Vintage Canvas Giclee Reproductions

December 4, 2005 10:47 AM

Anyone have any experience with large giclee canvas reproduction prints (of vintage posters)?

What is the quality like? Where did you get it? How did you frame it (matte, no matte? glass/plexiglass?)

I'm specifically looking at the type found on eBay? (and yes I know giclee is just a pretentious french word for ink-jet print.)

posted by shoepal to shopping (7 comments total)

A lot of people on eBay sell canvas reproductions dirt cheap, then force you to either have it stretched, framed or perpared some other way at your own expense before shipping it, or charge ridiculous amounts for shipping. The cheapness of the print is just bait. Some of them are 99 cents. So read the whole listing before bidding. Haven't seen the quality of these things, but checking the sellers feedback will help put your mind at rest about that.
posted by fire&wings at 11:05 AM on December 4, 2005

Yep, I ordered several of these from a vendor on eBay a while back to adorn my apartment walls (large geiclee reprints of classic posters).

Overall, the quality of the prints was excellent. They were printed on rough, heavy-stock matte paper and the colors were vivid. As I am lazy and they weren't too expensive, I never bothered to frame them, and just hung them with double-sided adhesive.

Not a bad deal, in sum, if you're looking for some cheap and classy decorative imagery.
posted by killdevil at 12:56 PM on December 4, 2005

killdevil, what was the vendor you used, if you don't mind saying?
posted by smackfu at 1:51 PM on December 4, 2005

If you want to avoid eBay risk, Barnes and Noble has a massive selection of vintage reproductions. I was given this one as a gift and the quality is quite good, especially for 20 bucks. They don't specify the exact printing technique but since it's print-on-demand, it's probably giclee.
posted by nev at 3:08 PM on December 4, 2005

Smackfu, unfortunately the specific vendor name is lost to memory (and I can't get at the records eBay keeps as I lost my password to that account). If it helps, I searched originally for "vintage poster' and chose a high-volume seller of giclee prints from those search results.

I can also offer my experience with Barnes and Noble's vintage reproductions, as I bought one of those as a gift for someone. The quality was nice, but not as nice as my eBay seller's stuff, and the cost was higher for what I got. Admittedly, though, this was a couple of years ago.
posted by killdevil at 3:54 PM on December 4, 2005

I have order a couple canvas giclee Monet prints from an Australian vendor (don't know the name off the top of my head but I will look it up when I get home). I like them a lot. I feel that the canvas adds alot of flavor and feel to the prints. Also I have a Monet that is just a paper print. the color is just as good on the paper but it isn't as lively and lacks the feel of the canvas prints. My canvas prints weren't stretched or framed when I got them. I streched and framed them, however I didn't matte or use glass/plexi on them. I liked them without.
posted by kashmir772 at 6:16 PM on December 4, 2005

Thanks for the vote of confidence for eBay vendors, killdevil. It helps to know you were pleased.

Nev, I had no idea B&N had posters. Thanks so much for the link/info!

I also found a place called Poster Checkout. Though it may not be any more legit than some of the high-volume eBay sellers.
posted by shoepal at 6:17 PM on December 4, 2005