Five thousand years of Chinese civilization have never been regarded as merely the creation of human beings. The ancients believed that words possessed spirit, musical harmonies could reach the heavens, and the mountains and waters within a painting carried the breath of heaven and earth—a pathway between humanity and the divine.
This is the kind of art Shen Yun seeks to revive.
The flowing sleeves of celestial maidens, pavilions among immortal mountains, and worlds of gods and Buddhas seem to reappear before our eyes. It is a beauty that feels eternal—older than dynasties, enduring beyond language.
Such art deserves to be preserved for generations to come.
Shen Yun Collections therefore uses Museum-quality Giclée Art Prints, a technique and fine art paper that allow the colors and brushwork of each original work to be brought to life with remarkable vibrancy.
A Fascinating History of Giclée
The word giclée (pronounced zhee-KLAY) comes from the French verb gicler, meaning “to spray” or “to squirt.”
In 1991, American printmaker Jack Duganne was searching for a name for this emerging technology. He understood that calling it simply a “digital inkjet output” would make it difficult for the process to be embraced by the art world. So he turned to a French dictionary and chose the word giclée.
A single word helped open the door for a new printing technology to enter the world of fine art.
In 1562, Paolo Veronese created The Wedding at Cana, an enormous painting of approximately 67 square meters, for the refectory of the monastery on San Giorgio Maggiore in Venice. In 1797, Napoleon’s troops removed the painting and transported it to France, leaving its original wall empty. More than two centuries later, on September 11, 2007, a full-scale copy was installed in its original location. The original work was non-invasively scanned after hours, allowing its surface, dimensions, details, damage, and even traces of its historical alterations to be carefully reproduced.
The original remains in the Louvre, in France. But in Venice, Italy, visitors can once again experience the painting in the place where it was originally intended to be seen. This captures one of the most meaningful possibilities of high-quality art reproduction: allowing the visual presence and expressive power of an artwork to be experienced beyond the limitations of a single original.
To most people, printing may seem like nothing more than reproducing an image. Yet transforming an original artwork into a fine art Giclée print involves an intricate chain of processes: digital capture, color calibration, inks, color profiles, and the surface characteristics of the paper—each of which influences the final result.
Traditional commercial printing is typically based on four colors: cyan, magenta, yellow, and black. Professional fine art Giclée systems, by contrast, can use up to twelve ink colors, offering a wider color gamut and smoother, more nuanced tonal transitions.
This is especially important for fine art. The colors in a painting are rarely simple, flat hues. They include the most delicate variations in skin tones, soft grays that must never drift toward purple, and reds that feel vibrant yet never artificial. When the available color range is too narrow, these subtle distinctions can be compressed, flattening the image and diminishing its depth and vitality.
Fine art Giclée printing also uses lightfast pigment-based inks rather than dye-based inks that are more prone to fading. This is what gives the term archival quality its true substance—not merely a label, but a standard designed to withstand the passage of time.
A Paper Mill with More Than Four Centuries of History
The Hahnemühle paper mill used for Shen Yun Fine Art Giclée Printing was founded in 1584 in Germany’s Solling region.
For more than four centuries, the mill has continued producing high-quality paper. Traditional papermaking knowledge, natural fibers, and carefully developed techniques have remained part of its heritage even as printing technology has changed dramatically.
In the late 1990s, Hahnemühle developed some of the earliest papers specifically designed for the emerging field of fine art inkjet printing.
Interestingly, Hahnemühle created new technology meeting modern needs, while drawing on its experience with traditional craftsmanship and centuries of history. This is similar to what Shen Yun Collections seeks to do.
Museum-quality Paper
Paper is never a neutral background; it actively shapes the image. Hahnemühle Museum Etching is made from 100% cotton at 350 gsm (grams per square meter), and its fine felt texture carries the tactile character of traditional printmaking and watercolor paper. Its matte coating renders accurate color, deep blacks and crisp detail while avoiding that glossy, plastic-like sheen—the very quality that makes art reproductions look cheap. And its weight gives the work a real presence in the hand, before it is ever framed.
It is called "museum-grade" because of how it endures: acid-free, lignin-free, with no optical brightening agents that shift in color over time, and conforming to the ISO 9706 standard. Printed with light-fast pigment inks and kept out of direct sunlight, in controlled temperature and humidity, with acid-free mounting and UV-protective glazing, the work has the potential to outlast ordinary printing by hundreds of years.
Care Guide
Choose a visually calm wall
Avoid direct sunlight and west-facing windows. Damage caused by ultraviolet light is cumulative and irreversible.
Keep it dry
Bathrooms, kitchens, and areas prone to significant humidity fluctuations are not ideal. Dramatic changes in temperature and humidity can affect paper over time.
Use acid-free framing materials
When framing your artwork, choose acid-free mat boards and backing boards. This detail is often overlooked, yet it is essential for long-term preservation. Acidic materials can gradually damage paper through direct contact, with the effects sometimes appearing only decades later.
Use UV-protective glazing
UV-filtering glass or acrylic can help reduce light exposure while allowing the artwork to be enjoyed as intended.
Conclusion
From a word discovered in a French dictionary, to a wall in Venice that stood empty for more than two centuries; from a paper mill with over four hundred years of history, to a tiny drop of pigment resting on pure cotton fibers—fine art printing continues to create art and beauty that lasts for lifetimes.
Shen Yun Collections’ art carries the radiance of divinely inspired culture. Every Shen Yun Fine Art Giclée Print is more than an artwork—it is a living memory of beauty, tradition, and the divine that can be passed on to the next generation.