How your painting is packed and shipped — and what the box says

What is actually written on the box

Here is the honest version, which is slightly less than “completely anonymous” and a good deal more useful.

There is a sticker on the box with the studio name: Paintings by Willem van der Krieken. That is the one identifying thing on the outside. It is there because a parcel needs a sender, and a parcel without one is a parcel that gets lost rather than a parcel that is discreet.

Nothing on the outside says which painting is inside. No title, no subject, no image, no description of the work. Somebody handling the box, or standing in the hallway when it arrives, learns that you have bought something from a painter. They do not learn what.

That distinction is the whole answer, and it is worth being precise about it, because “discreet packaging” is used online to mean anything from a genuinely unmarked box to a padded envelope with a brand logo across it. Here it means: the sender is identifiable, the contents are not.

If a completely unmarked delivery matters to you — some people have a specific reason, and it is not anyone’s business what it is — ask before ordering rather than hoping. It is a small studio and it answers its own email.

What customs sees, and why that cannot be avoided

Anything crossing a customs border needs a declaration of what it is. On these shipments the contents are described as a painting or artwork.

That is not a choice and no reputable sender does otherwise. A false customs declaration is fraud, it invalidates the insurance on a parcel worth several hundred euros, and it is the kind of shortcut that turns a delayed delivery into a seized one. Any seller who offers to mislabel a shipment is telling you something about how they will behave when something goes wrong.

The practical upside is that “painting” and “artwork” are usefully unspecific. They describe the object, not the image.

Two things follow for buyers outside the EU:

• Import duties and VAT are yours. They are charged by your country, not by the studio, and they are not included in the price. Original artworks often attract a reduced rate, but the rules vary by country and it is worth a check before ordering.
• Delivery timing is less predictable. Customs clearance adds days that nobody in the chain controls.

Everything ships insured from the Netherlands, worldwide.

How a canvas travels, and how a print travels

These are two genuinely different objects, and they travel differently.

The consequence for the original is worth stating plainly: an oil painting on a stretcher is never rolled. If any seller offers to roll a stretched oil painting to save on postage, that is a reason to stop the transaction rather than to negotiate.

For the print, the tube is why a signed edition can be posted affordably at all. It also means the first thing you do on arrival is different, which is the next section.

What to do in the first hour after it arrives

For a canvas:

1. Open it flat, on a table or the floor, not balanced against a wall.
2. Cut the tape only — never cut into the box with a blade at an angle. More paintings are damaged by the person opening the parcel than by the courier.
3. Lift it by the stretcher bars at the sides, never by the front of the canvas. Pressure on the painted surface from behind or in front leaves marks that do not come out.
4. Look at it in daylight before deciding anything. Oil paint under a hallway bulb is not the painting.
5. Let it sit indoors for a few hours before hanging if it has come in from the cold. That is ordinary sense with any wooden object.

For a print:

1. Unroll it face up on a clean flat surface and weight the corners with something soft.
2. Leave it a day or two to relax. Do not try to reverse the curl by rolling it the other way.
3. Take it to a framer rather than pressing it flat yourself.

Then the more interesting question starts, which is where it goes: where to hang a nude painting and how to display it once it is up.

If it arrives damaged

Rare, and there is a procedure.

• Photograph the box before you finish opening it, including the damage and the labels. This is the single thing that determines whether an insurance claim is straightforward or a discussion.
• Photograph the work in the same session.
• Get in touch straight away via the contact page. Shipments are insured; that is what the insurance is for.
• Keep the packaging until it is settled. It is evidence and it is also what you would send it back in.

There is a 30-day return window from receipt, and the full terms are on the FAQ page. Worth knowing before you buy rather than after: a painting you have lived with for a fortnight and decided against is a different situation from one you regret in the first five minutes.

Questions people ask

Is the packaging discreet?

Yes. The box carries a sticker with the studio name, Paintings by Willem van der Krieken, and nothing on the outside indicates what is inside or which painting it is. Anyone handling it learns that you bought something from a painter, not what you bought.

What does the customs form say?

The contents are declared as a painting or artwork, which is required — a false customs declaration is fraud and invalidates the insurance on the shipment. Those terms describe the object rather than the image, so they say nothing about the subject of the work.

Is the painting rolled up or sent flat?

An original oil painting travels flat on its stretcher, in a box. It is never rolled: oil paint on stretched canvas cracks when it is flexed. Signed prints are paper and travel rolled in a tube, which is safe for them.

Do I have to pay import duty?

Inside the EU, no. Outside it, import duties and VAT are charged by your own country and are not included in the price. Original artworks often attract a reduced rate, but the rules vary by country, so it is worth checking before you order.