Post #407821 by Gromit_Fan on Sun, Sep 14, 2008 12:54 PM

Sushiman,

With ShagMart, and responding to emails,
one thing to keep in mind.

They recently (8/14) got a hold of two dozen of the serigraphs (of the 150)
of "Glorious Lifestyle."

They were sold out within minutes of being announced via the Shagmart newsletter.

Unfortunately, this (I am sure.) caused
a lot of high (and negative) email traffic.
Why?

1. Once many of us saw the original painting at http://www.shag.com,
   those of us who predominately love Shag's work for it 1960's flavor just
   freaked with desire for it. Josh Agle has talked about the house in
   Blake Edwards' film, The Party as a really Shaggy house, and so
   this particular painting, noted as Shag's tribute to that film,
   gets to the root of Shag's inspiration and appeal for a lot of us.

2. Shortly thereafter, Outre Gallery in Australia announced that their
   three-city Shag show would include the sale of the single widest Shag
   print ever: "Glorious Lifestyle." They started a waiting list, which many
   of us joined immediately.

3. Once it was clear "Glorious Lifestyle" was going to have a very high demand,
   Outre Gallery did something I have not seen them do before.
   Months after establishing the waiting list for "Glorious Lifestyle,"
   Outre Gallery decided to limit the print to Aussie clients only.
   (Framing is what most poster shops make all their money in.
   That is where the real profit margins are found.)

4. After months of being on the waiting list, lots of us complained,
   both to Outre and Shagmart, since we knew Piet probably passes this
   along to Josh.
   Weeks later, Outre finally sent out an apology.
   Because of the continued firestorm of complaints and ill-will they generated,
   Outre offered a discount on another exclusive Shag print,
   "Welcome to Your New Lifestyle," to non-Aussies
   that had been on the "Glorious Lifestyle" waiting list.
   This attempt to appease folks didn't really work.

5. Shagmart got the aforementioned couple of dozen signed and numbered copies,
   probably 126 through 150 of the 150, and sent out the Shagmart newsletter on
   August 14th.

6. For every person that got the print in the US, there are probably another
   five that really REALLY want it. I was thinking, if I missed out on it,
   if I knew anyone who knows anyone in Australia who could get
   it for me down there then ship it to me.

7. Even Outre's price for Aussies on "Glorious Lifestyle"
   has gone from $895(AU) to $1500(AU).

8. I am sure that the amount of drama surrounding the lack of availability
   of this print, combined with Outre Gallery not honoring their original waiting
   list, along with Shagmart's surprise announcement and then only have 24
   copies to distribute has caused quite the freak storm of complaints sent
   to Shagmart's email addresses.

I used to get some individual emails from Shagmart, but even in my haste to
order "Glorious Lifestyle," I accidentally included my home zip code,
not my work one (where I wanted the print shipped) and no one at
Shagmart responded to my request via email, though they did correct it
when I got the shipping notification.

I suspect it will be a few weeks or more before Shagmart feels like
opening their email won't involve reading a bunch of complaints.

I have bought a few prints from Shagmart directly, and they
have always come through.

Aside from the last few weeks, Shagmart has been great at personal
responses via email. I got a very nice response from Piet
when I suggested they release a print of another painting of similar theme
and scale, like "The Faux Pas," or "Kookaburra's Roost" to put a band aid
on the wound.

Of course much of this is me speculating, but I saw the excitement and
disappointment surrounding this situation, even among the few causal
Shag fans I know. It will be interesting to see what the final sale
price of the following eBay auction is, as this one of the two dozen
that made it out of Australia:

eBay item # 170261978425

It ends 9/23, and no, it is not mine. I have no plans to sell mine.

REGARDING "THE THINKING HAS BEEN DONE:"
As nice as it is, I think Shagmart and other Shag print distributors
do need to show the actual serigraph and not
represent it via the painting. Personally, I feel the figures are too posed,
as if for a photograph, and it kills the implied narrative of the piece.
Paintings I find more appealing, and successful at narrative
but similar in setting would be "The End of The Evening:"

and "The Best Party:"

Best,

Gromit Fan

On 2008-09-14 06:24, sushiman wrote:

On 2008-09-13 21:11, The Monitors wrote:
Hi Sushiman,

It's a good thing that you're getting the print from Shagmart unframed and not from the dealer. Personally, I like to treat prints like originals and give them a special framing and not just a matting.

Actually , I changed my mind and didn't buy the print . I never heard back from Shagmart after sending several emails and that turned me off . Why have an email address if you are not going to answer queries ?

Anyway , there are other prints I would rather have , so I'm just going to be patient and wait until once comes along .

[ Edited by: Gromit_Fan 2008-09-14 20:21 ]