Why Golf Paintings Are More Popular Than Ever - By: Diane Hofflander

Golf art investment is a specialized area of art investment. Most people who love golf cannot deny the desire to have a painting of their favorite golf course in their home. But if an original oil painting of a golf course is expensive for you then you have the option to invest in Giclees. Giclees are the highest quality canvas reproductions that look very much like the original. In fact, museums like the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the British Museum use Giclees to display replicas of rare works of art. The originals are kept in a far more protective environment.

If you have the option to buy a photograph or a painting of your favorite golf course, then from an artistic as well as an investment point of view, paintings would be a better choice, as photographs generally don't appreciate and only depreciate with time. Always take into consideration too that Limited Editions should always be signed personally by the artist and numbered. Make sure the Edition is a small quantity as well, say from 95 to 1,250 only. Those of famous golf course artists like Graeme Baxter will fetch you a better return on investment. Graeme is the Official Artist to more golf events than any other artist which places him at the top of the list for golf course commissions. His originals sell from $14,000 to over $200,000 depending on the overall size of the project. Giclees of his paintings are not expensive comparably and look very much like the originals.

When buying golf art perhaps the most important consideration, other than the artist, is the subject; the more famous the course, the more value it has. You can check out the splendid golf landscape paintings, such as those by Graeme Baxter, that are displayed at famous golf clubs around the world such as Pebble Beach, Mission Hills, Augusta, St. Andrews Old Course, Dubai, and Pine Hurst in China. Any golfer, whether avid or passive, enjoys a beautiful artwork of golf course landscapes. And more recently, the investment side of it makes wise sense too.

Uses of Giclees Artists make Giclees of their photographs, original artwork or computer generated art. On a "per print" basis, Giclees are much more expensive than 8-color offset lithography, which is the traditional process. The final result when comparing off set printing to that of ink jet is the superior result is with ink jet.

Ink jet printers that produce Giclees generally use the CMYK color process. The ink used for Giclees are archival inks that are fade resistant, including solvent inks. There are many forms of printing materials to choose from such as paper, vinyle and the most popular is cotton canvas. High tech ink jet printers are used to create the vast variations of colors that are required. These include light cyan and light magenta inks along with regular cyan and magenta colors.

Giclees processing is not new. Iris graphic printers are still well used and have been in existance since about the mid 1990s. In the early days, these prints didn't have long-lasting colors. The latest ink jets used by artists for Giclees have higher longevity and light fastness. So, if you want to invest in Giclees, check with the quality of the ink used.

About the Author

The Rolex of Golf Art is considered to be Graeme Baxter. His paintings are displayed proudly in clubhouses worldwide, such as St. Andrews Old Course, Turnberry, Dubai Creek, Augusta, Pebble Beach and Carnoustie to name a few. Check out all his paintings at http://www.BaxterGolfArt.com.

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