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*Info for anyone who bought a Michael Godard painting during a Princess art auction.*


drumline13
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Hi everyone,

 

If you are reading this and you purchased a Michael Godard painting on a Princess ship, you may find this very helpful. I learned the following over the last few days after talking with a few Michael Godard Fine Arts employees...

 

Prior to January 2008, Godard Fine Arts used a printing company called "Harvest" to print the Godard paintings. It was later discovered that Harvest used a paint that expanded/contracted (with weather changes) at a different rate than the canvas on which it was printed. After 2 years, many of the Godard paintings began to crack, mostly around the edges. I was told that Godard Fine Arts estimated that this happened to approximately 30% of their paintings. The Godard store in Atlantic City actually had to close for a little while in order to replace all of their cracking paintings. Godard Fine Arts considered a lawsuit against Harvest.

 

Around January 2008, Godard Fine Arts switched printing companies, and apparently these newer paintings don't have the cracking problem. The problem with the Harvest printing company is very well known....both by Godard Fine Arts, and the Princess Art company (Global Fine Arts).

 

I own a Godard which I purchased on a ship in October 2007. A few months ago, I counted 65 cracks near the outside edge of the canvas. I mentioned this to Godard Fine Arts, and they told me that Princess was aware of the issue, and that Princess gave refunds to some people who purchased the older Godards (in addition, Godard Fine Arts is issuing refunds to anyone who bought these paintings directly through them).

 

I contacted Princess yesterday, and they requested that I send them photos of the cracks in the painting. I am currently awaiting their response.

 

So, if you have a Michael Godard painting that was printed before January 2008, you may want to examine the painting for cracks. I know how angry I was when I discovered the cracks, so I'm hoping this information may help someone else.

 

*As a note, the cracking problem has nothing to do with Princess. The problem is directly related to the paintings themselves. Godard paintings purchased directly from Godard Fine Arts had the exact same problem.*

 

*If you are curious as to whether your Godard painting were printed by Harvest, look on the letter of authenticity. The printing company is listed on the letter.*

Edited by drumline13
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I just checked our certificate of authenticity and our Godard was also done by Harvest Productions and purchased in 2007. I will be checking it ASAP to see if we have any cracks in our print. Thanks for the heads up!

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I just checked our certificate of authenticity and our Godard was also done by Harvest Productions and purchased in 2007. I will be checking it ASAP to see if we have any cracks in our print. Thanks for the heads up!

 

Nice to know that someone else may benefit from my info! Hope your painting isn't having any problems. I was in the Atlantic City shop the other day, and I mentioned the "cracks" in my painting to the salesperson....hoping he could tell me what I could do to repair it. He explained the entire issue to me, and I verified it all with Godard's sales manager.

 

If anyone else finds my info helpful, please add a note to this board to let me know!

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drumline13, I did check and do not see any cracks, but will check more in the morning when I have better light. This picture hangs outside of my husband's home office and he loves it. Ours is the "Perfect Zen" from the Don't Drink and Draw Series. Anxious to hear what Princess has to say about it. Thanks again for sharing, learn so much from these boards.

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drumline13, I did check and do not see any cracks, but will check more in the morning when I have better light. This picture hangs outside of my husband's home office and he loves it. Ours is the "Perfect Zen" from the Don't Drink and Draw Series. Anxious to hear what Princess has to say about it. Thanks again for sharing, learn so much from these boards.

 

TM, mine is "Burning it Up". The cracks were much easier to see in the early spring....when the air was very dry. They are harder to see now (probably due to swelling in the humidity), and they look like white hair against the black background. When I took photos with a flash, they were a little easier to see. I'll try to update you on Princess' response...

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drumline13,

 

Is your Godard printed on paper? Ours is a giclee' on canvas. I checked it again this morning in the early light and do not see any cracking, thankfully. I will continue to follow this as I am curious to what Princess will do. We have purchased many pieces of art from them (about 16) and a few did arrive in not so perfect condition. I will say Princess was wonderful to work with, but you do need to stay on top of them. All in all, we have always had a positive outcome with them. Good luck.

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Update:

 

Princess Fine Arts (name: Global Fine Arts) contacted me today regarding the photos I sent them of my painting. They said they are going to provide a replacement painting....same edition, same edition #, hand embellishments, etc. They are going to arrange for Fed Ex to pick up my painting at my house, and they said it should take 6 to 8 weeks to get the replacement.

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drumline13, that's great news! Regardless of what other people say we really enjoy all of our art work. It has brought us so much pleasure and we have learned so much from all of the art auctions we have been too. I knew that Princess would step up to the plate on this. I will keep checking on mine...just in case. Thanks for bringing it to our attention.

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At the risk of getting flamed, might these pieces be worth more in any way? I'm a person that likes art for how it looks, so I'm really shallow on judging value. Funny how "mistakes" sometimes are more valuable than the pure thing.

Just curious.

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Update:

 

Princess Fine Arts (name: Global Fine Arts) contacted me today regarding the photos I sent them of my painting. They said they are going to provide a replacement painting....same edition, same edition #, hand embellishments, etc. They are going to arrange for Fed Ex to pick up my painting at my house, and they said it should take 6 to 8 weeks to get the replacement.

 

FYI I would not give up the old one before you know the new one has a shipping number.

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At the risk of getting flamed, might these pieces be worth more in any way? I'm a person that likes art for how it looks, so I'm really shallow on judging value. Funny how "mistakes" sometimes are more valuable than the pure thing.

Just curious.

 

Redwing....I don't think a painting that is bound to fall apart more and more over the years is going to be worth more than a perfect one. :) I didn't buy it because I thought it would be worth something someday....I just like really like Godard art, and I wanted a painting of my own. I'm not concerned with value...I'm only concerned with how it looks hanging on my wall! :D

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FYI I would not give up the old one before you know the new one has a shipping number.

 

Deborah, I don't have a choice....since my painting is one of a numbered series, they can't reissue a new one with my same edition number until they have received the old one.

 

Anyway, I'm supposed to have mine picked up by Fed Ex on Wednesday, so hopefully this will get the ball rolling! :)

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  • 1 month later...

We bought a painting in April on Crown. We were told we would have it in 3 weeks max for the $20 we paid for the tube with the painting in it. A month later we still have no painting. SO I phoned Global and spoke with 4 people before I get someone who knows we bought ours on Crown, it was charged to our bill that was paid for before we left. Problem was it disappeared from the ship & we do not have it. The guy on the ship brought it over to me with the paperwork to fill out with name address & phone #. It stated $20 shipping charge but we have the painting. The woman at the computer on Crown's painting area in the bar, was freaking out at how we got it when it should be on stage. So it was taken & put on an easel on stage & we got a copy of the paperwork.

 

A week later I get a call from Princess' Accounting Dept telling me that a credit for the full amount was going on our VISA and it was there the next day. Guess they never found it since they just refunded our money, instead of calling all ship to locate it. No problem with us.

 

The 2nd painting showed in 2 weeks and was framed at Michael's for 50% off ($79) and we enjoy it.

 

 

drumline13,

 

Is your Godard printed on paper? Ours is a giclee' on canvas. I checked it again this morning in the early light and do not see any cracking, thankfully. I will continue to follow this as I am curious to what Princess will do. We have purchased many pieces of art from them (about 16) and a few did arrive in not so perfect condition. I will say Princess was wonderful to work with, but you do need to stay on top of them. All in all, we have always had a positive outcome with them. Good luck.

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My husband is looking at our "Bar Fly" MG as I type for cracks.

Let me tell you a story about Princess Fine Arts though....several years ago we "won" some prints. All but one came several weeks after our cruise. We were told that we would not be getting one of them because the art auctioneer had given it away to more than they had prints for so we would get our framing fee refunded. Then, out of the blue, a print arrived. I figured they found another and didn't bother to unpack it for several months. We were moving and I didn't really have room for it. Ok.....I finally unpack it and it's a Michael Godard "Shooting the Wad". I call Princess...."Oh...that's expensive (well relatively speaking it was more than our free one) we'll send UPS/FedEx to pick it up. I repack it, wait one Friday night and no one shows up. I call.... I call again....I call again....there is no concern what-so-ever that I have this framed print. Finally after letting it sit in the packaging over a year later, we put the darn thing on EBAY and sold it for $1000! The guy buying it (framed) was glad to get it and we put the money toward another cruise. So thanks to Michael Godard and Princess we got a big discount on our next cruise!

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  • 11 months later...
Just an update: Nothing really to report....I'm waiting on Princess to send me the new painting. No word from them yet...

 

Any update on this?

 

Also, do you have specific contact info or did you just go to Princess directly?

 

One of my Godard painting has this very problem.

 

Thanks for any help!

Edited by admranger
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Quick question....how much is the average Godard cost on princess. I was just given one from the Godard store in key west. Thanks

 

That's like asking what is the average cost of an airplane ticket. The average cost has no indication of what a particular painting costs.

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Checked out our 2005 era canvas. It is fine with no cracks. This Goddard has been the centerpiece of the bar and now the wine room. It features a grape holding on for dear life while slipping and hanging from the keyboard of a Steinway Grand piano.

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Checked out our 2005 era canvas. It is fine with no cracks. This Goddard has been the centerpiece of the bar and now the wine room. It features a grape holding on for dear life while slipping and hanging from the keyboard of a Steinway Grand piano.

 

Considering that Goddard does these painting as a protest against excessive alcohol consumption, I wonder if he realizes how many bars end up displaying his works.

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Any update on this?

 

Also, do you have specific contact info or did you just go to Princess directly?

 

One of my Godard painting has this very problem.

 

Thanks for any help!

 

Just an FYI......Since this thread was started over a year ago and "drumline13" hasn't posted on CC since October 21.2010, you may not get an answer. However, you may just want to go back to the original post and write directly to any of the specific companies they had listed and see if you can be helped that way.

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Quick question....how much is the average Godard cost on princess. I was just given one from the Godard store in key west. Thanks

 

The price will vary by a considerable degree depending if you have an original piece, a giclée or a framed poster and also based on size (he paints a wide variety of sizes).

 

I own a very small (8x10) and very simple original and paid about $800 for it.

 

I may have been hosed, but I really like it. :)

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