An insured believed he owned “Ocean Scene,” a 60-inch by 40-inchoriginal oil painting on canvas by Israeli artist Avi Fieler. Thepainting had sustained water damage and was being claimed as atotal loss, with a claimed value of $25,000. The adjuster on thecase called on contents claims specialists to evaluate the extentof the damage and determine the current replacement value of thepainting.

Case Background

Contents specialists determined the original “Ocean Scene” wasoil on board. The insured's art appeared identical to, and of thesame size as, the original, but was oil on canvas. Upon furtherinvestigation, contents experts discovered that the insured's piecewas in fact a gicleé, a high-tech print created using technologysimilar to an inkjet printer, where oil paint is sprayed onto acanvas.

The contents team contacted the artist in Israel. He stated thathe knew the collector who owned the original “Ocean Scene,” apainting on board. The artist also said that he had produced50 gicleés of the work. He offered to sell the insured areplacement gicleé for $2,000.

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The Result

In the end, contents experts determined that the painting wasnot a total loss despite the water damage. Restoring the art topre-loss condition would cost $800 and result in no diminution ofvalue. The $25,000 claim was evaluated actually to be an $800restoration, with any possible discussion of replacement limited to$2,000.