Art for Sail

Art Business News, July, 2001 by Lisa Crawford Watson

Cruise ships open a great trade route for art

When you were at home a week ago, you had never heard of artist Michael Kachan. This week from the deck of a cruise ship, you're desperate to have one of his paintings. Chalk it up to the complementary champagne, a little too much sun or, perhaps, a genuine attraction to the art. But something lured you off the Lido Deck during a Carnival Caribbean cruise and into the Queen Mary lounge to participate in an art auction at sea.

Maybe it was curiosity. Possibly it was the need for a change of view from the endless blue ocean beyond your deck chair. Perhaps it was the thrill of the hunt, the seduction of a good bargain or the need to fill the wall space above your fireplace. Whatever it was, you set down your beverage long enough to lift your bid card and are now the proud owner of Kachan's whimsical "Flights of Fancy" pencil-signed serigraph.

"I found it an excellent way to buy art," said veteran cruiser Donna Phillips, a California artist and musician and the co-founder of smoothjazz. com. "I didn't expect to until I attended an auction. Before I didn't see the fit between a cruise venue and art, and I didn't expect the art to be so appealing."

Art auctions at sea are not new. More than a decade ago, a few cruise lines brought art on board and received an enthusiastic response from passengers. Deemed entertaining, educational and profitable, the business was born.

By 1993, a variety of players had entered the waters, particularly Ira Shore, who then was running art auctions on Celebrity Cruises. A year later, he struck a deal with Park West Gallery to take over the auctions.

"Park West has made an enormous investment in making certain that art auctions are everything people expect them to be," said Shore. "They conduct them with integrity and fairness, and they offer good value to their clients."

Founded in 1969 by President Albert Scaglione, Park West had been hosting land auctions in hotels for more than 20 years. "Our first auction at sea was on the Celebrity Zenith," said Scaglione, who remains at the helm of the company, which now earns in excess of $100 million a year. "About that time, we took over the Crystal Cruises contract, as well, and did back-to-back six-figure sales. We've made some changes over the years, but for fairly uncharted waters, it was a wonderful business from the start."

Although a few other companies compete for business in the art-auction regatta, Park West At Sea remains the largest, covering the trade routes for Carnival, Celebrity, Crystal, Cunard, Holland-America, Norwegian, Renaissance and Royal Caribbean cruise lines, as well as the Windstar sailing vessel.

"The evolution is amazing," said Shore, whose California-based company Fine Art Management Corporation continues to supply art to Park West. "Albert accounts for a large part of my business. I owe my success to him. It's comforting to know the business is in good hands."

Anchored in Michigan, Park West's land gallery occupies 62,000 square feet of metropolitan Detroit, including 16 different chambers, which exhibit the work of more than 150 artists.

Of the 100 affiliates who sell art for the company, 67 may be found auctioning art on board cruise ships. This includes auctioneer Barbara Dion, who is known for her research, storytelling and boundless enthusiasm. One of 13 female auctioneers, she currently ranks third in the company for sales.

Auctioneer Barbara Dion Floats to Success

Frankly, she was tired
of wearing a clown
suit. Barbara Dion
needed a job change. One
look at the art auctioneer
on board a cruise ship, and
Dion figured it out. "I could
do that," she thought.
Selling art at sea had the
same energy as the clown
job, plenty of public contact
and smaller shoes to
fill.

Dion called Albert
Scaglione, president of
Park West At Sea and told
him she had the right
personality for the job. "Name
six impressionists," he
said. She said she'd call
back.

"Barbara is one of the
most energetic, enthusiastic,
effervescent and determined
people I've ever
met," said Scaglione. "I
knew she was going to be
one of the greatest or
worst salespeople I've
ever hired."

Four years later, Dion is
proving to be one of the
greats, not only through
her sales, but also by her
burgeoning clientele.

"The quality of the art
has a lot to do with it," said
Dion. "But I like to deal
with people, educate
them and build relationships
for the future."

Dion, who spends as
much as eight months at
sea at a stretch, never tires
of the spotlight, the art or
the audience.

"Barbara makes the art
very accessible," said
Carnival passenger Donna
Phillips. "It wasn't at all
intimidating, and a lot of
that has to do with Barbara's
style ... It's sort of like
wine tasting. If you make
the process easy to understand,
it doesn't have to
intimidate."

Most recently, Dixon
was named "Auctioneer of
the Year 2000" by Park
West Gallery for "overall
excellence in all areas."
She beat out 66 other
auctioneers, and it's the first
time a woman has been
awarded the honor.