Art Auctions

[marci22]

I used to see a lot of Peter Max prints at the auctions.

 

From the article below: “Imagine,” he said, “if you doodled some drawings and signed your name and it was the same as creating a $1,000 bill. That’s what Peter does. He literally can print money out of nothing, as much as he wants. He’s like King Midas.”

 

http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2010/07/peter-marx-excerpt-201007

[Missus Makkem]

Any recent experiences on-board with (or without) Park West or other art auctions on RCCL?

 

 

Got off the Indie 2 weeks ago and no art auction there.

[cricketgal]

On our 12 nt trans-Atlantic they had two because there were so many sea days (6). They took over the Viking Crown lounge for most of those days which sort of perturbed me because that was a great place to sit and read and view the ocean out of the cold wind. Pictures stacked everywhere on all the chairs and tables.

 

Just got done reading "Cruise Confidential" by Brian Bruns and he had some interesting things to say about the Art Auction business. Seems there's some pretty good money to be had for good auctioniers which I read between the lines to mean someone is probably getting ripped off.

 

The following happened to us on a FOS cruise a couple of years back. Suffice to say that we will never again attend an art auction by PW, even though we had previously enjoyed collecting art through them.

 

We attended an art auction and it was

announced prior to the auction beginning that anyone who was interested in a particular piece of art should advise one of the assistants prior to the auction beginning and you would be guaranteed to purchase the art at less than the opening bid would be. We spoke with a PW rep about a piece by Steve Bloom and upon checking his computer, he told us that if we confirmed our bid, we could have the piece for $280 rather than $350 which would be the opening bid otherwise. We confirmed with him that we would take it for $280.

The artwork came up at auction and the auctioneer, Richard, started the bid at $100, rather than the $280 we had confirmed at (or the $350 that he said it would start at). We raised our number to bid and Richard acknowledged our bid. He then asked if anyone would bid $225 and nobody bid further. At all previous auctions we had attended, if nobody bid against the last bid, the piece sold for that price. He did not however acknowledge that we had purchased the piece so we waited until after the auction was finished and approached Richard. He asked if we continued bidding and I replied "no, why would I bid against my own bid" to which he rudely responded "it's an auction Madam!". I replied that I was well aware of that, I had been to several auctions before and never had I heard of anybody bidding against themselves. He replied again "it's an auction Madam, did you keep bidding". He called Adam over, the rep we had spoken to earlier, and he said that "Adam had not given him the message that they had a confirmed bid, which is why they started it at the lower price of $100. Adam put up his hand rudely and said to us "nextcruise" in a dismissive tone. My husband then said enough is enough and immediately went down to the Purser's Desk and asked to speak with the Hotel Manager.

The Purser was kind enough to respond and met with us the next day and seemed appalled that this situation had happened and acknowledged that it did not make sense and that she would forward a report to the person in charge of the art auctions.

Another point that you should be aware of is that on the last day at sea, another art auction was to be held and they had various pieces of art on display with amounts indicated on them as "opening bids". I asked the staff member at the display what that price meant and they said the art would start bidding at that amount. I asked what would happen if you bid and nobody bid against you and she replied that you would then buy the art at that price. This confirms therefore that our bid of $100 should have been the purchase price.

[scottbee]

Art Auctions were on board because they were a profit center; paying 10-30% of the total sales back to the cruise line. However; Park West's actions got them in so much hot water that even for the huge amount of money they bring it; it wasn't worth RCCL to risk their reputation and further or piss their customers off any more; so bye bye art auctions.

 

Likewise; do you really think that the nice printed list of shops ashore and the 'shopping director' is there to help you save money? Think again...

 

I am so looking forward to not hearing "up to 80% less than land gallery prices" on this cruise.

[denamo]

The following happened to us on a FOS cruise a couple of years back. Suffice to say that we will never again attend an art auction by PW, even though we had previously enjoyed collecting art through them.

 

We attended an art auction and it was

announced prior to the auction beginning that anyone who was interested in a particular piece of art should advise one of the assistants prior to the auction beginning and you would be guaranteed to purchase the art at less than the opening bid would be. We spoke with a PW rep about a piece by Steve Bloom and upon checking his computer, he told us that if we confirmed our bid, we could have the piece for $280 rather than $350 which would be the opening bid otherwise. We confirmed with him that we would take it for $280.

 

The artwork came up at auction and the auctioneer, Richard, started the bid at $100, rather than the $280 we had confirmed at (or the $350 that he said it would start at). We raised our number to bid and Richard acknowledged our bid. He then asked if anyone would bid $225 and nobody bid further. At all previous auctions we had attended, if nobody bid against the last bid, the piece sold for that price. He did not however acknowledge that we had purchased the piece so we waited until after the auction was finished and approached Richard. He asked if we continued bidding and I replied "no, why would I bid against my own bid" to which he rudely responded "it's an auction Madam!". I replied that I was well aware of that, I had been to several auctions before and never had I heard of anybody bidding against themselves. He replied again "it's an auction Madam, did you keep bidding". He called Adam over, the rep we had spoken to earlier, and he said that "Adam had not given him the message that they had a confirmed bid, which is why they started it at the lower price of $100. Adam put up his hand rudely and said to us "nextcruise" in a dismissive tone. My husband then said enough is enough and immediately went down to the Purser's Desk and asked to speak with the Hotel Manager.

 

 

The Purser was kind enough to respond and met with us the next day and seemed appalled that this situation had happened and acknowledged that it did not make sense and that she would forward a report to the person in charge of the art auctions.

 

Another point that you should be aware of is that on the last day at sea, another art auction was to be held and they had various pieces of art on display with amounts indicated on them as "opening bids". I asked the staff member at the display what that price meant and they said the art would start bidding at that amount. I asked what would happen if you bid and nobody bid against you and she replied that you would then buy the art at that price. This confirms therefore that our bid of $100 should have been the purchase price.

 

 

Your experience is probably among the many similar complaints and exactly why RCCL said enough is enuogh! We like you have purchased pieces we liked. We are not big onboard spenders and don't need anymore trinket souvenirs.

 

I will miss the free art prints just for attending the auction. I have six of those pictures framed and hanging in my office. People continuously comment on them as being wonderful pictures and those who don't comment, always look. They are my reminders that I "work to cruise." :D

 

That being said, there were auctioneers I just couldn't stand to listen to their voice. On one Alaskan cruse it was a female auctioneer whose voice made fingernails on a chalkboard sound wonderful! ;) We did not attend auctions that cruise and made sure we were no where near when auctions were happening.

 

So the good and the bad of PW. The one reason I'm glad they are gone is that my walls are really full now! Hmmm...wonder if I can make money in the casino. ;) Have to do something with all that free time! :)

[Philly Steve]

I have about five PW products (three at no extra cost) on my walls and enjoy them every day. PW had a good run on RCI. I will miss them but their absence opens up more public space. ;)

[cricketgal]

Yes, I totally agree. I have around 8 prints from cruises and only actually bought 3 of them (these of course limited edition ones), which of course are my favourites. To their credit, PW sent me 2 very nice large free prints and an apology after I wrote to RCI regarding the poor treatment we received at the last art auction (I am sure that was due to pressure from RCI to compensate us....hope they fired Richard and Adam of PW!). We receive so many compliments on our art, especially the first one that we ever bought at an art auction. We actually only paid $80 for that one....the opening bid and nobody bid against us....hmmm...kind of proves my point doesn't it.

 

Oh well, as a recent poster said, my walls are pretty full now and while I don't regret having attended in the past, I will miss the freebies art pieces. :)

[uktraveller]

Got off the Indie 2 weeks ago and no art auction there.

No art auction on Brilliance in September either.

[Cruz4Days]

There were no art auctions on the Serenade a few weeks ago.

 

Great! I'm glad. They could really use that space for something fun! I have some very nice art but not from a cruise ship.

[UandMe4Ever]

Got off the Indie 2 weeks ago and no art auction there.

 

Sorry, started duplicate post....

[RCI_FADM_76]

No art auctions on Mariner at the beginning of October.

[UandMe4Ever]

Sorry, started duplicate post....

My original post didn't print! JMHO: Hope there is no Art Auction on the Explorer sailing 11/7/10! They could use the space for something more entertaining to all cruisers. Maybe a "sing a long" type area, just for fun for a while, or "finish the lyrics" type thing! No pencils, no paper, just "shout it out"...

 

Looking forward to our 12 night cruise!!

[marci22]

One of the class action lawsuits against Park West-

 

http://www.fineartadvocacy.com/articles/2009/04/another-class-action-lawsuit-against-park-west-gallery-park-west-at-sea.php

 

"On most cruises at least one passenger will spend up to at least one hundred thousand dollars ($100,000) in purchases of artwork from Park West."

 

ok wow.

[fawneyes]

hi Mack!

I was wondering which series and specific prints you were in search of, I went on a carribean cruise with family back in 2002 and my mother purchased a Gary Benfield print for me, I'm looking to sell it but can't find much information about the series it came from. I've been searching for over an hour now and luckily just stumbled across this page.

 

thanks,

 

Samantha

[jewopaho]

We have bought art at ship auctions and it really is a good price. One of our friends is a CD for Princess and he and his wife ran the Art Auctions for several years before becoming a CD. He said the art is a really good deal. We checked with him before we bought because didn't know. We don't buy on every trip but we usually attend the auctions because the good auctioneers give you a lot in info and it is interesting.

 

The auctions on Princess are in-house, i.e. the auctioneers are employees of the cruise line, which owns the art, and contracts with the artists. This arrangement bears no resemblance to the Park West/Royal Caribbean relationship. We find the Princess auctions educational, as the auctioneers take the time to discuss the artists. The atmosphere is more relaxed ... far from the hustle of Park West. We're not in the market for art, as my wife paints ... but we do enjoy attending the Princess auctions. We never wasted our time going to those on Royal Caribbean or Carnival.

[resordanis]

No Art Auctions on Rhapsody at present, which is sailing out of Sydney.

It made the Centrum a must more enjoyable place to be doing the day. :D

[JohnKen3]

The auctions on Princess are in-house, i.e. the auctioneers are employees of the cruise line, which owns the art, and contracts with the artists. This arrangement bears no resemblance to the Park West/Royal Caribbean relationship. We find the Princess auctions educational, as the auctioneers take the time to discuss the artists. The atmosphere is more relaxed ... far from the hustle of Park West. We're not in the market for art, as my wife paints ... but we do enjoy attending the Princess auctions. We never wasted our time going to those on Royal Caribbean or Carnival.

Even Princess get caught out but were extremely honourable about it.

 

I bought two pieces for $10,000 each along with a couple of other smaller pieces. 18 months later, I got a letter from Princess apologising that they could no longer guarantee the authenticity of the two pieces and were offering me back the purchase price + an amount that came to an 18% return. I did find out on the net that others were reporting the same situation

 

I really really loved the pieces but at least I felt I was more than adequately compensated. Did try to ask for a free cruise in addition (to buy replacement pieces .... blah blah). They refused that but added a bit more to the compensation. According to the courier that Princess arranged to pick up the pieces, they had been driving all over the UK picking up about 80+ works of Art - thats in the UK alone. Must have cost Princess a fortune but shows how dependable their set-up is.

 

No I do not go on cruises to purchase art but when I see something I like (and I do not like things all that often), I buy. Trebles the cost of the cruise and ups the home insurance premiums too!

[jewopaho]

Even Princess get caught out but were extremely honourable about it.

 

I bought two pieces for $10,000 each along with a couple of other smaller pieces. 18 months later, I got a letter from Princess apologising that they could no longer guarantee the authenticity of the two pieces and were offering me back the purchase price + an amount that came to an 18% return. I did find out on the net that others were reporting the same situation

 

I really really loved the pieces but at least I felt I was more than adequately compensated. Did try to ask for a free cruise in addition (to buy replacement pieces .... blah blah). They refused that but added a bit more to the compensation. According to the courier that Princess arranged to pick up the pieces, they had been driving all over the UK picking up about 80+ works of Art - thats in the UK alone. Must have cost Princess a fortune but shows how dependable their set-up is.

 

No I do not go on cruises to purchase art but when I see something I like (and I do not like things all that often), I buy. Trebles the cost of the cruise and ups the home insurance premiums too!

 

Thankfully, you were made whole again, plus a bit mor for your troubles. Princess really stepped up ... you wouldn't have known had they not come forward. I can't imagine Park West doing anything like this.

[SargassoPirate]

Just got off the Stretchment er, um Enchantment of the Seas and it took me several days to realize what was missing from my cruise. I finally relaized how much less clutter there was on my bed at night without the art auction fliers and how quiet it was without the barrage of art auction announcements and the auctions taking over the centrum for a couple of days. It made for a much more pleasant cruise.:)

 

Thanks RCCL for no auctions!

[publicpersona]

Thanks RCCL for no auctions!

Oh, if it were only so. There were art auctions on the Navigator this week, and they said they were also doing them on the Oasis now. It isn't Park West, but "Art Actually". If you google that, you'll find their website where they talk about being on the Oasis.

 

I attended one just for the free champagne (hey, it was cold outside, so needed to find something to do). Was this outfit a scam? I couldn't say. But it seemed a bit hinky. They brought out four or five pieces and said they were "actually worth" a price, say, $2,500, and ask if there were any bids at that price. None. So the auctioneer said "Pass" and they took it down.

 

Next he brought out a "loss leader" which he said wasn't going to be auctioned for several thousand, not even $1000, not even $800 ... but for only $295. The crowd went wild and many hands shot into the air. Fortunately, there was apparently enough of these unique one-of-kind prints to sell one to everyone that wanted one for $295 each.

[Tucker in Texas]

I just got off a trans-Atlantic on the Adventure of the Seas. Park West was gone and a new program in place. I didn't attend any of them but our trivia mate did under his wife's insistence. He answered some question and "won" $400 piece of art only to find he had to pay a "modest" shipping charge of $30 to get it. Since neither of them liked the piece, they declined that offer. The auctioneer told him he would give him $400 worth of art he could carry off the ship. It was four 8x10 pictures. On the back of one of them was a price tag for $9.95. His wife made him graciously accept them even though neither he nor she liked them. He gave them away at trivia that day. I took one because there was a mat with it I could use. Later in the week he "won" more art. Same pictures. Same offer at trivia.

 

On the plus side, they conducted art tours several times to talk about various art pieces on the ship. They were well attended and I heard very good.

 

Tucker in Texas

[taxatty]

Just got off the Majesty. No art anywhere to be sold. When I asked about it at the C & A party, we were told that Art Actually will be replacing Park West "eventually" on all RCI ships and that they will have a special deal with certain artists such as Brito to sell their stuff. No specific time frame was given.

 

Les

[TEXASMUNK]

We have never bought art onboard. Just a question for those who have, or may know. Does the art dealer or the cruise line provide any provinence for the art purchased or is it purely an honor and hope system?

Just curious.

[Coralc]

We have never bought art onboard. Just a question for those who have, or may know. Does the art dealer or the cruise line provide any provinence for the art purchased or is it purely an honor and hope system?

Just curious.

 

See the post about Princess above. I believe that is one of the things ParkWest was in trouble for...misrepresentation.

 

We did purchase a piece from ParkWest back in 1998. It's a signed litho, Jim Davis/Garfield. We are happy with it, and it has appreciated in value. It did come with documentation. I'd have to pull it out of the envelope on the back of the frame though. :)

 

That was the first & last cruise ship auction we ever attended. I don't know if their busines practices changed over the years or not.

 

And there were art auctions on the Navigator Transatlantic this year, with the new company. :D

[north29]

My wife won a painting, and then bought one as well, anyway, the one she bought she had framed, by PW and when we received it, the frame had some slight damage to it, nothing major. We call them, and they asked for pic which we sent, and the next thing I know we had an exact copy of the painting in a frame. We were never asked to send the old one back, so it goes to show you that the prints are, well valuable LOL. Still a nice painting, and the couple we gave the other one to like it also.