[The Italian One]

'Morning art lover,

I recently sold a sculpture by Spanish artist Pejac (i'm a collector but sometimes i sell to finance other acquisition).

I sold it to a buyer in USA (I'm based in Italy), once i received the payment i provided to ship the art fully insured and tracked with DHL.

When the buyer received the art it was partially damaged, see photos bellow.







At first when the buyer informed me about the art been damaged i was really upset, beside the commercial side of the piece. i buy art because i love it.

From the photos you can clearly see the art was open during inspection in customs and repacked in the wrong way (you can see hole in the carton box ).

at the end of the story insurance offered me to choose between 2 solution :

1) to get half of the insured value and allow me to keep the damaged art.
2) to get a full refund but i will have to send proof of the art being totally destroyed.(that means that i had to totally destroy by my self the art).

I might be a little sentimental but really it was hard to me to totally destroy the art that was mine!

i make the buyer ship back the art to me, and now that the art is back at my place i have to decide between the 2 options.

Honestly i think will restore it and permanently keep it in my collection rather than destroying it.

Just wanted to share my experience and hopefully looking back in 2-3 years and be grateful to my self to have done the right decision.

[streetartger]

Looks like just the wooden bench is broken the ship and bottle look intact... don't think it's too bad... if you get 50% from the insurance, we are talking about around 1500€ - I would keep the piece und glue the wood together. Honestly, money wise I think you made more profit with the insurance way than selling it  And you still have it... once glued together you won't see the damage.

I own a Desprestigio myself. I would never destroy it to get my money back...

[irl1]

This is a big problem with these customs people. Over the years i have often spent 4 hours packing a painting for them to come along open it and spend 10 mins repacking it. 

Sorry to see this happen but you might look back in years to come and thank your lucky stars it was damaged 

Everything in life happens for a reason 

[Dive Jedi]

Yeah, agree with Ger.

Keep the piece. Destroying it for 1500 seems quite a waste.
Unless you REALLY need the money. But I think there will be some members that
would buy it for that / or close to that in this condition.

If it's only the wood, try to fix it. Or have it restored by a professional woodworker.

Or.... ask Pejac. You never know…..

[Matt]

Dude the boat is broken in half.

That thing is worthless

[dustinb]

Such a nice piece, what a pity

[Lifestyle 710]

Thanks for sharing. Interesting outcome.

[stelio]

It appears just to be the base/stand?. Glue it back together, no biggie. Problem solved. Like it never happened.

[chichi carter]

I would definitely go with the option of getting half of the cash, keeping the piece and fixing the stand. And if you're not much of a handy man, just find a carpenter (or a cabinet builder) that has the right glue, nail gun, clamps, etc. He (or she) will put that back together for you in no time. Looking at the pictures it doesn't even look broken. It just looks like part of the stand came unglued. Unless the pieces of wood were rattling in the box and made all sorts of scratches on the bottle that are not visible in the pics, this fix shouldn't even affect the value of the piece. Anyway, I say keep it and fix it!

[The Italian One]

I ended up on keeping it, I insured it for 4k and I will get 2k back plus they will refund shipping.

there are also some scratches but really those are unnoticeable, my girlfriend studied restoration so she will handle the care needed. will post photos.

I think the most important think was to save art from demolition.

[The Italian One]

Jul 23, 2019 12:40:25 GMT 1 sicklypete said:

Agree with all the other comments. But it sounds like this is a rare, demonstrable data point of a courier honouring the insurance in an acceptable way when shipping overseas.

If ever I have anything of value to ship then I'll definitely keep DHL in mind after this story.

yes they did well to me, good communication and they helped me with all the paper needed

[stelio]

Jul 23, 2019 14:06:09 GMT 1 The Italian One said:

I ended up on keeping it, I insured it for 4k and I will get 2k back plus they will refund shipping.

there are also some scratches but really those are unnoticeable, my girlfriend studied restoration so she will handle the care needed. will post photos.

I think the most important think was to save art from demolition.

Yahtzee! Man... you came out great then. 2k back for just a base that came unglued... amazing! Such a easy and simple fix for you.

FYI all the bottles have some scratches on them, not just yours. So no worry there.

[The Italian One]

Jul 23, 2019 14:21:53 GMT 1 stelio said:

Jul 23, 2019 14:06:09 GMT 1 The Italian One said:

I ended up on keeping it, I insured it for 4k and I will get 2k back plus they will refund shipping.

there are also some scratches but really those are unnoticeable, my girlfriend studied restoration so she will handle the care needed. will post photos.

I think the most important think was to save art from demolition.

Yahtzee! Man... you came out great then. 2k back for just a base that came unglued... amazing! Such a easy and simple fix for you.

FYI all the bottles have some scratches on them, not just yours. So no worry there.

good to hear that....  thanks

[met]

Jul 23, 2019 11:02:32 GMT 1 irl1 said:

This is a big problem with these customs people. Over the years i have often spent 4 hours packing a painting for them to come along open it and spend 10 mins repacking it. 

Sorry to see this happen but you might look back in years to come and thank your lucky stars it was damaged 

Everything in life happens for a reason 

Indeed. It comes down to relationships, between events and things:

- action and reaction;
- cause and effect; and/or
- decisions and consequences.

We're able to look back and figure out why something happened. To identify the reason(s).

And, hopefully, learn — with a view to being better prepared and applying this knowledge going forward.



My only issue with the above expression is when it's used to suggest fate, predetermination, or other similar notions that seek to absolve us from our individual and collective responsibilities.

[dustinb]

Jul 23, 2019 14:06:09 GMT 1 The Italian One said:

I ended up on keeping it, I insured it for 4k and I will get 2k back plus they will refund shipping.

there are also some scratches but really those are unnoticeable, my girlfriend studied restoration so she will handle the care needed. will post photos.

I think the most important think was to save art from demolition.

Good to know

[kevincd]

Jul 23, 2019 14:21:53 GMT 1 stelio said:

Jul 23, 2019 14:06:09 GMT 1 The Italian One said:

I ended up on keeping it, I insured it for 4k and I will get 2k back plus they will refund shipping.

there are also some scratches but really those are unnoticeable, my girlfriend studied restoration so she will handle the care needed. will post photos.

I think the most important think was to save art from demolition.

Yahtzee! Man... you came out great then. 2k back for just a base that came unglued... amazing! Such a easy and simple fix for you.

FYI all the bottles have some scratches on them, not just yours. So no worry there.

Agree, the fix should not be difficult

[irl1]

Jul 23, 2019 16:05:32 GMT 1 met said:

Jul 23, 2019 11:02:32 GMT 1 irl1 said:

This is a big problem with these customs people. Over the years i have often spent 4 hours packing a painting for them to come along open it and spend 10 mins repacking it. 

Sorry to see this happen but you might look back in years to come and thank your lucky stars it was damaged 

Everything in life happens for a reason 

Indeed. It comes down to relationships, between events and things:

- action and reaction;
- cause and effect; and/or
- decisions and consequences.

We're able to look back and figure out why something happened. To identify the reason(s).

And, hopefully, learn — with a view to being better prepared and applying this knowledge going forward.



My only issue with the above expression is when it's used to suggest fate, predetermination, or other similar notions that seek to absolve us from our individual and collective responsibilities.

Agreed met. I always find anything we call "bad" or whatever that happens in life happens for a reason. 

Without going into it one crazy (bad) thing happened in my life and if it "didn't" happen i would not have met my wife or have my children.

I can laugh at it now but back then ............       So ........ 



 

[Dive Jedi]

Jul 23, 2019 16:58:23 GMT 1 irl1 said:

Jul 23, 2019 16:05:32 GMT 1 met said:

Indeed. It comes down to relationships, between events and things:

- action and reaction;
- cause and effect; and/or
- decisions and consequences.

We're able to look back and figure out why something happened. To identify the reason(s).

And, hopefully, learn — with a view to being better prepared and applying this knowledge going forward.



My only issue with the above expression is when it's used to suggest fate, predetermination, or other similar notions that seek to absolve us from our individual and collective responsibilities.

Agreed met. I always find anything we call "bad" or whatever that happens in life happens for a reason. 

Without going into it one crazy (bad) thing happened in my life and if it "didn't" happen i would not have met my wife or have my children.

I can laugh at it now but back then ............       So ........ 

I think this is exactly what Met did NOT agree with you.

It's okay to appreciate the bad thing, since it led to new things.
But "things happen for a reason" is total BS. 

Shit happens. It's how you deal with it.

[Coach]

Jul 23, 2019 17:24:28 GMT 1 Dive Jedi said:

Jul 23, 2019 16:58:23 GMT 1 irl1 said:

Agreed met. I always find anything we call "bad" or whatever that happens in life happens for a reason. 

Without going into it one crazy (bad) thing happened in my life and if it "didn't" happen i would not have met my wife or have my children.

I can laugh at it now but back then ............       So ........ 

I think this is exactly what Met did NOT agree with you.

It's okay to appreciate the bad thing, since it led to new things.
But "things happen for a reason" is total BS. 

Shit happens. It's how you deal with it.

...and learn from it.

[Wearology]

Jul 23, 2019 16:58:23 GMT 1 irl1 said:

Jul 23, 2019 16:05:32 GMT 1 met said:

Indeed. It comes down to relationships, between events and things:

- action and reaction;
- cause and effect; and/or
- decisions and consequences.

We're able to look back and figure out why something happened. To identify the reason(s).

And, hopefully, learn — with a view to being better prepared and applying this knowledge going forward.



My only issue with the above expression is when it's used to suggest fate, predetermination, or other similar notions that seek to absolve us from our individual and collective responsibilities.

Agreed met. I always find anything we call "bad" or whatever that happens in life happens for a reason. 

Without going into it one crazy (bad) thing happened in my life and if it "didn't" happen i would not have met my wife or have my children.

I can laugh at it now but back then ............       So ........ 



 

Every piece of art has a story.  
This one has been traveling with me for a few days from Complexcon in Chicago to the airport and than on a plane to Pittsburgh and than on another plane to NYC.  We have bonded.  The key is to pack it as if they may ask to have it checked in the luggage compartment.  






image upload

[Guy Denning]

I think the key thing is to contact the artist first. Ask Pejac and keep copies of communication with the artwork as part of whatever its future history will be. If the artist is happy with the outcome then who can complain?

[19818914]

If you fix the base you have to sign it and date. This is standard practice with repairs.

[ca]

wah, id say you should almost look at this as you coming on top. I would of never imagined a shipping company coming correct so smoothly on something like this.