PPFA Park West Replies

[Paul N]

A couple of weeks ago NY Times posted a story about Park West customers who bought art on cruise ships. Today Park West replied:

August 10, 2008
Letter
Auctions in the Art World

To the Editor:
Re “Art Auctions on Cruise Ships Lead to Anger, Accusations and Lawsuits” (Arts pages, July 16):

Our company, Park West Gallery, was founded on the idea that fine art should be accessible for viewing, and for purchase, by the many millions of people who do not live in gallery-rich cities like New York or Los Angeles.

Park West has just celebrated its 40th year in business and has now served more than 1.2 million satisfied clients.

Of course, it is not unusual in the art world for a small number of buyers to second-guess the prices they paid at auction. But the fact is that Park West buys or takes on consignment most art for sale to the public — approximately 90 percent — directly from a living artist’s studio, and we work directly with artists to determine pricing. This process is influenced by the artist’s own pricing structure, and Park West opening bids typically are set at 40 percent less than the artist’s own established price structure.

The article also did not point out what is widely known in the art world: market values cannot be based on what happens in a single auction sale on one specific day. This of course is especially true if only a limited number of bidders participated and a limited number of individuals were aware that the auction sale was being conducted. Over time, of course, many signed, limited-edition works and paintings sold through Park West Galley have risen sharply in market value.

Finally, Park West guarantees the authenticity of every work of art it sells. The artwork we sell comes primarily from the artist’s studio, and we use the world’s finest experts to authenticate all others. Our staff uses market-recognized tools, including reviews by a network of accredited independent appraisers who adhere to the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practices to appraise our art work.

In Park West’s 40-year history, we have never sold a nonauthentic work of art.

Albert Scaglione
Chief Executive
Park West Gallery
Southfield, Mich., Aug. 7, 2008

 

[Jeff Rodier]

They use the same standards used to determine fair and accurate values for homes sold during the boom. Turns out that they overshot the value of housing by 30-40%. Truly an honest and ethical group.

 

[j Paul]

I've got a friend that is a Park West artist. I'll ask him if gets to set his own prices. I believe he is under a yearly contract to produce X number of pieces and then Park West does what they want with them. Some are sold as "unique" 1-of-a-kind" pieces and some are turned into limited editions.

 

[surferbill]

In Park West’s 40-year history, we have never sold a nonauthentic work of art.

Albert Scaglione
Chief Executive
Park West Gallery
Southfield, Mich., Aug. 7, 2008

If you believe that, I've got some great swamp land in Virginia Beach, I'll be glad to sell you.

PS. What do they mean by "nonauthentic work of art" ??

 

[Jeff Rodier]

If you believe that, I've got some great swamp land in Virginia Beach, I'll be glad to sell you.

Hey Bill,

I have 40,000 blank sheets of paper with Dali's signature on them that I will trade for that swamp land.

 

[JRB]

No matter how or who slices the cake, in the "art" industry there are always going to be unscrupulous behavior. If you could sell a piece of paper for five thousand dollars because it had some sort of picture on it, you more than likely would. That sale could actually become more urgent if your house payment or shop rent was due.

I had a customer come in my store a few days ago with a very common photo mechanical offset print from New York Graphic Society. The print was framed, I guess, to be kind, questionably by the gallery he purchased it from.

The print was "hinged" to the mat with three large chunks of art tape. The backing consisted of a sheet of about twenty pound rag paper, then regular foam core, not acid free.

The print itself had five or six handling kinks in it and appeared to have been around a while before it was framed. The only thing that made this Andrew Wyeth print unique is that it had a pencil signature by Andrew Wyeth.

My customer had paid four thousand dollars for this framed Wyeth print, the one with the dog on the bed, because it was signed by the artist. It also came from some big mucky muck art gallery. I can't recall who it was he bought it from.

Sloppy framing, not archival, Plexiglas, fabric wrapped mat with a wood fillet.
The reason the customer brought it to me in the first place was that the frame had fallen apart. The reason it fell apart was that the only thing holding it together was glue. No "V" nails, regular nails, Thumbnails, no nothing. A three inch wide wood frame about 27"X35" held together with glue?

Anyway, it was really hard for me to keep my mouth shut over the price he paid, but I did. The heck of it is, I have trouble believing that Andrew Wyeth would have gotten involved in such nonsense, so I doubt if it is even his actual signature.

John

 

[Janet L]

Maybe something is wrong w/me, but I don't care what the customer pd for it. If THEY think it's valuable or is gonna become extremely valuable, I'm gonna sell 'em the "works" to frame it. I'm not an art appraiser and I'm very quick to point that out to my customer if they ask me what I think something is worth. But, from the framer's standpoint, I'm gonna do everything in my power to make sure I don't do anything to harm their "valuable" piece of artwork.

I personally wouldn't own a piece of TK's work, but I sure do love the customers that want it framed to preserve it for the future!

I share space with an artist, and we both believe that TK is a genius at marketing his carp. It appears Park West is just as good at selling their stuff.

Janet Lowry

 

[Bill Henry-]

You can bet that that statement by Park West was vetted by some high priced lawyer(s), so every word of it is legally correct. While Park West may be unscrupulous, they are following the letter of the law.

Caveat Emptor.