Snowman999
Active member
I collect Naoto Hattori artwork. He's a Japanese Pop Surrealist who creates miniature paintings, with incredible detail. I don't own any of these originals. But, the largest here is 4" x 4". The prints are a little larger. But, his originals are breathtaking. I have a room dedicated to his work. The walls are covered. I have an antique music stand with a book filled with prints. I flip a page a day. But, this isn't about Naoto, he's just wonderfully talented.
The only artist I love more is Salvador Dali. I will never own a Dali original. But, for over ten years I've been searching for a set of his 100 prints for Dante's Divine Comedy. There are stories, theories, real, fake, blah, blah, blah... In the USA until recently, people have aimed to sell sets for roughly 40 - 50 thousand. I will never afford that. BUT, they were made in France, and from there, you can get them for $4000. That's still too much. But, if you do the math, $4000 for 100 prints is $40 a print. Which is what I pay for a Naoto Hattori print. But, I don't buy 100 Hattori prints at a time. Plus, he gives me a discount.
I set a price limit for myself, and occasionally they sell at auction for my price. I found a guy in France selling a fancy set two weeks ago. It turns out he placed an ebay classified ad, which means you deal with the seller off site, and you have no protection. We worked out a deal, and because he refused to use paypal (would have protected my payment) I asked him to take a photo of himself with the books. He refused. He said I didn't trust him. Which I didn't. I bank transfer thousands, receive nothing, I don't get my money back. That deal fell through.
I found a set on an auction site and it was in my price range. I asked a few questions about it, which they didn't bother answering. But, it was in my range, and I was gonna go for it, and if I won, I'd get them to answer the questions before I paid. Since it was in the UK, I had to get up at 6am. So, I had a good chance. The one thing I did know in advance, 30% (pretty high) premium, and I would have to get someone off site to pick it up and ship it to me. They had 4 places listed. So, I thought that was fine. I was the only bidder and I WON!
I can't tell you how excited I was. I sent emails to all four shippers minutes after I won. I emailed the auction house in London, where do I pay? I was so excited. I knew I was probably going to pay about a grand over what I bid. I had NO IDEA I was going to pay almost 2 grand over what I bid. There was all kinds of charges that I couldn't even find in the fine print. Over 50% more than the bid. It took 3 emails for them to answer simple questions, like condition of the prints. Even the ad said to ask. They're coming uninsured. That would have been over $300 more.
The kicker, only one out of four shippers even bothered to get back to me. I asked the auction house if they could reach out and they refused.
I've gone from sheer excitement and joy to, I hope the plane and the package go down in the Atlantic. I'm sure once I see these prints (make sure they're what they described) I'll be thrilled again.
These are three of 100 - they're fucking COOL! There's only one Dali!
The only artist I love more is Salvador Dali. I will never own a Dali original. But, for over ten years I've been searching for a set of his 100 prints for Dante's Divine Comedy. There are stories, theories, real, fake, blah, blah, blah... In the USA until recently, people have aimed to sell sets for roughly 40 - 50 thousand. I will never afford that. BUT, they were made in France, and from there, you can get them for $4000. That's still too much. But, if you do the math, $4000 for 100 prints is $40 a print. Which is what I pay for a Naoto Hattori print. But, I don't buy 100 Hattori prints at a time. Plus, he gives me a discount.
I set a price limit for myself, and occasionally they sell at auction for my price. I found a guy in France selling a fancy set two weeks ago. It turns out he placed an ebay classified ad, which means you deal with the seller off site, and you have no protection. We worked out a deal, and because he refused to use paypal (would have protected my payment) I asked him to take a photo of himself with the books. He refused. He said I didn't trust him. Which I didn't. I bank transfer thousands, receive nothing, I don't get my money back. That deal fell through.
I found a set on an auction site and it was in my price range. I asked a few questions about it, which they didn't bother answering. But, it was in my range, and I was gonna go for it, and if I won, I'd get them to answer the questions before I paid. Since it was in the UK, I had to get up at 6am. So, I had a good chance. The one thing I did know in advance, 30% (pretty high) premium, and I would have to get someone off site to pick it up and ship it to me. They had 4 places listed. So, I thought that was fine. I was the only bidder and I WON!
I can't tell you how excited I was. I sent emails to all four shippers minutes after I won. I emailed the auction house in London, where do I pay? I was so excited. I knew I was probably going to pay about a grand over what I bid. I had NO IDEA I was going to pay almost 2 grand over what I bid. There was all kinds of charges that I couldn't even find in the fine print. Over 50% more than the bid. It took 3 emails for them to answer simple questions, like condition of the prints. Even the ad said to ask. They're coming uninsured. That would have been over $300 more.
The kicker, only one out of four shippers even bothered to get back to me. I asked the auction house if they could reach out and they refused.
I've gone from sheer excitement and joy to, I hope the plane and the package go down in the Atlantic. I'm sure once I see these prints (make sure they're what they described) I'll be thrilled again.
These are three of 100 - they're fucking COOL! There's only one Dali!