Starving Artists Sale

Believe it or not, my husband wanted to see the Starving Artists Sale at the Trade Center on Sunday. Seems he had either seen it advertised on tv or heard a radio ad. We took our princess Camryn and went to see the show. I had never been to one before, so it was interesting! Rows and rows of large "oil" paintings for $99! Of course, I knew they were giclees (prints) on canvas and some may have been enhanced, although no one claimed that they were. But for a large giclee, $99 was a good price. I am sure that Monet, Picasso, Renoir, Thomas Kincaid and yes, Bob Ross, would have enjoyed some of the profits from their images, but at least they were selling.
I remember my painting mentor, Wayne Wu from Taiwan, telling us that in China and Taiwan they had factories where workers would paint. Each had a specialty: skies, trees, grass, etc and they passed the canvas around until it was done. Someone was in charge of signing it. So I tried to notice the signatures. They were very similar like A.Benton or A.Harris. So, my question is, who is starving? The workers in the factories are employed, the printers have a job, the canvas stretchers, the loaders and shippers, the wholesalers, the retailers?? Even the frame makers in Mexico are employed. The good news is: people are buying art, albeit giclees, to decorate their homes. There is still hope for the non-starving artists in the world!!