The Fine Art of Reproduction
Brett & James Drinkwater - hanging for Kilgour Prize 2018, Newcastle Art Gallery
In 2002, while in planning stages to reproduce John Olsen’s “Sydney Sun, 1965” for the National Gallery of Australia, Brett consulted with eminent art curator and writer, Dr Deborah Hart. An authority on the artwork of John Olsen, Deborah Hart was also author of the book, John Olsen, first published in 1991.
It was during these discussions the term “fine art reproduction” was first coined. This term has since been adopted and widely used by the industry today.
A fine art reproduction differs from a decorative print or poster that are commonly made with dye based ink; it is the combination of the artist watercolour paper and fade resistant pigment ink that makes the fine art reproduction archival.
When it comes to assess an artwork for presentation or reproduction Brett had an innate sense of colour, sensitivity and observation. Having used Photoshop since its inception, Brett also worked with artists for over 40 years in the presentation of their artwork so he instinctively understood how an artist created. He took time to learn their palate and the ways they achieve highlights, placement, focus and definition. He was well practiced in translating these subtleties into a reproduction bringing an artwork to life on screen and on artist watercolour paper.
Brett and Melissa have always printed their fine art reproductions with Japanese pigment ink to either 256 or 300 gsm English or French artist watercolour paper. The artworks could have been created on anything from linen, to canvas, board to paper and made using oils, acrylics, charcoal, pencil, ink or pastels. The great skill Brett had, and taught Melissa, was to transition in reproduction from one medium to another without losing the essence, or power of the original creation.
Digital Art Directory has received commissions from many of Australia’s significant art and cultural heritage institutions too, some are:
Art Gallery of New South Wales
Australian Federal Parliament
Museums of History NSW – State Archives Collection
National Gallery of Australia
National Library of Australia
National Trust (NSW & ACT)
State Library of New South Wales
Sydney Water
The Bradman Foundation
The Brett Whiteley Studio
In October 2002 we were awarded a government tender to setup and run an on-site digitisation facility at the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra; the first of its kind in Australia.
We managed the facility and trained gallery staff over 3.5 years in direct digital capture, digital image archiving, databasing and fine art digital printing.