Park west at sea

Park west at sea

Departing from Sydney on 25^rd August for the Pacific Islands and returning to Sydney on 6^th October was the Carnival cruise ship . On display, during the 12 days at sea were auction pieces from the Park West Gallery.

Since 1993 Park West Gallery, a commercial art gallery, maintains onboard art galleries and produces thousands of live art auctions per year on more than 70 luxury cruise ships around the world.  They currently provide art programs for Carnival, Celebrity, Holland America, Norwegian, Regent Seven Seas and Royal Caribbean cruise lines.

Founded in 1969 by Albert Scaglione, Park West Gallery has intruduced more than 1.3 million collectors in over 60 countries to the world of fine art. Selling nearly 300,000 artworks a year with a revenue in excess of $300 million, Park West states that it is "the world's largest art dealer" based on its volume of sales. Their goal is to provide an eductational, entertaining and welcoming environment that ignites a passion for the arts . The auctions are a popular aspect of entertainment during the cruise, along side shows, gambling and shopping, and provide concessionary income for the cruise operator.

The on board collection featured a wide range of artists, 29 in total, such as Peter Max, Thomas Kinkade, Anatole Krasnyansky, Romero Britto, Csaba Markus, Itzach Tarkay, and contemporary artists , such as Yaacov Agam and Marcus Glenn.

The artworks on display in the gallery were changed daily and consisted of oil and acrylic paintings, watercolors and drawings, hand-signed limited edition etchings, lithographs, serigraphs and hand-embellished graphc works.

Two artists which stood out in the collection were Thomas Kinkade and Yaacom Agum.

Thomas Kinkade (January 19, 1958 – April 6, 2012)was an American painter of popular realistic and idyllic subjects. Kinkade is notable for the mass marketing of his work as printed reproductions and other licensed products via The Thomas Kinkade Company. Park West characteristized Kinkade as the " Painter of Light," a phrase Kinkade protected through trademark but one originally attributed to the English master J.M.W. Turner .Kinkade was claimed to be "America's most-collected living artist" before his death,with an estimated 1 in every 20 American homes owning a copy of one of his paintings.

A key feature of Kinkade's paintings were their glowing highlights and saturated pastel colors . Rendered in highly idealistic American scene painting , his works often portrayed settings such as gardens, streams, stone cottages, lighthouses and Main Streets. Placing emphasis on the value of simple pleasures and intening to communicate inspirational, life-affirming messages.

Kinkade also depicted various Christian themes including the Christian cross and churches

and it was said he gained his inspiration from his religious beliefs and that his work was intended to contain a larger moral dimension. Many pictures contained specific chapter-and-verse allusions to certain Bible passages near his signature. The gallery curator drew particular focus to the signatures on his works , as they gave value to the prints which were available for purchase. The signatures were accompanied with a DNA marker , usually a hair , the christian fish symbol and a number which indicated the amount of times he had hidden his wifes initials within the artwork.

Yaacom Agum (b. 1928) is an Israeli sculptor and experimental artist best known for his contributions to optical and kinetic art.

Park West markets Agum as being “considered to be the father of Kinetic art”. Stating his participation in 1955 in the “Le Mouvement” exhibition at the Galerie Denise Rene in Paris launched the Kinetic Art movement.

In 1964, Agam wrote his artistic credo, unchanged since then.

“My intention was to create a work of art which would transcend the visible, which cannot be perceived except in stages, with the understanding that it is a partial revelation and not the perpetuation of the existing. My aim is to show what can be seen within the limits of possibility which exists in the midst of coming into being.”

Agam's works are usually abstract, kinetic art, with movement, viewer participation and frequent use of light and sound. He is also known for a type of print known as an Agamograph, which uses lenticular printing to present radically different images, depending on the angle from which it is viewed. It was these agamographic prints which were on display and available for purchase.

It seems that Agum, in these works, has fundamentally challenged the accepted idea of the fixed image by introducing a fourth dimension, that of time and space.

The Carnival cruiseship 'Spirit' and the Park West Gallery room were art deco themed. The gallery space was moderately sized and carpeted, its walls were dark tan colored with gold trim. Subtly lit with warm, floor and roof mounted lighting with some works having their own ground level light boxes with dimmer lights.

Framing choices complimented each of the works. For example, Kinkades works were framed in ornate wallnut burl frame where as Agums were framed in white washed shadow boxes.

The style of hanging reflected the temporary nature of the gallery, artworks were placed on large easles in Salon style. Artworks hung in groupings where they were displayed side by side and on top of each other, with the highest value works being at eye level.

Despite this cramped enviroment, the gallery space complimented the works allowing them to play off each other, especially in a commercial context .

The cruise ship provided daily event programs which enformed times and locations for the art seminars, gallery exhibitions and live art auctions. At all of these events free champagne was supplied and the atmosphere was friendly and inviting, but seating was cramped and limited, especially at the auctions.

Park West Gallery, provided a welcoming, entertaining and educational enviroment with the opportunity to study, collect and appreciate fine art .It was a pleasure to see such a broad collection catering for all tastes and it enriched the experiece of a pacific island cruise.