Rough Sailing for Park West

Mike Martindale of the Detroit News is reporting that Park West Galleries is being sued again. Park West Galleries is now being sued by novice collectors for selling what is claimed to be nearly $600,000.00 in fakes and forgeries. The suit claims the artwork is nothing more than glorified posters. The art was sold to the novice, unsophisticated collectors on cruise ship lines. No surprise there.

Martindale states The alleged victims claim the artwork was represented as original by Park West employees, including owner Albert Scaglione and gallery director Morris Shapiro, and was accompanied by a certificate of authenticity. But outside evaluations have found otherwise, according to Ralph C. Chapa Jr., the Farmington Hills attorney who is one of several lawyers representing 10 people in the civil complaint against Park West, Scaglione, Shapiro and Royal Caribbean Cruises.

"I can't believe they were able to get away with this for as long as they have," Chapa said. "The people we represent felt they were making investments which would increase in value. Instead, they now find they bought art at inflated prices which, in some cases, have been determined worthless by independent art experts."

Now here is an interesting as well as disturbing aspect to the the Park West story which directly impacts appraisers. Martindale states that people involved with Fine Art Registry, a Phoenix-based online tagging and registration service for artwork that performed some of the examinations, are the subject of still-pending defamation lawsuits filed by Park West in Florida and Michigan. Several art collectors who visit the Web site regularly became concerned about their own art purchases and contacted Chapa's firm, which represents Fine Art Registry.

As appraiser, many of us would look can look at art and come to many different conclusions, it appears the Fine Art Registry, and their appraisers are looking at a lawsuit by Park West. Appraisers have long followed the sales of cruise ship art, and are amazed at the volume and sales given the poor publicity surrounding these sales. But it continues. The public should be protected, the cruise ship lines should become actively involved, as well as regulatory agencies. But as the article reveals, there is a lot of money at stake, such as $300 million in annual sales by Park West. With those types of sales numbers, it appears Park West has the cash flow and resources to protect their sales and mode of operations.

To read the Detroit News article, click HERE.