Michael
Miami,#2Consumer Comment
Mon, May 24, 2004
As usual there is always some truth to anyone's comments and opinons. I am a manager for a national chain of custom framing. In my opinion the person who wrote the rebuttal is mostly on target with their comments. You cannot ever expect to "invest" in artwork, unless you are going to Sotheby's or Christy's and willing to shell out millions. You must understand we are all in business to make money. If you appreciate Thomas Kincade's artwork, then buy it and enjoy it. But don't expect to recover your investment, ever! Just like hummels or precious moments, or any other so called "collectables" they are in business. My greatest example of this is after the Florida Marlins won their first World Series in 1997 the team put out a "limited edition" poster. Yea, they limited the edition to 15,000. They were $15.00 when they came out and they'll be $15.00 50 years from now. But still people would come into my gallery wanting to treat this stupid poster like some valuable investment. Don't be fooled by a good sales pitch. Buy something you like. If it cost 5 or 500 dollars. And as always. BUYER BEWARE!!!!!
Artist
Oakland,#3Consumer Suggestion
Sun, December 22, 2002
Hello-- the paintings you purchased aren't worth anything because the "painter of light" is a well-known schlock-meister, and the pieces are not original. They are mass produced, sometimes pieces are "touched-up" not by the artist but by some lackey dabbing paint in pre-designated places to try and pass it off as original. No gallery is in business to buy back your art investment. Thomas Kinkade galleries are basically francises, and there is nothing in it for a gallery owner to buy back a piece of art. Art even under the best of circumstances is a crap-shoot. A consumer is best off buying what they like, not what they think will appreciate in value over time. Kinkades will not appreciate because they are not originals. He is not a well-respected artist in the art world. His business is on the stock market (or it was, until it tanked last year). It's a BUSINESS. I am an artist, and I would take back a piece, but that is because I stand behind my work and if a client truly isn't happy with it, they shouldn't be stuck with it. However, a gallery has high overhead, expenses, and your financial difficulties leading to you wanting to unload your "investment" is a totally unrealistic expectation for the gallery to help you with. The gallery has already paid the "artist", they have other work to sell besides your piece. The typical mark-up at a gallery is 50%, so the artist gets half of the selling price, and so does the gallery. If you purchased the work because it somehow spoke to you about "Christian values", then you should enjoy it for that. But, don't expect a gallery to sop up the mess when you experience buyer's remorse. If you ever think you are going to return a piece of art, find out the re-sale policies before buying the piece. Even under the best of circumstances, it is unlikely a gallery will agree to take a piece back after 30 or 60 days. Art is finicky--maybe the buyer exposed the piece to sunlight or humidity or some other bad condition that alters the quality of the piece. A gallery (or artist) can't be responsible for a piece indefinately after it is out of their control. The Kinkade galleries have great, aggressive sales reps peddling the wares, it's a business, not a true artist place. The guy is a hack.