Kinkade

First off, I was astonished to see the production that was going on with Thomas Kinkade.  Technically, he was creating originals but at the same time he was mass producing originals.  In my way of thinking, it was almost the same as painting a “color by number” and then calling it an original.  He would merely copy ninety percent of his art and then just add some finishing touches to it by hand.  These finishing touches are what gives the art the “original art” factor.  Now, I see this as a problem for a company like Art Capitol Group.  The reason goes back to simple supply and demand.  When dealing with economics, there is a demand for everything.  If there is a huge supply, then the demand goes down and thus the price goes down as well.  This has never been a problem for art before because there were only two types of art works: originals and print copies.  The originals would be worth a significant amount more not because it looked better or took more time.  The only reason that it costs more is because the supply is forever at one.  Therefore, demand remains high for that particular painting.  This is why Art Capitol Group has such faith when they allow people to pawn their art.  However, I am curious to how much money they would give to an “original” Kinkade.  In the 60 Minute presentation of his work, it was said that every original the rolls off the assembly line is now selling for fifty thousand dollars.  According to economics, as he continues to produce more of these originals, they will slowly begin to diminish in value.  Typically, art never diminishes in value, and yet, in this case, eventually his will.  His art is turning more into a consumer product.  What I mean by this is take a TV for example.  Five years ago one would have to pay thousands of dollars for a decent size high definition.  However, with advances in technology, the price would eventually come down.  This meant that if consumers could wait a few years before buying anything, they would save thousands of dollars.  This happens over a few years because of the amount of TVs that are produced so when comparing to Kinkade’s art, this should be taken into consideration.  But nevertheless, Kinkade is mass producing his originals which will eventually lower the price and make investing in his art no longer, neither for the common person of Art Capitol Group, a smart investment.