Sending a painting

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1
Just looking for any ideas on this one.

I would like to send a painting to Spain. It's about 60 x 60 cm and looks fragile.

I've been thinking of different ways of doing it.

- White van man, maybe not worth it for single item

- Post, probably too bulky

- DHL or similar

- taking it with me on the plane on my next trip. Do airlines have a separate facility for handling valuable luggage? Can I get an insurance or something in case they damage or lose it?

- there are specialized art firms doing this but look pricey

Any option I've missed?

2
It seems you haven't missed any option for sending it from inside CH. Have you considered using a mail service which starts in Germany/France? Perhaps they have better options.

As for doing it by post, you can always use "Sperrgut" so as to be able to exceed the maximum regular package size.

But if you do, I would wrap the painting in TONS of bubble wrap etc. etc. and ask for the possibility to transfer the package as a fragile item so that it doesn't get tossed around.

3
You haven't said whether the painting is framed, whether it is in glass, what the material is (board, canvas etc) and perhaps most important, what it is worth.

Not sure anyone could answer without that information.

4
Picassos are typically sent via FedEx. Just declare it as a "handicraft" for Eur 30 and send away:

"Following a lead, customs agents found the painting in a December 2014 FedEx shipment from Belgium to Newark, New Jersey. The shipping label described the contents as a handicraft worth 30 euros ($37)."

http://nypost.com/2015/08/13/us-retu...15m-to-france/

5
I bought a large, framed watercolour from an artist in Wales, and she sent it here via UPS. She also used UPS' own insurance service.

The painting arrived in Switzerland badly damaged, looked like it had been dropped from a considerable height given the kind of damage (glass turned into what was basically a pile of snow in the bottom of the package). The frame was also broken, so there was a fair bit of expense involved in setting it all to rights, and there are some marks where shards of glass scratched the paper, although someone who had not seen the painting before would probably not notice them.

UPS sent their local insurance person to look at it. After literally 30 seconds he had seen enough and, a day later, UPS delivered the verdict: Not packaged properly, not our problem.

I'm not an expert so can't say if the packaging was really good enough or not (it looked OK to my layman's eyes), but my advice would be: whoever you use to send the picture, insure it with someone who is independent of the carrier.

6
Ouch that sucks

Sorry that was meant for above

7
Yep - the brown uniform ones are good.

I've previously used HDS, but did, one time, suspect the package had not been well handled, as there did appear to be a little damage.

8
Can you take it out of the frame and roll it up, & then post it in a cardboard tube?

9
I would also suggest taking the frame apart, rolling the canvas and inserting all items in a standard poster tube. No the painting/canvas will not get damaged.

10
I have considered the postal option but I've heard so many nasty stories about the incompetence of the Spanish postal service that I don't want to risk it.

The painting is oil on on canvas and framed. Value is difficult to say as with these things it's often a case of buyer meeting seller at the right opportunity. I have seen paintings of similar format by the same artist listed on art dealership sites at high end 3 figure prices, but have no idea whether they actually fetch that. We believe we payed a bit less than that but we can't find the receipt and this was many years back so I can't be sure.

11
If you do decide to send it by post, forget cardboard - if the corner of another box is rammed against it, your painting will get a hole or rip in it.

You need to protect it using mount board or thin hardboard or something like that. Or, loads of layers of bubble wrap and a box with a few inches of space around your picture.

Do not let the bubble wrap touch the actual picture as the bubbles can leave indentations.

You could remove it from the frame if the frame is heavy.

12
We use these at our firm:

http://www.welti-furrer.ch/en/fine-art-transport

They take care of packaging and transport, so they can't say the picture was not packaged correctly.

13
Thanks. We actually discovered we still have the original packing case the painting came in. This is made of a pretty massive pine frame with plywood boards nailed on to the front and back and generously padded on the inside so the painting fits very snugly. I think we would use that one again.

14
My 2 rappen worth ..... Don`t know if airlines still do this - but when I transported some (wrapped) framed art, I took it with me on flight (after first asking) - handed it to the flight attendant and she stored it in a little alcove. One painting (or fragile object was allowed) (then). Worth asking airline?