Please don't flame me, but we did attend the art auction(s) during our January '07 Eastern Cruise.
I had seen an adorable Pooh picture and DH wanted to entertain the idea of purchasing it for me so we went. We had not idea what to expect, no idea of prices, and just decided to go with an open mind.
During our cruise the auctions were all held in the bar down the hallway from Lumiere's, not in the main corridor. You were able to walk around and look at all the available pieces, talk to the young married couple who were the auctioneers (spelling?) and tag a piece with a sticky note if you wanted it go into the auction. If you liked a piece, you could ask what the prices were, ask what the minimum they would take for the piece, and basically agree to buy it right there before the auction.
DH decided that Pooh wasn't bright and cheerful enough, so he bought me a Tigger by the same artist (David Willardson). We agreed with the auctioneer before hand what the price would be and when it came time for our piece to go up, it went up, we bid and he closed the bid that quick. Woo Hoo! I was thrilled!
Later on in the cruise we went back 2 more times. The second time just to watch and look, the third time to buy 3 more pictures by the same artist (the Disney Fab 5) and then I was a bad girl and bought my DH a 9/11 tribute piece by Peter Max. We purchased 5 pieces all together and those 5 pieces cost as much as our cruise. Yikes! (That's why we have to wait to cruise again until Oct. 08!)
I must say that we are absolutely thrilled with all of the art we purchased! We bought it to use it in our home and all the pieces are very special to us. It took about 8 weeks or so to receive our purchases, and one had a dented frame. Park West arranged to have it picked up, re-framed it, and returned it to us with not problems.
The artwork appraised for about double what we paid Park West and we have since insured it all. It is valuable. When checking similar or identical pieces on E-bay or on other art websites, the price we paid Park West was very reasonable, but not inexpensive by any means. These are not pieces you will find in your neighborhood mall.
One man on our cruise paid more for art than we did for our first home! I'm not kidding!
Salvador Dali was a big seller on our cruise, so was Rembrandt-we didn't buy those! The Dali pieces were of a unreleased Dali/Walt Disney collaberation. Very interesting!
Bottom line is that we learned alot about certain artists, we purchased pieces that we love and have them hanging in our home, and we have been happy with the experience. And we didn't even try the free martinis!
Cindy
I can't wait to get her!
and bought the piece. He absolutely loves it. We're moving to a new home next week and we can't wait to showcase it, we've talked extensively about where to put it. Found just the right spot.
