Art Auctions at sea and Park West

[tinkerone]

Thank you for sharing Cheryl! And Tinkerone...the martinis were HUGE!

so what your saying is nappy time when i'm done?

 

[Cruella 66]

Either that or

 

[4 mickey]

Hi
We bought our last two cruises 2 pieces from park west and let me tell you that our's were no rip off my DH checked the pieces he bought while on the magic and if bought elsewere they would ( pieces ) have cost a FEW hundreds $ more and yhey are very professional the items came all in perfect condition with lot's of padding ( bubble plastic ) inside the boxes ,
We will buy again in november if they're selling one little thing though it took a few weeks to get the pieces .
So to original poster don't worry !

 

[justhat]

I agree with everything Webray has said! We have bought numerous pieces of art on DCL (as well as Princess and Celebrity) and have had nothing but great experiences. We are true art collectors and we do sail DCL because we love it and so do our kids. Our first cruise with DCL did not have Park West onboard and it was an experience we truely missed from other cruise lines.

And it's not just us, we saw several people purchasing pricey pieces, particularly the Willardson Disney stuff, so I'm sure they do okay.

Cruella66, we have bought several pieces from the same Park West auctioneers you're speaking of (the retired military man and his wife, I don't think I can say their names since I guess they are kinda CMs, but they are great people) and we love them! The Magic had other Park West auctioneers on our Med cruise this summer and we really missed the other 2. They were still okay, but the military man gives you a better price (ask for his "A" price if you're not sure, it's the absolute lowest they're allowed to sell for) and they knew a ton about their art.

So I would not worry at all about your art, Cruella. It will come, and be totally fine, and if anything is wrong with it Park West will definitely take care of it for you without hesitation. And your auctioneer is a really great, honest guy. I'm sure you have got a great deal on your art!

 

[ibela]

Just wanted to add that we bought from Park West on another cruise line and thought the process was great. Bought a kind of pricey piece which we researched after the fact and we DID get a good deal. I think ours took about 8 weeks to receive, we had an issue with the frame on 1, called them, sent it back to them (at their cost) and they sent it back and all was timely with no issues.

Agree with a previous poster, art is very much a "beauty in the eye of the beholder" so if you liked it enough to buy it, enjoy once you get it. Don't hesitate to call them with any issues, just be patient b/c from what I recall their customer service required some patience . . .

 

[nokidz]

they had a few nice disney prints that we were interested in but they were way to much for us. Couldnt justify the cost. We put that money into another cruise. I would be more interested in the disney cells instead of the art that they had.

 

[Empress Room]

Although I cannot comment on the actual onboard experience of purchasing auctioned art, I will say that I live here in Michigan where Park West Gallery is headquartered. The company has an extremely good reputation and has been in business for many years, is located in a very nice upscale suburb, its physical gallery is impressive and the owner is a well-regarded community-involved charitable guy.

Having said that, it does seem to be a pretty odd "tradition" with cruise lines selling art and have never purchased.

 

[din]

they had a few nice disney prints that we were interested in but they were way to much for us. Couldnt justify the cost. We put that money into another cruise. I would be more interested in the disney cells instead of the art that they had.

Years ago in the Disney Stores, when it was owned by Disney, used to sell cells, both reproduction and original. Did not get any at that time, and now I have a hard time trying to locate one, and the prices now...

As for the prices, it is not different that the prices that you see at DTD in WDW or in the parks. I like to echo what has been mentioned, "beauty in the eye of the beholder". We have a Don Williams drawing, Grumpy, and when we were framing it, the framer said something interesting, "the value of the art is what you determine and not what other people say it is".

We have a few pieces from the cruise and parks and we enjoy looking at it.

 

[ch10dad]

I wouldn't worry about "Disney art" as it seems to handled and usually shipped from Disney themselves. Unless you got into a bidding war with someone you probably got it for a fair price.

As far as the work of others, you might want to have an idea of what you're looking at before you buy... Like anything else, it's worth what you're willing to pay for it...

 

[frank2271]

Well, on our last cruise my wife and I purchased three pieces from the auction totaling over $5000.00. My wife and I were very excited about the art, they were all Disney related and we loved them. The auction rep. told us before the auction that they were "bargains" and are worth much more than what they will sell for.

Well, when we got home I did a little research on them and found that the same pieces of art were selling at the "Art of Disney" stores for hundreds less. I was furious, I wrote letters to DCL and Park West. I explained how I didn't appreciate being lied to on my cruise and I expected DCL to step in and fix this. Well I was contacted very quickly by a DCL rep. and she appologized and gave me a choice of purchasing the art at the "Art of Disney" prices or cancelling the purchase. I told her to cancel it because I didn't want anything on my walls to remind my of how I was taken advantage of on my Disney Cruise. She said she understood and cancelled the sale.

I will stay clear from Park West on my next cruise.

Frank

 

[5infam]

I have bought several pieces from Park West on another cruise line. Bottom line is, know what you are buying, and if it is cheap (under a $100 or $200) and you like it, don't worry about the price and enjoy it. Park West does have some deals, but most of their art is private, meaning they have an artist create something for them, usually in larger quantities than normal, and they are the only ones that can sell it. This way, there is no good way to price match. Some of their pieces are way over priced, some are deals, but it is hard to tell if you can't compare. I bought a Romero Britto on our last cruise - who is an artist that we collect. Usually, his prints on paper are in quantites of 300 or less - through Park West the painting was quantitied at 750. When I came home, I went through my local dealer (they own about 15 art galleries) to see what it would have cost me through him. It turned out that Park West was the only one that sold them, but my guy could get it for me - at double what I paid through Park West. I also checked with Britto directly (his gallery is in South Beach), and they didn't sell them there either. The dealer at Britto did warn me that Park West does sell some Britto items for double what you can get at the South Beach gallery.

Bottom line is beware and know what you are buying. It could be a fair deal or could be a rip off - similar to buying a car blind, without price shoping. In the end, my Britto was great, but we paid a lot to frame all of the so called "free art" we got. My wife liked the free stuff, and the framing was actually decent, so it was ok, but I wouldn't do it again.

 

[Michelle_R]

I Googled Don 'Ducky' Williams and his web site is under construction. I can't seem to find his work any where else. Any ideas?

Michelle

 

[inkkognito]

His prints are often on Ebay. When I got home from the transatlantic, I discovered that one I have been watching for forever was auctioned on Ebey while I was gone.

 

[Michelle_R]

I already tried ebay and they only had one up. Thanks for the suggestion though. I'll keep checking his website and ebay from time to time.

Michelle

 

[Peggy Jean]

We were on the 7/22/06 Magic cruise and ended up buying 3 pieces of art from Park West at the auction. It really was quite fun that my whole family got into. DH REALLY wanted the "Mickey Policeman" by Willardson, being a cop himself, I fell in love with a Hua Chen that I thought "would go great in our living room". Then we got a Kincade for my sister to give to her at Christmas, since he is her favorite. DS, 19 at the time got a great pic of a scene of the Flat Iron building in NY, can't remember the artist. All our pieces came beautifully framed, well packed and fulfilled what we wanted. We liked them, bought them and find them pleasing to look at.

So this summer while onboard the Wonder, we bought another Hua Chen to go with "Yolanda" as I felt she was 'lonely' I can't wait to get her!

I can also vouch that any time I called Park West, my call was handled very politely and professionally.

 

[MCourtney]

I bought a Romero Britto on our last cruise - who is an artist that we collect

I also am a HUGE Britto fan - met him a few years ago when he came to Tampa (did you know he gave up being an attorney to be an artist? wise decision, wish I could draw ). Anyway thanks so much for the info. On our last cruise, there was a great Britto piece I loved, but I also thought the price was high, so I didn't get it. I also looked around for it when I got back and couldn't find it anywhere.... now I know why. We sail again Saturday , and I am now better informed, thanks....

 

[5infam]

In January, Park West had 5 Britto's they were offering. There was another passenger that bought all 5. They are actually not badly priced, but there is a bit of a trick that I picked up on. The ship I was on (not DCL) had the auction room packed with the art and it all was numbered for viewing before the auction. There were some artists that we asked about (like Britto) that they didn't even have out, but they did offer. For the most part, people were checking off what they wanted them to show in the auction and/or were negotiating prices up front. If they felt you were serious, but you said no to the first price, they would keep coming back to you with lower offers. Sometimes 2 or 3 times - then give you the rock bottom price. We got our Britto by making an offer below their supposed rock bottom price. They accepted it - but still put it up for auction. Funny thing is that when my piece came up - they said they only had one and it was a set price for whoever raised their paddle first. I didn't even get my paddle up and he called my number and that ended it. Basically - they had many more they could have sold, but they weren't going to sell them at that price. Now mind you - I know they made good money - but at least it wasn't crazy overpriced. They make it feel like a regular auction, but some prices are negotiated ahead of time. Just something to think about if you see something you really want on board. Just remember that it is fun and if you like the art, and enjoy it, all id good. When people come to the house and comment on a piece we got at teh auction; there is a good story to tell and it always reminds us of the fun we had on the cruise - so in the end it worked for us. Enjoy!!

 

[justhat]

Along the same lines, very little of what we bought on DCL was actually at the auctions. On other cruises we just bought at the auction, when the auctioneer had told us the price beforehand. But with DCL, we were either doing something else during the actual auctions, or Flounder's Reef was closed so we had our 2 very young kids who did not like sitting through the auction. So we just bought stuff when walking through the gallery.

 

[MCourtney]

Thanks a ton!

 

[goofy4tink]

The actual auctions take place in the main lobby atrium in front of Lumiere's.
It is standard auction format with a fast-talking auctioneer and people holding up bidder cards. It's all very friendly and non-threatening.

My wife sits in the audience just to get the free martini's. You can just hang around the lobby and the drink ladys walk around for your drinking pleasure.

So, I guess I should have gone down to the lobby instead of watching the auction from above!!! I'll know better the next time.