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Art Auctions


obxlover

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I have bought art onboard. The pricing seems good but keep a couple of things in mind:

 

(1) There is a Buyer's Premimum on top of the action price. I believe it around 15%. This is standard auction thing.

 

(2) You need to factor shipping. Most of the artwork ships from their land office.

 

(3) Apprisals are extra. If you are buying a Peter Max this is a must for your homeowner's insurance.

 

(4) Some of the items are take-off items which means you need to carry them off the ship which can present logistical problems. If you are flying you will need to check the picture as baggage and you need to sign a waiver.

 

 

 

I would suggest going to one of the auctions. They are free. You get a glass of champagne (stop at one or you might get drunk and buy $500 worth of art). If you stay for the whole thing (about 2 hours)you usually get a free lithograph and entered in raffles.

 

Get there during the preview period when they have most of the items on display. Only about 10% of the inventory is "on-stage" during the actual auction. You may discover new artists.

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All of our artwork in our home were purchased on different cruises........

 

I'm really not sure some are "Good Deals" but its what we wanted and liked.......

 

They have quite a few Peter Max's..........Good Luck!

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Here is text (name redacted) of an e-mail sent, with reply received from C&A at RCI:

**************

----- Original Message -----

From: <crownandanchor@rccl.com>

To: <lightsluvr

Sent: Tuesday, February 07, 2006 7:11 AM

Subject: Art Auctions

> Dear Mr. and Mrs. XXXX:

>

> Thank you for your e-mail.

>

> We appreciate you taking the time to give us the suggestion of moving the Art Auctions from the Centrum. A copy of your e-mail has been forwarded to the appropriate management personnel for their review and future consideration.

>

> Once again, thank you for your recommendation and for choosing Royal Caribbean International.

>

> Doris Wilhelm

> Customer Service Representative

>

> [THREAD ID:1-1VB2FY]

>

> -----Original Message-----

>

> From: lightsluvr

> Sent: 1/29/2006 04:52:01 PM

> To: <crownandanchor@rccl.com>

> Subject: Art Auctions

>

> A suggestion that we have seen discussed frequently on Cruise Critic message board: Make your passengers happy...move the stupid art auctions out of the Centrum into some other less utilized public area. The auctions are annoying and take up too much valuable relaxation room in the heart of the vessel!! Thanks.

LL

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I've only bought one piece...its a Thomas Kinkaid. I think my winning bid was something like $60. But, it came rolled in a tube (where it remains). My total bill was more than twice my bid (tax, fees, shipping). Framing is going to cost me at least another $150! So...where is the deal? I could have gone into any Thomas Kinkaid studio and gotten a better deal.

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DH has been attending the art auctions since we built our current house about 10 years ago. We've gotten a number of very nice pieces that we like and enjoy. They have garnered many, many compliments from family and friends. Yes, it was costly to frame, but we wanted them to look very nice, and they do. I think it depends on getting what YOU like and will be happy with. We were not looking for possible resale value, but have noted the same pieces priced much higher since.

 

BTW, I would LOVE a Peter Max - maybe next cruise . . . .

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Hey ob

 

When we got off grandeur this last november we brought home 5 pieces and compared them to our nearby quoted land gallerie prices and came out over a thousand less.

The framing was 250 a painting and i beleive ins estimates were 35 for the first and 15 for each additional.

Try to find a piece of Max that you like and price it before you go. Also we bought ours before the auctions . They will do this and give you a reduced price versus getting in a bidding war. I like the excitement of the bid as much as the next guy but when your talking thousands i would rather not fight:D .

 

Good Luck in your search

Jeff

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We have bought quite a few pieces on cruises and some have been more pircey...of course art is in the eye of the beholder. We have bought Dali, Tarkay, several Steynovitz, and have had them all frame onboard. We had the Dali appraised on land to insure (since it was the most expensive) and it appraised here for $2500 more then what we paid for it.

Also my MIL bought a piece by an artist for $1500 and had a decorator that was familiar with the piece walk in and say I have a client that will pay $6000 for it.

Some on these boards are anti art auctions, but the $25 artwork obviously will not be art to appreciate greatly...you have think about it. And the reason I am saying this is because if you are interested in a Peter Max you know you will pay a pretty penny, but will most likely be a good deal since it's a pricer piece.

Have fun and enjoy!

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Onboard auctions are conducted by reps from the Park West Gallery. There website is www.parkwestart.com. The auction host's a large variety of artist's works. Oils, lithos, seriagraph's are among the different mediums. Signed in pencil, signed in print, embellished are a few of the terms that you may hear and it would be important to have a little knowledge prior to understand what it all means. I purchased two small works by Picot, and yes the fees are a bit much. Sat in the shipping tube for over two years. My DW finally took them to one of the local craft places in town and had them matted and framed. They look fantastic. I had also won a Tarkay during the raffle. (still in tube) My opinion it looks very "posterish". So, do a little research and remember "Bidder beware".

You can also check out EBAY for a few that are being sold still in the shipping tube for an idea as far as prices go.

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  • 1 month later...

I know this is a somewhat later posting on this thread, but I have a few thoughts. First, as full disclosure, I will confess to haveing attended several auction sessions on my last cruise on the Mariner of the Seas in 2004 and bought several pieces, including 2 Peter Maxes and 3 Fanchs. The Maxes were considered premium pieces and the sale included framing and shipping at no additional charge. One of hte Fanch pieces was a "carry-off" piece, already framed. Rather than deal with an airline, struggling to get hte piece to Orlando Airport and then home from LaGuardia, DW and I brought it to the nearest UPS Store and arranged for them to pack and deliver the piece for me. As to the unframed pieces, we went to a local art framer and had them framed for a reasonable cost.

 

We also have used the cruise auction to provide things for the house. While we woould love to see the value of each piece we purchased increase as an investment, we primarily purchased things we liked to look at or had a special meaning to us (e.g., both Max's are Statue of Liberty themed and we live in NYC).

An interesting feature is the "blind" auction, where the auctioneer has a piece backwards and then says whatever it is will be available for a particular price if you say you want it at that price. They have aas many of the pieces as necessary and you are not obligated to actually purchase these kinds of piees once you saw what it was.

 

I would advise one to go early, look at hte preview pieces and talk tohte auctioneer or his assistant. Oh, and good luck bidding

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It costs a fortune to have them framed as recommended by the company:eek:.

 

Not if you cut your own mats. Only use archival-quality Museum Grade Conservation Board, (Matboard made of cotton fibers, which are naturally acid-free and lignin-free. Cotton is time-tested and naturally free of any chemicals or pollutants that would degrade matboard or artwork.) Buy my frames at framesbymail.com

Make sure you use Tru Vue® Conservation Series® glass.

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I have bought a few pieces on the ships, Have a Peter Max original that I bought at a Peter Max show in Ohio, he did a drawing on the backing paper and personalized it for me and the wife, cost a lot less than if I had bought it on board the ship. Buy want you like but know the value, if you do not know ask around before the auction, some art collector, (Nut like me), should be able to give you a good idea on the value. Regardless of what they tell you on the ship art prices go up and down, not just up. So buy what you like, not what you think might be good investment.

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I've purchased art at the auction myself and recently priced to have the three pictures framed since I purchased them unframed. The total cost to frame them will cost more than Park West would have charged me. So...IMHO, unless you mat your own pictures as another poster mentioned, or have a great place for framing...it might be better to have them framed before they are sent to you. I still haven't framed my pictures so am not enjoying them...however, if I had gotten Park West to frame them, they would now be hanging on my walls for my viewing pleasure. The art auction on the Monarch was my first experience and I loved it, will do it again too!

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All of our artwork in our home were purchased on different cruises........

 

I'm really not sure some are "Good Deals" but its what we wanted and liked.......

 

They have quite a few Peter Max's..........Good Luck!

I love Peter Max's work; I just wish I could afford some of his paintings. With a little luck, I'll have an extra couple thousand on my Oct cruise to bid on one, or perhaps even two of his pieces, if I'm lucky.

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Reasons I really like the art auctions on the ships:

  • Good information, knowledge about the artists, works, etc.
  • Chance to preview, see the art work by different artists
  • Prices seem to be very good. Always do your homework first, know what you want, what is out there, costs, etc.,
  • The best art deals usually happen at the beginning of the auction
  • I've seen several excellent deals at the final art auction on the ship
  • Bid on the mystery artwork anyway, as it gives you an opportunity to buy it only, if you don't want it then you just say no to it, however, I've bought and seen great prices and combinations put together
  • they give you a free piece of art, worth about $95 at the end of each auction and usually free champagne
  • Peter Max - do your homework on him first, he's a fabulous artist, expect changes with his art, retiring of statue of liberty pictures and/ or the 9-11 work; I've seen great 'mystery' deals on Max
  • I was on a ship earlier this year and there were 52 art dealers on that ship. Don't let the auction and/ or the art dealers worry you. Know what you want and how much you have to spend. The art auctioneer is a great source of information and works to make art available to everyone for the most part.

Enjoy your Peter Max.

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If you buy a Peter Max origianals or any piece of art off the ship will you get a written appraisal?

 

Is there a difference between an Appraisal and a Certificate of Registration that lists a suggested retail price?

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Peter Max seems to be the hot artist for ParkWest. We purchased a Jim Davis signed Garfield/Rockwell Lithograph in 1999. We were partying with the auctioneer, and he said it usually went for around $150. We brought it up at the last auction on the cruise, and we were the only bidders and purchased it for $80 +. We had it framed and thoroughly enjoy it.

 

I'm sure you have all been following "Art Auction Dilemma" thread on the Carnival board. I was curious about our purchase. It was a limited edition of 750 and online sources have the UNFRAMED lithograph available for $280. So we are happy with our purchase from ParkWest, and the fact that it has gone up in value is a plus. :)

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Has anyone bought art on the ship and if so, did you find it was a good price? We are going this summer and looking into purchasing something from Peter Max.

 

my wife and i several years ago attended an auction aboard ship for the very first time. we ended up buying several pieces at what we believed were very reasonable prices. it cost us another $500+ when we got home to get it framed, but we knew this in advance, as we had just redone the room. on our recent cruise we purchased an original by the same artist, Marcus Glenn, an up and coming artist (we hope). the original ended up costing us a bit over $3,700 framed. we have an appraisal for the piece at just over $5,000, so i think we did okay.

 

i think the key to art auctions aboard ship is to like the the piece you are buying regardless of what you pay for it. for the many that have stated these pieces are available in land based galleries i have this question, when is the last time you looked at your spouse and said "gee hon, lets go to an art auction?" my point is the art is brought to you and even in our case, we would never have gone to a gallery to buy art.

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