The pile-on on Thomas Kinkaide - it's not about the art -

[marions ghost]

114. It should be actionable in court...

however, if you've been following these threads about Kinkade, how much would a jury be sympathetic?--not much if even a lot of people on DU don't get it. There is no consumer protection in this country, and when people are scammed they just tend to hide it rather than fighting it because you can't win in court against a rich businessperson with lots of ability to thwart any legal challenge. Even if you can afford to spend the money and ridiculous amount of time it would take, there is shame involved when "buyer beware" righteousness rules. Some gallery owners did win a case against him but God help the consumer.

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Here's a recent article that has more info for you:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2012/04/09/BUNK1O0VFQ.DTL

"Kinkade Works Selling Briskly since Artist's Death"
--is the title but some dealers disagree:


"...Michaan would not be surprised to see Kinkade's originals, which are rarely on the market, appreciate but says, "I don't think there is any lasting value" in his reproductions. "A rule of thumb: Anything that is manufactured and marketed as a collectible really isn't."

Kinkades start at $750 for a 12-by-18, standard-edition, signed (by auto-pen) and numbered canvas reproduction and go up from there, with a bewildering array of options. *

Each image has several editions - such as standard, artist proof, gallery proof, publisher proof, Renaissance, studio proof and master. Each edition has a successively smaller number of prints and a higher price tag. Higher-end versions also have a hand signature instead of a machine-generated one and additional highlighting (applied by trained artists) that add texture and depth.

(snip)

Although Perata cautions customers against buying Kinkades as an investment, she says that some reproductions that sell out do appreciate. " 'Snow White' was released three years ago in August" at a price of $995 for an 18-by-27. Before Kinkade's death, it was selling for more than $3,000, "if you could find it," she says. But one Kinkade dealer, who didn't want to be named because he doesn't want to hurt sales, says the secondary market is very thin. "In the good days, people said they could list one piece of Kinkade on eBay and get 20 or 30 bids. Today - excluding the last three days - you could list 20 or 30 items and you wouldn't get one bid. There is just so much of the art." ...

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2012/04/09/BUNK1O0VFQ.DTL#ixzz1rfmgsRTt


* (This is an outrageous price for that size reproduction--way out of my price range--I could get original art for that especially if I went directly to the artist--mg)