How to unload a painting of light
April 17, 2011 5:40 PM Subscribe
How much is this particular proof of a Thomas Kinkade painting worth and how do I go about selling it?
We received a framed Thomas Kinkade painting as a gift a few years ago and feel the time has come for someone else to enjoy its pasteled splendour. There are certainly many sites that quote values for the many different varieties of prints that he produces. The issue is that the copy we have is an International Proof (run of 670) and I can't find any online sources quoting a typical value for it. Anyone have any idea?
Also, where would one go to sell such a thing? Online? A gallery? Is the market better in the US than internationally?
We received a framed Thomas Kinkade painting as a gift a few years ago and feel the time has come for someone else to enjoy its pasteled splendour. There are certainly many sites that quote values for the many different varieties of prints that he produces. The issue is that the copy we have is an International Proof (run of 670) and I can't find any online sources quoting a typical value for it. Anyone have any idea?
Also, where would one go to sell such a thing? Online? A gallery? Is the market better in the US than internationally?
Here are some examples of what various versions of that print are selling for on ebay. "International Proof" means that it was reserved for sale outside the U.S. (usually 20 percent of the Standard Numbered prints are designated as International Proofs -- per this pyramid pricing chart [pdf]).
posted by amyms at 6:20 PM on April 17, 2011
posted by amyms at 6:20 PM on April 17, 2011
Best answer: Those ebay listings are for pending sales, which means most of them are the prices people want to get for the print, not the prices it actually sells for. There's no reason to believe it's actually worth several thousand USD if that's simply the asking price someone has listed. Searching the completed listings may be helpful. It shows one print sold for $140, though I can't tell whether that's unframed. Looking through the completed auctions, I see very very few sales actually completing for anything more than a couple hundred. Its condition may make a difference, and it may be more valuable to some buyers if you have the certificate of authenticity.
Kinkade is well known for his fraudulent business dealings and his disgusting personal conduct. He's not exactly what I would call well regarded among essentially anyone in the art world, with the exception of his own dealers (franchises essentially). It's my understanding (I'm not an art expert by any means though) that there's not much of a resale market in his products and most owners are pretty lucky to get back a tiny fraction of the purchase price. Here's a blog post by a professional art appraiser on the subject. Here are some unhappy customers who found problems with the advertised resale values.
It is likely that most legitimate art galleries won't have any information to offer you if you walk in with a Thomas Kinkade print. You're pretty much going to have to work with a Kinkade gallery. They might be able to give you some useful information and may even be willing to take the thing on consignment if you're really lucky, but I would take anything they say with a whole lot of salt. Think used car dealer level of trust here, except you usually need a license to run a car dealership.
Once you've confirmed it's not somehow a really valuable treasure by some strange quirk of the collectables world, perhaps regifting it would be a better option if you have someone you think would enjoy it.
posted by zachlipton at 10:07 PM on April 17, 2011 [1 favorite]
Kinkade is well known for his fraudulent business dealings and his disgusting personal conduct. He's not exactly what I would call well regarded among essentially anyone in the art world, with the exception of his own dealers (franchises essentially). It's my understanding (I'm not an art expert by any means though) that there's not much of a resale market in his products and most owners are pretty lucky to get back a tiny fraction of the purchase price. Here's a blog post by a professional art appraiser on the subject. Here are some unhappy customers who found problems with the advertised resale values.
It is likely that most legitimate art galleries won't have any information to offer you if you walk in with a Thomas Kinkade print. You're pretty much going to have to work with a Kinkade gallery. They might be able to give you some useful information and may even be willing to take the thing on consignment if you're really lucky, but I would take anything they say with a whole lot of salt. Think used car dealer level of trust here, except you usually need a license to run a car dealership.
Once you've confirmed it's not somehow a really valuable treasure by some strange quirk of the collectables world, perhaps regifting it would be a better option if you have someone you think would enjoy it.
posted by zachlipton at 10:07 PM on April 17, 2011 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: The blog post is mostly an excerpt from a full LA Times article. Knowing it's worth far less than the posted price is something of a comfort in terms of getting it out of the house, though easy money would have also been a comfort. There's no one I can think of to regift it to, but there's a local fishing museum that might accept it as a donation.
posted by cardboard at 1:46 AM on April 18, 2011
posted by cardboard at 1:46 AM on April 18, 2011
Is the market better in the US than internationally?
Probably. Thomas Kinkade only has a few galleries outside the US and Canada. Here's one of the dealers in England, a picture framer located on an industrial estate. Another English dealer - also a picture framer shop. He's significantly better known in the US than anywhere else in the world.
posted by iviken at 1:54 AM on April 18, 2011
Probably. Thomas Kinkade only has a few galleries outside the US and Canada. Here's one of the dealers in England, a picture framer located on an industrial estate. Another English dealer - also a picture framer shop. He's significantly better known in the US than anywhere else in the world.
posted by iviken at 1:54 AM on April 18, 2011
Put it up on either eBay or Craigslist. Any price you put on it will be more than you didn't pay for it, so you're going to come-out ahead. I wouldn't obsess over the value of the thing. Obviously, it has no (or little) value to you, so just put a "want it out of my house" number on it and hand it over to the first person holding a valid check.
posted by Thorzdad at 4:26 AM on April 18, 2011
posted by Thorzdad at 4:26 AM on April 18, 2011
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by Houstonian at 6:20 PM on April 17, 2011