So we send off an estimate and very often the result is: nothing. We understand: it is expensive to ship a single artwork as many art shuttles, including ourselves, have a minimum charge.

 If you understand the power of the minimum, however, you can use it to your advantage. On our Los Angeles to San Francisco shuttle, for example, you can ship two or even three modest sizes works for the same price as shipping one. Up to ten cubic feet, all passengers ride for one price, rather like a NYC taxi. (And we don’t stop for women with strollers, either…)

 For many of the high value and trade show divisions of van lines, a 500 pound minimum applies. In that instance you could ship as many as ten artworks of moderate size in one crate and still stay within the minimum weight by volume.

 Hence our advice to artists and galleries: ask thy neighbor! Tweet, email, phone or stroll at lunchtime to the gallery down the street and ask if they might have anything going where you need to go. A big element here, however, is flexibility in timing. The more leeway you have in whatever schedule you have promised your buyer the more time there is to “partner” with another sender.

 Pooling resources can save serious money and is win/win for us shippers, too. We get to make two customers happy who hopefully will return next time around.

Betsy Dorfman

At Fine Art Shipping we broker art shipments to or from virtually any location worldwide. And because we book frequently and often in bulk with carriers, we keep our prices competitive — sometimes less than what you would pay for the same service if you booked independently.

You:

– Save staff time and hence $$

– Fill out one form online, or send one email

– Receive an estimate reflecting the best combination of pricing and schedule to suit your needs

– Deal with one person in our office from soup to nuts

– Multi stop exhibitions also booked this simply

– Pay one invoice even for services performed in multiple locations by multiple providers

– Don’t require a staffer experienced with shipping to arrange for even complicated projects – we’ll help!

We:

 – Survey qualified carriers who serve the requested route or region

– Maintain a roster of fine art services providers worldwide, and know their track record and strong suits

– Have ongoing relationships with carriers resulting in best pricing and attentive service

– Obtain bids from subcontractors as needed

– Contact artists, studios or institutions to obtain information as needed for the estimate  

– Submit one comprehensive estimate to you detailing all aspects of a project

– Prepare all paperwork including international documents, and arrange for customs clearances   

– Contact all venues and handle all aspects of multi stop tours and exhibitions

– Maintain records of past shipments for 7 years in case proof of shipping documents are needed for tax or other purposes

So if you’re feeling a little bit broker (sorry, but who isn’t?) give us a call and see if we can’t turn “broker” into a positive concept!

Betsy Dorfman

Once again this year FINE ART SHIPPING is pleased to be donating art delivery services for the yearly fundraising auction at the Laguna Art Museum. Proceeds from AUCTION 2009 go to further both exhibits and education programs at the museum. With California now officially dead last among states in funding of arts programs  – for shame! — it is more important than ever for actual real people to step in and support these institutions. Plus you just might come away with an amazing piece of art!

This year’s auction features, as the name implies, 100 works from 100 leading California artists. Here’s a link to the auction announcement. Or visit the museum’s website at www.lagunaartmuseum.org for details of all events and exhibitions.

Betsy Dorfman

FINE ART SHIPPING

We have mentioned previously the wisdom of providing the third dimension (the depth) for each two-dimensional artwork to be handled. But equally important is the issue of accurate dimensions. Having correct sizes is critical to crate pricing, and even moreso if crates are to be prebuilt in advance of actually receiving the artworks.

Very often we are provided with dimensions that are ten inches or more off the mark. You artists know who you are… Whether too high or too low, an estimate based on bad information is of little use to either the customer or the vendor. If the “wrong” dimensions are supplied for multiple works, as in a traveling exhibition, then the mistake just compounds and we all might as well just go out for a beer. After work, of course.

Some estimate requestors likely honestly believe that “close” is good enough or that a matter of inches one way or another won’t have a serious impact on pricing. But the truth is that when we design a crate we round up to the nearest 1/8″ inch in most cases. Or for an estimate, perhaps up to the nearest inch. But leeway of several inches? Never. The whole idea of a shipping crate for an artwork is to be custom built to the size of the work. And, believe it or not, too large is just as bad as too small.

When providing dimensions to an art handler the best approach is to supply each dimension labeled as to its correct orientation. For example: L 50 x W 3 x H 80. So if the artwork in question is a photograph that must travel right-side-up, the crating department will know how it must be crated, and any potential shipping issues due to height will be anticipated before it is time to ship the artwork. Send a photo of the work as well where possible, and of course indicate any condition issues that might require a custom or enhanced crating solution.

Guessing at the order of dimensions can be tricky. Many art shippers use art-world configuration of Height x Length x Width. But here at FAS we use the standard shipping configuration of Length x Width x Height in most of our notations, and we always indicate orientation with the letter designations to avoid confusion.

So give accurate dimensions, indicate the correct orientation, and provide as much information as possible about the artworks to be shipped. You will obtain an accurate estimate, and faster, too, as we won’t have to track you down to get more information.

Finally, if you are guessing at dimensions, confess! That way we may be able to offer you a couple of “what if” quotes and there will be less angst all around when that x- plus- ten -incher comes in the door.

Chris Barber & Betsy Dorfman

We will provide information on art handling techniques and materials as well as links to artists, galleries, museums, exhibitions, and art events that cross our radar. We welcome feedback, suggestions for topics, and related links, always!

The other pages on this blogsite will tell you about our famous Los Angeles to San Francisco shuttle (see SHUTTLE) and give a rundown of our key players (ABOUT US). All other requests for our services information, quote requests, or art shipping queries should be directed to us through our website which offers a choice of ways to contact us and obtain such information. That is basically the “business end” and this is the fun stuff.

Generically this means, what? Well, most basically it signifies that something is not crated or slat crated or enclosed in a rigid container but is instead, softwrapped. Somehow. With something.

Over the years we have seen “softpacked” interpreted to mean:

• wrapped in a flannel shirt, with or without tape to secure (watch those buttons!)
• plastic bagged in flimsy bags sporting the dry cleaner’s name and address (my favorite)
• used, very used, occasionally chewed, plastic sheeting draped over the frame
• cardboard corners, but otherwise entirely naked
• loose in a box with an afterthought of bubble wrap settled primly over the top (schoolteacher)
• beachballed in bubble wrap, and taped tightly all around as if more couldn’t hurt, but it can (any package you have to cut to open is risky, especially when guessing at the outline of the object within)
• gift tissue paper re-used, glitter and all

Here’s an object wrapped in plastic with a foreign object taped to the outside, potentially damaging the piece – unless it’s part of the piece, on the exterior of the package, with tape all over it.

This one is wrapped in some random plastic material which is too thin to provide adequate protection.

A used box with misleading printing, taped shut after it began losing its rigidity – fine for moving some stuff across town, but not for shipping art or other valuables.

Here is a piece wrapped in thin plastic, sealed with clear tape yellowed with age (clear-on-clear is a headache for the unpacker), and way too much of it – requiring a lot of knife work to remove.

This piece is popping out of its plastic wrap, exposing it to damage and the elements.

The plastic draped over this piece is used, torn, dirty, unsealed, too thin, and has out-of-date labels.

The “diaper paper” shown here is more gentle on some objects than it may appear in the photo, but sitting uncushioned in a flimsy, open cardboard tray leaves the piece open to damage. And a delicate artwork can be hiding under those messy paper folds haphazardly taped.

Not that all “civilian” packing is inadequate: often it is quite good and serviceable for the intended mode of transport.

Our favorite example of ingenious civilian packing is the customer who tells the story of relocating a world class collection of wedgewood china back in the fifties from the rural south up to Los Angeles in her car, without breaking a single of many hundreds of items. The secret archival material? Sanitary napkins! And she invited us to imagine the look on the faces of the pharmacists as she and her grey haired husband looted the shelves of every box they could find…

This collection was many years later packed and crated by FINE ART SHIPPING and sent off to auction at Sotheby’s London. It contained items so rare that the only similar or matching ones are in possession of the royal family.

There is no one single industry standard for “softpacking”, although there are basic guidelines and understanding of what this means. The condition, medium, value and fragility of the item itself along with consideration of the intended mode of transport are key ingredients; there is no one solution for an entire class of artworks.

But by and large a “softpacked” painting to a professional means that the contents, if a flatwork, is wrapped with a moisture barrier, then packed into a custom cardboard box that is created from sheets of cardboard cut to size to surround the artwork on all sides and edges. This is then taped closed and labeled as to the “face” side and correct orientation. This is also referred to as a “slipcase”.

Slipcases may have other ingredients such as:

• foam lining along the bottom of the pack to protect a heavy frame from its own weight
• wrapping of the artwork itself in glassine or dartek archival materials
• double cardboard over the “face” of the package for added protection
• collar wrapping or “shadow” boxing to allow for air circulation and/or to keep packing material from touching the face of textured, damp or unstable artwork
• glasskin taping over real glass to avoid damage to the artwork if the glass breaks in transit (glasskin is essentially oversized masking tape with an easily removable adhesive)

The elegance of a basic cardboard slipcase…

When traveling in the custody of professional art handlers, even a large slipcase like this can be a safe and economical alternative to crating.

Softpacks can take many shapes, and manufactured, double-wall cartons are often the best option for the job.

…even when a little modification is required.

Large or grouped softpacks are often palletized for greater protection in transit.

The custom pallet is a stronger, leaner and more efficient alternative to standard shipping pallets.

As with crating, the most important part of a softpack is the part that isn’t seen until it arrives safely at the destination.

Cardboard isn’t the only material used for rigid softpacks. When an object has special needs but crating isn’t an option, there is still a variety of archival and alternative packing materials to choose from.

It is important to let your art handler know exactly how your artworks will be wrapped when received. “Softpacked” can mean anything, and often does. If your carrier assumes this means slipcased, and you are operating in flannel shirt mode, this can create risk for the object if the service picking up is not prepared to further wrap the artwork or to return it to a warehouse where this can be done.

There are some prefabricated boxes which can be suitable for packing artworks and some which are eminently NOT suitable: we will have fun with those in a future post. Happy packing!

Betsy Dorfman