Dark Portrait of a 'Painter of Light'

latimes. ^ | March 5, 2006 | Kim Christensen

[tbird5]

Christian-themed artist Thomas Kinkade is accused of ruthless tactics and seamy personal conduct. He disputes the allegations.

Thomas Kinkade is famous for his luminous landscapes and street scenes, those dreamy, deliberately inspirational images he says have brought "God's light" into people's lives, even as they have made him one of America's most collected artists.

A devout Christian who calls himself the "Painter of Light," Kinkade trades heavily on his beliefs and says God has guided his brush — and his life — for the last 20 years.

"When I got saved, God became my art agent," he said in a 2004 video biography, genteel in tone and rich in the themes of faith and family values that have helped win him legions of fans, albeit few among art critics.

But some former Kinkade employees, gallery operators and others contend that the Painter of Light has a decidedly dark side.

[Rte66]

My taste in art is all over the place, no connoisseur, I. However, the second painting of the waterfall is the kind of art I like--because it reminds me of a favorite place I like to visit, Hamilton Pool, in Austin, TX.

Maybe that's another aspect of art that appeals to audiences or buyers - some connection to a pleasant memory in the mind's eye of the beholder. Whether it's "good" or "bad" doesn't matter that much.

FWIW, I don't like TK's stuff, and I *really* don't like Precious Moments, either. I tend to buy SW art and photography--at least, I used to when I had some discretionary income. It came after music, though.

Thanks for posting those pix.

[Mila]

Your work is lovely. Thanks for posting it here.

[Republicanprofessor]

Art ping. Let Sam Cree, Woofie, or me know if you want on or off this art ping list.

Kincade's story gets worse and worse. When he pees in public on a Disneyland figures, that's even worse than Jackson Pollock peeing in Peggy Guggenheim's fireplace. (Yes, that's a documented story...see the film Pollock.)

But Pollock was no cheesy con. I know some on FR believe he was. [Check out my home page (under the Abstract Expressionist lecture) if you want to learn more depth about his work.] And Pollock's emotion was real, not "cotton candy," as some one here wisely put it.

I know this will sound snobby, but I can't even look at Kincade's work...sorry, but I can't. There just isn't any decent form nor any attempt at a deeper content, gimmicks notwithstanding. If you like pretty landscapes, check out the 19th century Hudson River painters (as someone noted on another Kincade thread) such as Thomas Cole or Frederick Edwin Church. These guys were masters.

by Sanford Robinson Gifford, a more minor painter of that Hudson River School, but with a real light.

[Republicanprofessor]

Re post 72 and the works by Bierstadt and Cole. Cole's second image was taken from a real spot, Kaaterskill Falls in upstate NY. Several of his first landscapes are from this very spot.

Bierstadt relied more on formula. I once did a paper in grad school comparing him to Frederick Edwin Church, who was much better and worked from real images not formulas learned in Germany (before Bierstadt came to the U.S.). I still like some of Bierstadt's works of Yosemite, but in some of his general mountain images, the mountains fade so much in the center of his piece that nothing remains.

[bonfire]

I'm with you. Talent? He paints the same things over and over. Yuck. He's on the same level as "Precious Moments". :)

[bonfire]

I LOVE the third portrait. Beautiful!

[Republicanprofessor]

I think I saw these Icebergs in person at a Church retrospective. Amazing.

Great story, quite a mystery, about the icebergs and the "discovery" of where this hidden painting was. Check it out:

http://www.ric.edu/rpotter/harvey.html

[Republicanprofessor]

Re Pollock's early work: I don't see a lack of talent so much as a struggle to deal with his vision and feelings, then unformed. The "bumps and hollows" of Benton's work can definitely be seen in every drip of Pollock's.

As someone who has also struggled to find my own vision, which wasn't pretty realism, I can see how other artists can explore in different ways. I doesn't mean he didn't have talent. In fact, I think it takes more guts and talent to explore beyond realism.

[bonfire]

Now THAT's a painter of "light"!!

[Miss Marple]

By the way, did you know there is a Precious Moments Chapel and Park in Carthage, MO?

Shudder.

[OpusatFR]

"...he actually has talent..."

Kinkade doesn't have vision. He paints a pretty picture without depth or dimension. It could be a piece of paint-by-numbers or mother's embroidery for that matter.

It doesn't have the passion that paintings should have.

As always, IMHO..

[BibChr]

Let's see. Which is sadder?

That LAT does another obviously heavily-agenda-driven hit-piece on a positive figure loved (rightly or wrongly) by many Christians? Or...

The delight with which the always-unsettlingly-large contingent of bitter, angry snobs at FR will suddenly treat the LAT as if it were a reliable news organ, and lawsuits as if they were sober, historical documents?

Dan

[bonfire]

Just nasty.

I call ALL this junk "Truck Stop Art".......cuz you can buy ALL of it exclusively at your local freeway exit along with those lovely cut glass animals.

[Miss Marple]

I agree with the poster who earlier said Kincade is filling a market ignored by the art community. My son-in-law is a painter, and his father is a ceramics artist. The father is trying to get the son to include a few human figures or animals in his paintings, both to stretch himself and to make his paintings more widely marketable (he does still life). The father says that lots of marketing of art is show biz, which I think true.

My elderly neigihbors have a Kincade print for which they paid over $400. They love it and often talk about how beautiful it is. Of course, they also have a house mostly decorated in 70's style.

People want tangible beauty in art, for the most part. They don't want shock or sadness in what hangs in their homes. Kincade is filling that need, which is sad because there are plenty of good artists who could do it and also provide paintings of depth and meaning, rather than assembly-line kitsch.

Americans are undereducated about art, which leaves them prey to the Thomas Kincades AND on the other extreme the poseurs of the Manhattan galleries. In the process many fine painters are ignored.

[SlowBoat407]

Suddenly, when an artist is a Christian with (some) Christian-themed work, his alleged personal hypocrisy is a big issue for the LA Times. So big that it merits an enormously long story that starts on top of page 1.

A ridiculous example of bias. The only people this story is of legitimate interest to would be Kinkade's customers, few of whom, anymore, are likely to read the LA Times, or trust it.

My wife is an artist and a Christian, and she finds the man hypocritical, unethical, and a poor representative of Christians in the arts. I do with the LAT had given some of that persptective, but I find nothing in the article surprising, based on the stories I've heard from people who've encountered him.

[bonfire]

"In the process many fine painters are ignored."

You mean like those "starving artist" sales at the Holiday Inn's?? :)

[nuconvert]

I've suspected some of this, though not his being a mean drunk.


""Book of Ecclesiastes says enjoy yourself, have a glass of wine, for this is God's will for you," he said. "It's never consistent with God's will that we behave in a sinful way; however, God also loves us and accepts us and understands that at times we have our failings." "

How convenient for an alcoholic.
One can support a lot of unchristian behavior by quoting the Bible out of context.

[PJ-Comix]

I was unfamiliar with Kincaid's "art" until last night when I checked some of it out on the web. YUCK! However, if one likes the velvet paintings that used to be sold at gas station lots, then the same type of people would love the Kincaidian art.

BTW, I enjoy the 18th century paintings of William Hogarth. He presents a satirical look at English society of that era.

[Guenevere]

Thanks for 'righting' this thread...

..It was tilting mightily to the left.

Your words are well spoken....(as always)

[Miss Marple]

LOL! No. Besides my talented son-in-law (personal bias admitted) you can, around any large city, find an art community which may be full of weirdos, charlatans, and no-talent hacks but which also will have a few people turning out gems of paintings. Very occasionally these people make names for themselves, but mostly (especially if they are in the midwest or the south) they paint for themselves and sometimes manage to get a bit of local recognition.

I have quite a few nice prints I bought from the local art school's annual student show. They are quite good and are not anything like what one sees in the "print shops."