Park West Gallery recently encountered yet another example of how misleading internet postings can be leveraged to undermine the reputation of a company with solid character and a million satisfied customers.
During a cruise art auction conducted by Park West Gallery aboard the RCCL Jewel of the Seas Mark Jacobs, an allegedly “disinterested” party, found links to press releases put out by Fine Art Registry (FAR) the company engaged in a cybersmear campaign against Park West Gallery. Mr. Jacobs composed these links into a flyer and handed it out during an auction preview, claiming to the press “I felt that people attending these auctions had a right to know that there were these claims just so they could make up their own minds.” Mr. Jacobs continued, despite guest complaints and a warning that he was in violation of cruise policy, and he was subsequently put off the ship.
What Really Happened
Earlier during the cruise Mark Jacobs’ father had approached the onboard auctioneer and demanded $600 worth of free transfers to the airport for him and his family. He told the auctioneer that if he did not receive the transfers he would tell auction attendees that Park West was selling fake artwork and doing fake bidding.
Due to the sensational nature of this story it was picked up by media outlets, giving it more strength in the search engines. Additionally, it has provided more opportunity for individuals participating in the cybersmear campaign to post negative comments.
On Thursday July 23rd Fine Art Registry posted a blatant misrepresentation of an auctioneer statement regarding the Park West Dali art collection. In a video secretly taped on July 19, 2009 during a Park West Gallery cruise art action, the auctioneer clearly stated, regarding a Dali Divine Comedy artwork:
“…to complete the edition of woodcuts took him (Dali) 14 years…”
This statement was incorrectly quoted on the web by Ric Pavlescak, who secretly shot the video, as:
“I was surprised as the misinformation–stating that Dali took 14 years to carve the wood blocks…”
The statement was then further misrepresented by FAR as:
“In the video she (the auctioneer) states quite clearly that Dali spent 14 years carving the woodblocks….”
The term “woodcut” is not synonymous with “wood block,” and the auctioneer clearly used the term earlier in the video to refer to the work, not the blocks. Additionally, use of the term “edition” means a series of works produced. Neither Rick Pavlescak nor Fine Art Registry accurately represented what was said by the auctioneer.
For more information on the facts regarding the Park West Dali Divine Comedy, visit www.parkwest-dali.com.
Park West Gallery, an internationally-known art dealer, has recently become a target of cybersmearing by a company claiming to be an “art advocate.” We are appalled that the internet is being misused to conduct smear campaigns and are dedicating this blog to exploring important issues of reputation management. While the internet has long been lauded as a venue that allows individuals to express their opinions, it is quite a different story when the objective becomes the malicious undermining of a company’s goodwill and business practices.
If you are experiencing this type of cybersmearing, let us know at reputationmanagement@parkwestgallery.com. We would like to feature your story and work together to address this growing epidemic. For more information, visit us at our Park West Gallery | Reputation Management website, where you can follow the developments in Park West Gallery’s battle against cybersmearing.
