Art Auction? Ever bought anything?

[ekerr19]

Ok Roboat - you asked for it, you got it! :D

[Roboat]

Ok Roboat - you asked for it, you got it! :D
Thanks, e! For those who may have missed it, my post is under "What's the dumbest thing you ever bought?" thread.
In fact here it is:
=================
KK - that reindeer story is terrific!

Dumbest stuff I ever bought was "Art" at the Auction. Man, I am STILL embarrassed over that! What a ruse, taking advantage of a feeble-minded old man with a temporary ego deficiency, sloshing down the cheap champagne! My wife is to blame, for letting me go alone!

"Oh, that's a fine piece, sir. Exquisite taste, Sir!"

Sucked me in like a giant grouper.
I wanna face-shoot that little varmint.
OK, maybe that's too violent for this venue. Let me rephrase: My my, how foolish of me. Nahh, I like the first one better.

Maybe we should start a new thread to warn others. Or heck, maybe everyone else feels they got some great buys! Here's a clue: you paid too much! And don't EVEN tell me you had it appraised for more than you paid. You still paid too much!

OK, excuse me, was I ranting? Who started this thread, anyway! ;)

[sail7seas]

We have never gone to one Art Auction. All we had to do was pass by any area which was mostly blocked by pieces of ART??? to know we would not be doing any bidding for any of that ART????

It annoys me to bits how they load that ART??? into busy passage areas forcing people to trip all over that ART????

[ekerr19]

Well, as much as I am loathe to admit it - DH (and I, I suppose :rolleyes: ) have bought two pieces - both on our first cruise together, the Veendam.

DH got taken in when the auctioneer announced these "amazing" watercolors by "an artist favored by Ronald Reagan" - "many pieces by this artist are hanging in the White House!!!" oooh... (YEAH, RIGHT...!)

Well, when we got home and I looked up the artist's name I could not find ANY info about him, let alone, any contemporary artist with art in the White House that remotely resembled what we were told by the "auctioneer".

We only paid about $250 total for the two pieces and we actually do like them, I am partial to watercolors - one is of a pelican and the other is of some sea shells (which is hanging here in my office at work).

After that - we never went near an "ART" auction onboard. :)

[HeatherInFlorida]

No, no, no and no ... I have never, nor will I ever, bought a work of "Art" at one of those auctions. I went to one, just to see what it was all about, and left empty handed. I didn't even take the "free" artwork they offered me:)

But, EKerr, as long as you like your purchase the rest of it shouldn't matter. But it's interesting you didn't go again;) .

[dakrewser]

Fortunately here in the SF Bay Area we have this great tradition of "Art & Wine" festivals which set up in a different town each week during the late spring and early fall. Here you can buy original art work (or prints, if you prefer) directly from the artists. oils, water colors (my favorite), photos, glass, woodwork, metalwork, jewelry, ceramics and more. WE usually buy 2 or 3 pieces each year. (WE've got to slow down, we're running out of wall space!)

I once walked thru the "art" auction on a ship (and, as my wife will tell you - she often tells me! - I'm a sucker for an auction*) and felt no need to stop. I'd advise everyone else to do the same.

*I once bid $100 (and won) for a water color painted from a cell from the movie Bambi. I thought it was cute. My DW said it was the most garish think she'd ever seen in the house. It disappeared one day and she claimed to have "sold it at a yard sale that week you were out of town." But I think the trash collector has a lovely painting hanging on his wall......:)

[LAFFNVEGAS]

I usually just chalk up the "Art Auctions" to the same type of hype as the "Inch of Gold Sale" and the numerous Bingo annoucements and the picture taking. They are all things that could get on your nerves but I just tend to ignore it. It is all just part of the Cruise Experience:p

I actually don't mind the pictures that bad. If they want to spend the time and money to develope them, I can at least look at them. No one is twisting your arm to buy them. I actually do buy a few here an there even though they are over priced.

[Globaliser]

Yup, I've bought quite a few pieces over the years. But I have a pretty inflexible rule - never buy anything at more than the auctioneer's opening price. Sometimes, I've got stuff for less than the opening price, because he's started one on a crazily low price just to get some bidding going - and it's still fallen flat on its face. And just once, on a veeeeery slow cruise (on the art front), I haggled with him over a piece he didn't sell at all and got it for less than the opening price that way.

You can probably tell that the auctions on the cruises I'm on are usually pretty empty. But if all the interested purchasers ganged up on the auction company and agreed that nobody would put in a second bid, but then everyone else who wanted a copy of a particular image then went and asked to buy extra copies from stock (which they almost always have), we'd all be happy.

[Krazy Kruizers]

All Right - we never got suckered into buying anything at an art auction, even though we had raffle tickets to try and win something.

But the couple of times we did go we enjoyed the free "cheap" champgane to go alongwith our free pop-corn.

[elmorejj]

I have been glancing at pictures displayed on various ships for about 8 years now, and notice they are all the same. Nothing but posters if you ask me. A lot of bidders don`t realize till too late that most come un framed.
On one cruise we were sitting at the bar (Ocean Bar) having a drink and joking with the bar tender, when the auctioneer came up to us and asked us to be Quiet!! Can you imagine the nerve, we were in a bar..open to the public! I just glared at him and carried on with my conversation. No, that type of "artwork" is not for me.....jean :cool:

[HeatherInFlorida]

I usually just chalk up the "Art Auctions" to the same type of hype as the "Inch of Gold Sale" .LOL!!!:D Don't you just love that "inch of gold"??? Inch of crap is more like it! I stupidly, foolishly, naively bought a bracelet of that junkyears ago. It turned green on my wrist within weeks and faded away to the color of steel:) .

Dave, you never disappoint. I love the story because my husband is still puzzled about the whereabouts of a shirt I got rid of in a similar fashion years ago. Every now and then he'll say "whatever happened to.....?" He he he.

[ekerr19]

Our "art" actually arrived professionally framed, very nice matting and framing too.

Heather- we've look at the displays on other ships and have never felt the inclination after that initial purchase. I do like the ones we have - by my untrained eye, they do look like very good numbered prints... :)

Maybe I'm still trying to justify the purchase - but the art we see on the ships now does not look as nice as it did (or ours do) before (which was 1999).

[DFD1]

We've never bought anything from them, but someone must be buying or they would go away. It would be interesting to know what percentage of the selling price HAL receives...or if they just license the art auction for a fixed amount of money per cruise or per season. Personally, I would just as soon they not be there at all. We've bought many original paintings and other art works from around the world over the years. Pieces from this collection hang at home and in the office and they bring us a great deal of pleasure and many good memories. Each piece has a story to tell of a trip someplace or a cruise and that's fun. But not that stuff in the ship's art auction.

[Vicar]

Ahhhhhh the old Gold by the Inch scam *LOL*

Never went anywhere near an art auction, but GF and I did get suckered into buying some Crap by the Inch :)

The funny part is that GF has gorgeous, real, very expensive jewelry and this charlatan "jeweler" with wire cutters and needle nosed pliers has her all moony eyed over this "fools gold" bracelet and neclace set.

I just stood there laughing at her. "Thats right baby , nothing accents a 14kt crap chain than a 3kt cubic hunk of garbage" *LOL*

[HeatherInFlorida]

Ahhhhhh the old Gold by the Inch scam *LOL*

Never went anywhere near an art auction, but GF and I did get suckered into buying some Crap by the Inch :)

The funny part is that GF has gorgeous, real, very expensive jewelry and this charlatan "jeweler" with wire cutters and needle nosed pliers has her all moony eyed over this "fools gold" bracelet and neclace set.

I just stood there laughing at her. "Thats right baby , nothing accents a 14kt crap chain than a 3kt cubic hunk of garbage" *LOL*Vicar, I have a theory that these guys "see us coming out there on the open sea all excited about our cruise. They think we'll buy just about anything. And they're not far from wrong. Witness the mobs gathered 'round the "watch sale" day .... or the "ring sale" day with the ugliest rings that have ever been put in front of my eyes. Yet we all rally round and try them on and even, sadly, buy the hunks of nothing. I wish you could see the junk in my jewelry box and I haven't the heart to throw it out. I'm just pathetic. You wouldn't catch me dead buying this junk anywhere else. Scarey, really.

[ASM]

Yes, we bought one piece. We like it very much and it was reasonably priced. I had it framed at the shop and gallery I usually use and it was admired there also. Most of the stuff they offer isn't anything I'd want but I find it worth checking out. One never knows. I'm on the board of our local art center so I have a little knowledge. I wouldn'trecommend shipboard art auctions to someone with none. Or any auction for that matter! :)

[sail7seas]

Heather.......:D You're right. They figure we've been imbibing more than we are used to; we are happier being aboard than most anywhere else usual to our everyday lives; we've spent too much time in the hot sun and we're having fun........we'll buy whatever they put in front us (well, ALMOST anything :) ....

[sail7seas]

ekerr..... If you like the pictures; if you get pleasure from them.....you made a good purchase. TheBeauty of Art is in the eye of the beholder and if you like it, you were wise to buy it. Enjoy!!!

[iamirish]

I have nothing else to say!!!!

[Vicar]

Heather

Yep

there is just something about being on vacation that lowers you resistence to these hawkers. *LOL*

you go on a ship or a port and they are pushing some local fad or nick nack or piece of junk and right then and there you are in the middle of having fun , and maybe a little dulled by drink *LOL* and you think this is the greatest thing in the world and its all part of the experience of visting such and such.

Crap you wouldn't look at twice in a store window at home.

Perfect example, How many women would ever consider braiding their hair at home. NONE!!!!!!! thats how many.

But the second they get off a ship its straight to the hair braider to make themselves look like Farina from the Little Rascals :)

[ASM]

Vicar----Not this lady!!! :)

[LAFFNVEGAS]

Perfect example, How many women would ever consider braiding their hair at home. NONE!!!!!!! thats how many.

But the second they get off a ship its straight to the hair braider to make themselves look like Farina from the Little Rascals :)
Vicar, I am so glad I have short hair, I don't thing they can do it to my hair......or could they:eek:

[bobpatj]

We never would buy any of the "Art" but I'm a sucker for "Inch of Gold" and have never had a problem with it. My DH's watch broke while on a Volendam cruise, so he bought a $10 watch on board and it's still working after a year and a half!

[HeatherInFlorida]

Vicar----Not this lady!!! :):D Not this lady either!!!! And if I ever did there's all likelihood I wouldn't be allowed back on the ship. LOL at the very thought!

Yes, no question about it ... glad we all agree "they see us coming" for sure. Because think of how many times we say ..... oooooooh it will be such a nice momento of our cruise! Yeah, right:rolleyes:

Bobpatj, you're right, the watches aren't bad. And for the price you can toss them when the battery wears out.:o

[LAFFNVEGAS]

Vicar, where was that Hair Braider on the Blender Thread????

[Vicar]

I have never bought one of those watches on a cruise , but I have bought several of those knock offs they sell on the street in NYC and have never had a problem with them.

they usually last about a year or even more, They keep good time, they have never faded or turned my arm green, and when they stopped working i tossed them.

i have several good watches and one very good watch and I wear the cheapies to work where I always bang them up and get them dirty. so if i ruin them , no big deal

[HeatherInFlorida]

Vicar, those are probably the same watches. The cruiselines buy them up at the same "vendor":D and pawn them off on their ships. Still, I won't knock them because, as you say, they serve a purpose.

[Vicar]

Lisa,

The hair braider got a little too close to my chain saw while I was cutting a few steaks at the Lido pool.

I think he became a petite filet one night at Pinnacle *LOL*

[Vicar]

Heather

oh I don't think HAL buys from the exact same crack addict with the brief case I buy mine from *LOL*

[Roboat]

Heather

oh I don't think HAL buys from the exact same crack addict with the brief case I buy mine from *LOL*
:D :D And for the one above, too!

[Vicar]

Roboat

*LOL* thank you


I enjoyed reading your art auction ordeal too *LOL*

[estj]

Ok...since I've been an idiot more than once, I'll share that we HAVE purchased "art" on the cruises...and frankly, I enjoy the pieces. We didn't purchase them as an investment (like our "real" art work)...I have them framed and rotate them in my office. Looking at them reminds me of the cruise...and they serve as a conversation piece.
Will I purchase more? perhaps! and perhaps not! some people like purchasing posters...well...these are my posters!

[Roboat]

Ok...since I've been an idiot more than once, I'll share that we HAVE purchased "art" on the cruises...and frankly, I enjoy the pieces. We didn't purchase them as an investment (like our "real" art work)...I have them framed and rotate them in my office. Looking at them reminds me of the cruise...and they serve as a conversation piece.
Will I purchase more? perhaps! and perhaps not! some people like purchasing posters...well...these are my posters!
Now that's the way to do it. Sounds like you are much more knowledgeable than I was.

I'm lucky there wasn't a pretty lady selling that stuff or I'd probably bought a hundred pieces!

[Peggy Sue]

10 years ago, when the Royal Majesty out of Boston sailed under Dolphin Cruise line..we sailed to Bermuda...Our second cruise and first art auction. We were seated in the lounge when the folks came in to setup the auction. We skipped the cheap wine, but did pick up a couple of very inexpensive prints, one beautifully framed, the other not. We did get the second one framed once we returned home and have them both in our family room. I don't think we paid $40. for both of them..we just liked them. There was also an artist in Bermuda who was selling water colors of the ship docked in Georgetown, which we also picked up for $20. A nice memory. I don't think we would have made an effort to attend this art auction..but we were already there, enjoying a drink on a beautiful day at sea and figured no harm in investing an hour of our time. On some pieces, bidding was quite spirited. Only one of our two prints did we have someone else bidding, and they dropped out rather quickly. I don't think we over paid..the frame and matting on the one picture was worth more than we paid for it. Not masterpieces by any stretch, but the are pleasant to look at and we've had many people ask where we found them.

Never been to another art auction....

Never been tempted to by the inch of gold, or the rings, or the watches. about the only things we purchase in the gift ships are post cards of the ship. Never been interested in attending another art auction at sea.

Peggy Sue

[dakrewser]

Dave, you never disappoint. I love the story because my husband is still puzzled about the whereabouts of a shirt I got rid of in a similar fashion years ago. Every now and then he'll say "whatever happened to.....?" He he he.
Fortunately (for the sake of the human race) most husbands have terrible short-term memories....:rolleyes:

[ekerr19]

Witness the mobs gathered 'round the "watch sale" day .... or the "ring sale" day with the ugliest rings that have ever been put in front of my eyes. Yet we all rally round and try them on and even, sadly, buy the hunks of nothing.

Heather - I have often wondered about this... I look at this stuff and it is something I'd never consider purchasing at home, but I always have to look. I tell DH "I'm going up to look in the shops", he replies, "why?, you already know everything they are selling - it doesn't change from ship to ship" and he's right, but the need to "shop" or browse is there.

Imagine the amount of money to be made if they actually started selling some good quality merchandise again? :)

[amenuensis]

I looked but did not buy, but my husband, who is a baseball fanatic, bid on a large autographed photo of Pete Rose "for our son," he said. Our son Danny was then 8 years old, and once our bid was submitted, Danny stood guard in front of the photo and told everyone who looked like they wanted to bid on it that he REALLY REALLY wanted the photo and would they please just walk away. It worked, no one else dared counter our bid, we now have it hanging in my husband's home office.

[ilovhywd]

I guess I'm in the minority, but I love the auctions, especially when the auctioneer is good and educates us about the artist and his/her techniques.

Whoever called these "posters" is unaware that they are limited edition, signed seriographs, most of which do have value. Of course, some of the artists are more "collectible" than others.

I don't buy expensive pieces, but I frame them beautifully and enjoy them in my home every single day.

No one puts pressure on you to buy anything, and it's a "different" activity for a bad-weather sea day.

[carol louise]

I've never bought anything at the art auctions, or even sat down, but I have stood by and listened with fascination to the auctioneer's patter. He never stops talking, what he says sounds to me more like salespitch disguised as art critique, but it's amazing how glib he is. I have to admire his verbal skills, sort of like those of a good ventriloquist or a stand-up comic who talks non-stop like Robin Williams.

[Orcrone]

I was interested in the art auction. But after wading through the pictures I could not find a single "dogs playing poker" or any velvet Elvis. And they said they had class.:D

[ekerr19]

Our prints came matted & framed - do they not do this anymore???

[ekerr19]

I was interested in the art auction. But after wading through the pictures I could not find a single "dogs playing poker" or any velvet Elvis. And they said they had class.:D

Ah Marc - you're still here! Haven't seen much of you lately... thought maybe some of the recent threads may gave kept you away... ;)

[Orcrone]

Ah Marc - you're still here! Haven't seen much of you lately... thought maybe some of the recent threads may gave kept you away... ;)Still alive and kickin'. Just trying to limit how much time I spend here (no more than 20 hours a day). Also, was out of town this weekend with DW and two DDs at DW's family reunion in Michigan.

[ekerr19]

Just trying to limit how much time I spend here (no more than 20 hours a day).

LOL, I hear you! Welcome back -

[jazzsea]

My son calls me a mullet. He believes that just about anyone could sell me anything. I'm better now. I don't watch shopping channels and I seldom, if ever buy anything from the ships. However, I bought a "inch of gold" set for my granddaughter who is five. She was a flower girl in a wedding and was wearing a cotton candy pink dress. I bought her the chain with the pink stones in a necklace and bracelet. She thought she was a real princess. Actually she thinks she's a real princess.

We have several pieces of art that we purchased from the Art auction. One piece when we were on Royal Caribbean about five years ago and one we bought two summers ago on Radisson. We both really like the paintings and will have them in the car with us when we evacuate (if necessary) from Hurricane Frances.

[dakrewser]

Whoever called these "posters" is unaware that they are limited edition, signed seriographs, most of which do have value. Of course, some of the artists are more "collectible" than others.
Um, serigraphs are silkscreened posters. Not all posters are serigraphs, but any serigraph can be called a poster. That doesn't change their value, of course.

[jdrblue]

Art Auction? Ever bought anthing? No I haven't but I know someone who has. June '03 we were on the Norwegian Star with two other couples who never missed an auction. The Star missed a port in Hawaii so that was one more auction. One of the other couples was my brother and sister-in-law. They bought over 20 pieces and the other couple bought about 10 pieces. My brother checked all of the values after returning home and was satisfied with what he paid. The other couple felt they had paid way too much for the most expensive piece. After a lot of haggling with the auction company, they got a full refund.

My brother and sister-in-law just got back from a 7 day Alaska cruise fully paid by the art auction company, Park West Gallery. There were about 20 couples on the cruise as guests of Park West. They paid for complete airfare, hotel in Seattle, some shore excursions, several cocktail receptions, airport transportation and a verandah cabin. Everyone had a fantistic trip. My borther admits to buying more art.

My next cruise, yes I will be buying no art.