How Do You Find the Value of a Thomas Kinkade Painting?
Thomas Kinkade was a very successful American artist, and the value of his paintings is mainly dependent upon four factors – whether it’s a Kinkade original or reproduction/print, its quality, its edition size and its availability. After Kinkade died in 2012 at the age of 54, demand for his paintings went up in general, but their actual value is still determined by these factors.
Kinkade often painted one original painting and then made several reproductions, often using factory-like mass production techniques. Therefore, there is a huge difference in the value of his original paintings versus colored-in or touched-up reprints. Signed reproductions are more valuable than unsigned ones, but these still don’t have the same value as his originals, which remain rare, and therefore, difficult to find.
Kinkade reproductions were released in editions and their value is determined by the edition size, number of reproductions and whether Kinkade had a personal hand in their production. Based on these characteristics, reproductions are classified – in increasing order of value – as Standard Numbered, Artist Proof, Publisher Proof, Examination Proof, International Proof, Antilier National or Estate Edition. Renaissance Editions most closely resemble the Kinkade original, and Studio Proofs had a lot of work done on them by the painter himself, making these two categories the third- and second-most valuable reproductions, respectively. Finally, the Masters Edition reproductions were reproduced only once and hand signed by Kinkade, making them rare and the most valuable of all his reprints.
