Thomas Kinkade: the Artist in the Mall

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Thomas Kinkade: the Artist in the Mall #1965308 in eBooks 2011-03-01 2011-03-01File Name: B004Z1HQHK | File size: 42.Mb From Duke University Press Books DOC | *audiobook | ebooks | Download PDF | ePub [Download] Thomas Kinkade: The Artist in the Mall Thomas Kinkade: The Artist in the Mall From Duke University Press Books : Thomas Kinkade: The Artist in the Mall before purchasing it in order to gage whether or not it would be worth my time, and all praised Thomas Kinkade: The Artist in the Mall: 5 of 6 people found the following review helpful. Great Collection of EssaysBy B AllenThis book contains an excellent collection of essays that offer insight into not only Thomas Kinkade, but to the current state of the art world in general. The essays are not universally critical of the artist and tend to bring helpful conversations about art forward that consider the ideas of highbrow/lowbrow, popular/elite, art/kitsch, insider/outsider. Highly recommended, intriguing and also entertaining at times. "This one's for you Walt" -Kindade3 of 28 people found the following review helpful. ArtNews' Top 200 Collectors Will Feature This Trophy Art Next!By Peter P. FuchsYou need only the incredible phrase from one of the essays to get the Gestalt of this thing: "in attempting to locate thomas Kinkade in terms of artistic precedent.." What is left to know about this can be filled in by reading Jed Perl's great review of it from the New Republic. Meantime, I want to reflect on the state of serious scholarship in the humanities. It seems to consist in casting about for any new topic to dissect for the fun of it, and not for any serious purpose, and in this mere turning of the soil, for no purpose, it brings to mind the mere garden hoe. In more ways than one. I fully expect that soon ArtNews will feature one of its 200 Top Collectors who has purchased one of Kinkade's masterpieces. The savvy collector will have this to say when asked "What is your collecting approach".....""I buy on instinct and my instinct tells me that a picture of an elfin cottage speaks of our cultural anxiety, the golden dew drops are like our society's tears, and also it looks striking nest to my Richard Serra."7 of 31 people found the following review helpful. Art vs. "Wall Decor"By RANDY SIn my opinion, Mr. Kinkade falls squarely into the "wall decor" camp. For some reason, most people can't abide unadorned interior spaces. Consequently, there are millions of painters generating mountains of images designed to match the drapes and sofas for those people who feel an empty wall is somehow cheap and tacky. As long as one of these painters meets or exceeds the minimum set of 'artistic' requirements as perceived by their audience, then whatever success and popularity they enjoy is a result of marketing. Kinkade's biggest business strategy by far has been exploiting Christians --niche marketing at it's finest.The irony is that Kinkade's work created during the 1980's was much more subtle, more skilled and less garish than what followed once the publicly traded marketing machine went into overdrive. His early plein air paintings are no better or worse than what one might see in a lot of museums. But like most painters, Kinkade reached the proverbial "fork in the road" ..and he chose to sell his soul for fame among fools and a fast buck. And each new painting thereafter shows the effect of his chasing an audience instead of letting them find him. Each new work seemed created to pander to whatever sub-niche he had yet to exploit.Kinkade's popularity peaked some time ago and seems to be steadily contracting. He hasn't been an on-air vendor with the QVC shopping channel for years and only has a few token pieces on their website. During the years 1997 through 2005, court documents reportedly show "at least 350 independently owned Kincade franchises at peak. By May, 2005, that number had more than halved." Sites like eBay greatly undermined the much touted "investment" potential of his reproductions by demonstrating where the market for them really is. To be sure, only a tiny fraction of his collectors are likely to buy and read this or any other book on art or criticism.Kinkade will never likely be considered among the company of great artists even though he could probably buy and sell many of them. Often featuring lighthouses, bridges, or quaint country homes, Thomas Kinkadersquo;s soft-focus landscapes have permeated American visual culture during the past twenty years, appearing on everything from Bibles to bedsheets to credit cards. Kinkade sells his work through his shopping-mall galleries, QVC, the Internet, and Christian stores. He is quite possibly the most collected artist in the United States. While many art-world and academic critics have dismissed him as a passing fad or marketing phenomenon, the contributors to this collection do not. Instead, they explore his work and its impact on contemporary art as part of the broader history of American visual culture. They consider Kinkadersquo;s imagery and career in relation to nineteenth-century Currier and Ives prints and Andres Serranorsquo;s Piss Christ, the collectibles market and the fine-art market, the Thomas Kinkade Museum and Cultural Center, and ldquo;The Village at Hiddenbrooke,rdquo; a California housing development inspired by Kinkadersquo;s paintings. The conceptual artist Jeffrey Vallance, the curator of the first major museum exhibition of Kinkadersquo;s art and collectibles, recounts his experiences organizing that show. All of the contributors draw on art history, visual culture, and cultural studies as they seek to understand Kinkadersquo;s significance for both art and audiences. Along the way, they delve into questions about beauty, class, kitsch, religion, and taste in contemporary art.Contributors. Julia Alderson, Alexis L. Boylan , Anna Brzyski, Seth Feman, Monica Kjellman-Chapin, Micki McElya, Karal Ann Marling, David Morgan, Christopher Pearson, Andrea Wolk Rager, Jeffrey Vallance ldquo;At last, a thoughtful book on Thomas Kinkade. This is much more than a case of visual studies replacing art history with social and economic analyses: the contributors wrestle with value, quality, irony, self-reflexivity, aesthetics, taste, complexity, class, religion, nostalgia, and kitsch. Despite what several authors argue or hope, this excellent book implies Kinkade is very much a part of contemporary fine art: he troubles the discourses of art history, art theory, and visual studies in just the way an exemplary artist should.rdquo;mdash;James Elkins, author of On the Strange Place of Religion in Contemporary Art .
Recommended publications
  • Herald of Holiness Volume 86 Number 05 (1997) Wesley D
    Olivet Nazarene University Digital Commons @ Olivet Herald of Holiness/Holiness Today Church of the Nazarene 5-1-1997 Herald of Holiness Volume 86 Number 05 (1997) Wesley D. Tracy (Editor) Nazarene Publishing House Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.olivet.edu/cotn_hoh Part of the Christian Denominations and Sects Commons, Christianity Commons, History of Christianity Commons, Missions and World Christianity Commons, and the Practical Theology Commons Recommended Citation Tracy, Wesley D. (Editor), "Herald of Holiness Volume 86 Number 05 (1997)" (1997). Herald of Holiness/Holiness Today. 17. https://digitalcommons.olivet.edu/cotn_hoh/17 This Journal Issue is brought to you for free and open access by the Church of the Nazarene at Digital Commons @ Olivet. It has been accepted for inclusion in Herald of Holiness/Holiness Today by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ Olivet. For more information, please contact [email protected]. SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS U.S.A Contents MAY 1997 VOLUME 86, NO. 5 FEATURES 2 Fire! CHRISTI-AN C. BENNETT 3 Devotions for Pentecost GENE VAN NOTE 7 One JOHN A. KNIGHT 22 Painter of Light MARLO M. SCHALESKY 26 Peace—65 Years Late LYNN WOODS AS TOLD TO MARION DUCKWORTH 28 The Untamed God NEIL B. W ISEM AN 46 God’s Aloha JOANNE MARTIN WALKER CONTINUING COLUMNS 9 General Superintendent’s Viewpoint, d o n a l d d . o w e n s 14 Into the Word, r o g e r l. h a h n 18 The Family Album, ie r r y a n d l y n d a c o h a g a n 33 In a Woman’s Voice, s u s a n h a n s o n b a t e s 34 Words of Faith, r o b l .
    [Show full text]
  • Painter of Light Thomas Kinkade Is Known for His Gift of Painting Light
    Grade 10 ELA Unit 3 Pre Test (Teacher Edition) Assessment ID: ib.195725 Directions: Read the passage below and answer the question(s) that follow. Painter of Light Thomas Kinkade is known for his gift of painting light. Splashes of light ranging in color from creamy white to sunny yellow litter his paintings. No other artist has captured light in its many forms, hues, and patterns like the inimitable Thomas Kinkade. Because of his talent, he is recognized as America's most collected artist. In 1958, Thomas Kinkade was born in Sacramento, California. From 1976 to 1978, Kinkade attended the University of California, receiving his formal training at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena. The summer after graduation, he embarked on a sketching tour with a college friend, James Gurney. In 1982, he married his childhood sweetheart, Nanette, and co–authored The Artist's Guide to Sketching with Gurney. He and Gurney went on to be employed by Ralph Bakshi Studios to create background art for the animated feature Fire and Ice. From 1984 to 1989, Kinkade published many paintings, so that by 1994, he was a published artist in his own right. That year, he earned the honorary title of Artist of the Year from the National Association of Limited Edition Dealers (NALED). An era in landscape artistry had begun that would make a lasting impression in art history. He went on to publish more art books and receive more recognition, collecting fans as rapidly as they collected his works. One of the unique qualities of Kinkade's work is that he hides messages to his wife and daughters in each painting.
    [Show full text]
  • Thomas Kinkade from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia for Other People with Similar Names, See Thomas Kincaid
    Thomas Kinkade From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia For other people with similar names, see Thomas Kincaid. William Thomas Kinkade III (January Thomas Kinkade 19, 1958 – April 6, 2012)[2][3] was an American painter of popular realistic, bucolic, and idyllic subjects.[3] He is notable for the mass marketing of his work as printed reproductions and other licensed products via the Thomas Kinkade Company. He characterized himself as "Thomas Kinkade, Painter of Light," a phrase he Born January 19, 1958 protected through trademark but Sacramento, California, US one originally attributed to the English master J. M. W. Turner Died April 6, 2012 (aged 54) Monte Sereno, California (1775–1851).[4] It has been estimated that 1 in every 20 Education Art Center College of Design, American homes owns a copy of one Pasadena.[1] [5] of his paintings. Known for Painting Contents 1 Early life 2 Career 2.1 Artistic themes and style 3 Authenticity 4 Business 5 Criticism and controversy 5.1 Business practices 5.2 Personal conduct 6 Related projects and partnerships 7 Charities and affiliations 8 Awards and recognition 9 In popular culture 10 Death 11 See also 12 References 13 External links Early life William Thomas Kincade was born on January 19, 1958, in Sacramento County, California.[6] He grew up in the town of Placerville, graduated from El Dorado High School in 1976, and attended the University of California, Berkeley, and the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena.[1] He married Nanette Wiley in 1982, and the couple had four daughters: Merritt (b. 1988), Chandler (b.
    [Show full text]
  • West Chester University KINKADE, KOONS, KITSCH Matter That
    PAUL MALTBY West Chester University KINKADE, KOONS, KITSCH matter that complicates any discussion of kitsch is the mutability of its status. In his famous 1939 essay, “Avant-Garde and Kitsch,” Clement A Greenberg warned against the encroachments of kitsch and its threat to the aspirations of modernist art. He defined kitsch as profit-seeking, mass- produced art pitched to the uncultivated tastes of the populace. Kitsch, he wrote, “is mechanical and operates by formulas. Kitsch is vicarious experience and faked sensations”1 Yet, by the 1960s, with the emergence of the camp sensibility and pop art, Greenberg’s avant-garde/kitsch distinction was less secure. By the 1980s, postmodern artistic practice had further dismantled the binary opposition, as avant-garde artists embraced kitsch in the provocative gestures of a trash aesthetics. To be sure, kitsch is a contentious and problematic concept. First, it is ineluctably judgmental: once identified as kitsch, a work of art is instantly devalued, the taste of its admirers disparaged and derided. Second, the concept is exclusionary and classist: as a label, kitsch often serves to stigmatize art that does not conform to an aesthetic canon as determined by elite arbiters of taste.2 Nevertheless, as a category, kitsch remains useful for designating formulaic and instantaneously consumable types of art. Such art has, in Irving Howe’s words, a tendency to 1 Clement Greenberg, “Avant-Garde and Kitsch,” in Mass Culture: The Popular Arts in America, eds. Bernard Rosenberg and David Manning White (London: The Free Press of Glencoe/Collier-Macmillan, 1964), 102. 2 Robert Solomon notes the classist component in attitudes to kitsch.
    [Show full text]
  • Why Not Kinkade? an Evaluation of the Conditions Effecting an Artists Exclusion from Academic Criticism
    East Tennessee State University Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University Electronic Theses and Dissertations Student Works 12-2011 Why Not Kinkade? An Evaluation of the Conditions Effecting an Artists Exclusion from Academic Criticism. Kelly Drum Moran East Tennessee State University Follow this and additional works at: https://dc.etsu.edu/etd Part of the Theory and Criticism Commons Recommended Citation Moran, Kelly Drum, "Why Not Kinkade? An Evaluation of the Conditions Effecting an Artists Exclusion from Academic Criticism." (2011). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. Paper 1390. https://dc.etsu.edu/etd/1390 This Thesis - Open Access is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Works at Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Why Not Kinkade? An Evaluation of the Conditions Effecting an Artist’s Exclusion from Academic Criticism _____________________ A thesis presented to the faculty of the Department of Art East Tennessee State University In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Master of Arts in Art History _____________________ by Kelly Drum Moran December 2011 _____________________ Dr. Scott M. Contreras-Koterbay, Chair Dr. Vida J. Hull Dr. Peter H. Pawlowicz Keywords: Thomas Kinkade, Art, Art History ABSTRACT Why Not Kinkade? An Evaluation of the Conditions Effecting an Artist’s Exclusion from Academic Criticism by Kelly Drum Moran Though prevalent in non-academic debate, the subject of Thomas Kinkade and his artwork is discernibly absent from the realm of academic discourse.
    [Show full text]
  • The Salvation Army USA: Eastern Territory
    NATIONAL ANNUAL REPORT United States of America 20 THE SALVATION ARMY FRONT LINES OF HOPE 02 NATIONAL ANNUAL REPORT United States of America “WHEN THE SALVATION ARMY SHOWS UP, THEY BRING THEIR WHOLE BAG. IF YOU NEED A BLANKET, THEY GIVE IT TO YOU. THE SALVATION ARMY IF YOU’RE THIRSTY, THEY GIVE YOU WATER. IF YOU’RE COLD, THEY’LL FIND A PLACE FOR YOU INSIDE. THERE’S COMFORT Eight forty-six, nine-one-one. That moment stands alone, transforming a nation FOR YOU, IF THAT’S NECESSARY. I FEEL LIKE I COULD ASK THE SALVATION ARMY ANYTHING AND THEY’D FIND A WAY TO as if startled from a prosperous slumber. From peace to war, from complacency PHOTO: JENNIFER GOFF to commitment, from selfishness to service, that morning changed this nation forever. And for thousands of officers, soldiers and volunteers for The Salvation GET IT FOR ME. AND THEY DO THAT FOR EVERYONE.” NEW YORK FIREFIGHTER LIEUTENANT JOE HUBER Army, it meant immediate mobilization. In war, that’s what an army does. ithin moments of the terrorist attacks of begins with the very practical—meals, water, warmth— copies. A police sergeant told her it helped his men feel a hundreds of volunteer amateur radio operators allowed Dear Friends of The Salvation Army September 11, The Salvation Army’s response but it rarely ends there. Major Ralph Jackson found a part of the recovery process. The Salvation Army Team Radio Network (SATERN) to relay was underway. Disaster-relief specialists trav- young paramedic at Ground Zero who was so overcome The Salvation Army offers both the gentle hands of information on the status of family members affected by the eled immediately to the crash sites in New York with grief that she could not continue to work.
    [Show full text]
  • Muller CV Vers 8-14
    KEVIN R. MULLER [email protected] EDUCATION Ph.D. in History of Art, University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, California, 2003 Dissertation: Cultural Costuming: Native Americans, Inversion, and the Power of an Exceptional White Masculinity M.A. in Art History, University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon, 1991 Thesis: Innovation and Transformation: Jean-Baptiste Greuze and Genre Painting of the Ancien Régime B.A. in Art History/Criticism, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California, 1988 Areas of Focus: Renaissance and Modern Art Minors: Sociology and Chemistry AWARDS 2010 The American Antiquarian Society, Last Fellowship 2008 Utah State University, Office of Research Pilot Program to Encourage Undergraduate Research in the Humanities 2000 The Huntington Library, Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Fellowship 1999 Henry Luce Foundation American Art Dissertation Research Award 1998-99 Smithsonian Institution, Predoctoral Fellowship, Smithsonian’s American Art Museum 1998 University of California, Berkeley, Dean’s Dissertation Fellowship 1994-95 University of California, Berkeley, Dean’s Work-Study/Research Assistant Dissertation Fellowship 1991-92 J. Paul Getty Museum, Getty Graduate Internship 1989-90 Dept. of Art History, University of Oregon, Graduate Teaching Fellowship PUBLICATIONS in-progress Envisioned Communities: Colonies, Empires, and the Visual Culture of the British Atlantic, 1620-1776 (book manuscript) in-progress East Wears West: White Men, Indians, and Natural Masculinity (book manuscript) 2013 Review of Thomas Kinkade: The Artist in the Mall, Alexis L. Boylan, ed., Durham: Duke University Press, 2011. For Cultural Analysis: An Interdisciplinary Forum on Folklore and Popular Culture 2013 “Benjamin West” and “Gilbert Stuart.” Entries for Oxford Encyclopedia of American Intellectual and Cultural History, Joan Rubin and Scott Casper, eds., Oxford University Press.
    [Show full text]
  • Galley Signing Guide
    LIBRARYJOURNAL PrepubAlert 2014 ALA LAS VEGAS Galley & Signing Guide BY BARBARA HOFFERT The American Library Digital Galleys Association conference is in the Via NetGalley offi ng (June 26-July 1 in Las (www.netgalley.com), professional readers Vegas), and a little guidance while can access digital strolling around the convention galleys, and publishers can choose how to provide access. We’ve noted fl oor could go a long way. To that here if a title is available for request end, here’s LJ’s annual galley and or if the title is private. signing guide, which should lead The galley is available you to the books and authors for request. you want. With many more titles Readers can ask publicists for a NetGalley widget, which available for distribution than at can be emailed to grant approved last month’s BookExpo America, this is one of the biggest access for that particular title. guides ever. Few publishers have giveaways schedules, so be NOTE If you’re an ALA member, add prepared to circle back for your favorites. A special thanks to your member number to your NetGalley Profi le to make it easier for publishers Sourcebooks for sponsoring this guide; check out its titles at to approve your requests! Questions? booth 662. Email [email protected]. 302–303 Simon & Schuster Fiction essentials: Garth Stein’s A Sudden Light with the author of the phenomenal The Art of Racing in the Rain working his usual magic for a teenage boy in the Pacifi c Northwest; Lalita Tademy’s Citizen’s Creek, an eye-opener from the Oprah Pick author about a slave whose gift as a translator during the American Indian Wars helps him buy his freedom; and Colm Tóibín’s Nora Webster , the IMPAC award winner’s portrait of a widow reclaiming her life.
    [Show full text]
  • Pat Phillips
    PAT PHILLIPS Press Pack 612 NORTH ALMONT DRIVE, LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA 90069 TEL 310 550 0050 FAX 310 550 0605 WWW.MBART.COM PAT PHILLIPS Pat Phillips' paintings combine personal and historical imagery into surreal juxtapositions, drawing on his experience living in America to meditate on complex questions of race, class, labor and a militarized culture. Phillips, who grew up primarily in a small town in Louisiana, found his way to art through painting and photographing boxcars. He embraces this entry point, creating paintings that discuss the Americana subculture, as well as the current social and political threads running through American culture. His works often contain references to confederate flags, fences, and guns—all objects that suggest the violent underpinnings of this country and its institutions. Pat Phillips was born in Lakenheath, England in 1987. Relocating to Louisiana as a young child, he spent his early teenage years painting and photographing boxcars in a small town. His work was featured in the 2019 Whitney Biennial at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York. Solo exhibitions include ROOTS (Antenna Gallery, New Orleans, LA), Told You Not to Bring That Ball (Masur Museum of Art, Monroe, LA) and SubSuperior (Catinca Tabacaru Gallery (New York, NY). Phillips has participated in residencies at the Vermont Studio Center and Skowhegan School of Painting & Sculpture. In 2017, he received a Joan Mitchell Painters & Sculptors Grant. His work can be found in the collections of the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY; Block Museum of Art, Evanston, IL; and New Orleans Museum of Art, New Orleans, LA, among others.
    [Show full text]
  • Central News Pages Feb08
    The Salvation Army / USA Central Territory News and Views from the Midwest “We are all one body, we have the same Spirit, and we have all been called to the same glorious future.” Eph. 4:3,4 (NLT) Volume 39, Number 1 January 2009 Prayer to be focus for Commissioning weekend by Major Richard Vander Weele theater with adjoining office build - which will commence a yearlong, ings built in 1917. More than 10,000 unending cycle of prayer leading up ord, teach us to pray,” an persons enter the facility weekly as to the 2010 General’s Congress. earnest plea from a disciple the church presents the gospel of In addition, children’s program - to Jesus (Luke 11: 1b), has Jesus Christ to people of every race been selected as the theme ming will focus on age-appropriate L and nationality. teaching on prayer. A first-time verse for this year’s commissioning weekend, June 12-14, 2009, at the Cymbala’s passion for prayer and reunion luncheon for soldiers who Star Plaza Theatre in Merrillville, his intentional, successful plan for have attended the National Seminar Ind. A committee is hard at work using prayer to direct the church’s on Evangelism is being planned, designing programs and events for ministry and engage his congregation along with the usual session and an exciting Holy Spirit powered gath - in intercessory prayer makes him retired officer events. ering called Power Point, an interac - well-suited to guide our weekend. He And, of course, there will be some tive weekend for Salvationists has authored several books, including of the program components which focused on prayer, praise and pur - Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire, Breakthrough make this June event so popular pose.
    [Show full text]
  • Pat Phillips
    PAT PHILLIPS Press Pack 612 NORTH ALMONT DRIVE, LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA 90069 TEL 310 550 0050 FAX 310 550 0605 WWW.MBART.COM PAT PHILLIPS Pat Phillips’ paintings combine personal and historical imagery into surreal juxtapositions, drawing on his experience living in America to meditate on complex questions of race, class, labor and a militarized culture. Phillips, who grew up primarily in a small town in Louisiana, found his way to art through painting and photographing boxcars. He embraces this entry point, creating paintings that discuss the Americana subculture, as well as the current social and political threads running through American culture. His works often contain references to confederate flags, fences, and guns—all objects that suggest the violent underpinnings of this country and its institutions. Pat Phillips was born in Lakenheath, England in 1987. His work was featured in the 2019 Whitney Biennial at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York. Solo exhibitions include ROOTS (Antenna Gallery, New Orleans), Told You Not to Bring That Ball (Masur Museum of Art, Monroe) and Summer Madness (M+B, Los Angeles). This summer his work will be featured in THIS IS AMERICA at Kunstraum Potsdam in Germany. In 2017, he received a Joan Mitchell Painters & Sculptors Grant. Phillips has also participated in residencies at the Vermont Studio Center and Skowhegan School of Painting & Sculpture. His work can be found in the collections of the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY; Albright-Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY; Block Museum of Art, Evanston, IL; and New Orleans Museum of Art, New Orleans, LA, among others.
    [Show full text]
  • Reflections on Thomas Kinkade, "Painter of Light" and Accidental Avant-Gardist
    Reflections on Thomas Kinkade, "Painter of Light" and Accidental Avant-Gardist Thomas Kinkade Company Thomas Kinkade's "Sunset at Riverbend Farm" by Ben Davis Published: April 10, 2012 Popularity guarantees exactly nothing in the way of artistic immortality. In fin de siècle Paris, Puvis de Chavannes was the subject of near universal acclaim. Now he is a footnote to the Impressionists. In the late 1960s, Peter Max was by far the most-seen Pop artist, having invented a technique to produce vibrantly colored posters that were wildly popular with college students. Now Max’s work is regarded as schlock. And so it will be with Thomas Kinkade, who passed away at the untimely age of 54 over the weekend, having built a vast empire and reached an unprecedented audience with his voluminous output of luminous Americana. I do not think that Kinkade is a great artist. I do, however, think that he is an interesting one. How to explain the runaway popularity of his paintings? The ready- to-hand answer is that they are simple images meant to appeal to simple people. This is not, in fact, a line of argument confined to his detractors. "Some people think it's marketing,” the owner of one of his Thomas Kinkade Signature gallery franchises told the San Jose Mercury News. “I don't believe any of that. I think Thom just has a gift. He paints the good, and he doesn't paint the negative. Thom paints happy scenes; he paints scenes that people want to go to." This assessment is not totally fair to Kinkade admirers.
    [Show full text]