a sleek, contemporary look. Museum wrap images fill the entire flat surface of the canvas and have clean, staple-free, raw canvas sides.
The most sophisticated inkjet printing process today, “giclee” literally means “spray” in French. To produce a giclee work, the images from a work of art are digitally captured and precision-sprayed directly onto 100% cotton, artist-grade canvas using highly sophisticated inkjet printers and archival-quality ink. The colors of the inks mix on the surface to create true colors, rather than the dots that the eye has to blend together in a lithograph, creating a result much more like the original painting. Also, compared to traditional lithography, giclee printers use six ink colors, rather than just four. The finished product is a fade-resistant, collector-quality work of art guaranteed to retain its color and detail for over 100 years.
Our exclusive giclee canvas line features thousands of the world’s finest historic and contemporary artwork—from museum masters to modern artists—all elegantly printed and available for custom framing. Our canvas giclee selections are available in Standard Frames, Deep Floater Frames and Museum Wraps. Most giclee are also available in Deep Museum Wraps.
Fine Art Limited Editions are reproductions of original works that are printed in small quantities to retain integrity and value. Our Limited Edition prints are custom framed using high-quality, conservation grade materials designed to protect the archival value of the print. Each piece of art is individually approved and signed by the artist. When every work within a Limited Edition is sold, the edition is closed out. Each Limited Edition piece will be accompanied by a formal Certificate of Authenticity, which validates the work and certifies it as an authentic print within that edition.
The Limited Edition giclee process begins with an original piece of artwork, such as a painting or a photographic print. The artwork is captured digitally and converted into a high-resolution digital file. When the file has been optimized for color and accuracy to the satisfaction of the publisher, printer and artist, it is output using a state-of-the-art printer in which super-fine nozzles spray microscopic droplets of ink with extreme precision onto a surface. It takes an hour or more to print just one high caliber fine art giclee.
Our giclee editions are created on archival fine art paper. The paper stocks are selected not only for their exemplary archival qualities, but for their receptivity to the printer inks, the purity and brightness of the surface, and the fine art texture that appeals to the eyes and hands. Giclees on paper sometimes receive a gloss varnish treatment in the image area to infuse additional vibrancy and luster into the work.
Each piece of art is individually approved and signed by the artist.
Lithography is a process in which the printing surface is uniformly flat; the drawing is on the same plane as the surface of the printing plate. Operating on the fact that grease and water don’t mix, the artist draws an image directly on to the printing surface of limestone or zinc with a greasy crayon or tusche (water soluble liquid or crayon). When the drawing is complete, the entire surface is dampened with a mixture of water and gum arabic. The water, repelled by the greasy lines of the drawing, covers only the open areas and leaves the design exposed, so that when the artist rolls oil-based ink on to the surface the ink adheres only to the greasy crayon drawing and is repelled by the areas dampened by water.
The artist’s final step is to place a sheet of paper against the drawing on the inked plate or stone. A sheet of metal or plastic is placed on top of the paper and plate and they are braced together. The paper and plate are passed through a litho press, squeezing the paper against stone (or zinc) so that it lifts the ink from the drawing and transfers a duplicate image on to the paper. This process is repeated for each color in the image. Upon completion of the edition, the artist signs each print to indicate approval of the quality, and numbers them to indicate their sequence within the edition.
An etching begins when a zinc or copper plate is coated with an acid-impervious ground, usually a hard or soft wax. The artist creates images by scratching through the wax, or placing paper over the wax and drawing on it with a soft pressure, or creating impressions in the wax with objects such as leaves or lace.
When the drawing is completed, the artist immerses the metal plate in an acid bath. The areas covered by ground are protected from the acid; but the exposed areas scratched or pressed into the plate are “bitten” away, leaving incised lines. After the acid bath, the artist removes the ground from the plate and applies the ink. The plate is then wiped clean, leaving only the ink that has been pressed into the etched lines of the drawing. Ready for printing, the inked plate is placed face up on the printing press with a dampened sheet of paper positioned on top of it. Felt blankets are used for the top layer, creating a sandwich that squeezes the inked plate against the paper, transferring the drawing directly onto the paper. This labor intensive process requires a fresh inking of the plate for each print made in an edition, but the artist only has to make the drawing once and can now repeat the inking and press process as many times as desired. Each piece is individually approved and signed by the artist.
Work on a serigraph begins when the serigrapher separates the colors in the original painting. The serigrapher must literally recreate the entire work, while recognizing how to reinterpret the original painting using generally 100 or fewer colors. A stencil for each individual color is transferred to a screen, which is typically made of silk, nylon or wire mesh stretched tightly across a frame. The ink is dragged over the screen with a squeegee and forced through the open areas of the stencil. In this way, the image is transferred to a piece of paper positioned beneath the screen. Each successive color requires a new screen and stencil to slowly build the image layer upon layer, creating the rich painterly textures that set serigraphs apart from other forms of image reproduction.
Because of the painstaking labor of color separation, color application, press time and drying, a hand-pulled fine art serigraph edition may take up to 100 days to complete. The amount of time, skill and effort invested in the creation of a serigraph edition is reflected in the strong archival qualities of this medium—serigraphs enjoy extreme longevity, and are excellent heirloom pieces.
Each piece of art is individually approved and signed by the artist.
Conservation framing techniques ensure that the archival value of Limited Edition prints is preserved. Acid free framing materials and UV protectant glazing help to prevent the deterioration and yellowing of prints over time that is associated with non-preservation grade materials. Should you ever wish to reframe your Limited Edition artwork, you will be able to remove it from the current frame with no damage to the print.
Tapestries are woven works of art that have a texture not found in any other art form. The combination of the thread colors and weaves creates a unique art experience that changes with each viewing angle.
Our Premium Line Tapestries are works of exceptional craftsmanship and rich beauty, every aspect of our production process adds to the extraordinary value of the finished product. These fine art tapestries are woven in the USA on jacquard looms of 100% cotton or all natural wool & cotton blends. They use up to 20 miles of thread in each design, providing the maximum in intricate texture and detail. The high-quality cotton thread is a superior material for this art form; compared to synthetics, light plays more pleasingly on cotton fibers.
Modern jacquard looms are computer controlled and have thousands of hooks. The threading of a jacquard loom is so labor intensive that even for a small loom with only a few thousand warp ends the process can take days. These computer-controlled looms produce stunning detail and vivid colors on every piece we offer.
Even with all this technology, our weavers have never lost sight of the art of weaving. They are all master craftsmen, and they approach each woven piece with an eye for detail that only comes from years of experience.
Premium Line Fine Art Tapestries were meant to be hung from the walls; the manner in which they are hung is a mixture of personal preference and science. If you have drywall walls (drywall has a high lime content) do not hang your tapestries directly against the wall. Over time, the lime in the drywall will adversely affect your tapestry. Use brackets to keep the tapestry 1-2 inches off the walls. If you have plaster walls, feel free to hang your tapestry against the wall, or 1-2 inches off the wall. Please do not hang your tapestry in direct sunlight. As with any work of art, direct sunlight will fade it over time.
Hanging brackets and hardware are available to make tapestry installation easy. Click the link in any tapestry description to switch the view from plain tapestry to the version with rod and brackets, and vice versa.
Our tapestries come from one of the most reputable manufacturers in the industry, with a family tradition of textile weaving that dates back over 200 years. When you order tapestries from us, rest assured that you are bringing into your home the highest-quality textiles available today.
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