Dark Portrait of a 'Painter of Light'

latimes. ^ | March 5, 2006 | Kim Christensen

[AnAmericanMother]

. . . and, BTW, I agree with you about Jackson Pollock. Best commentary on his work:

[Atlas Sneezed]

A Pollock in person is an impressive thing. If you haven't been there, hold back your judgement.

[Blue Jays]

Hi All-

Very little is reported about his brother, Mr. Reuben Kinkade, the successful 1970's music producer.

~ Blue Jays ~

[Al Simmons]

"The other posters bruised male ego as reason to despise Kinkade is a bit over the top, as well."

/Taxi Driver Mode ON/

You talkin' to ME?

There is some poetic justice that one FAKE Christian (Kinkade) swindled another FAKE Christian (my EX) out of several grand for his cheesy prints....

[Liberty Valance]

LOL! Come on get happy!

[Thumper1960]

It was the capitalized "EX" part that caught my jaded eye.

[Triggerhippie]

Any "artist" who sells his 'work' on QVC is a joke....

I am not a fan of this stuff, but "joke" or no, art is worth what someone will pay for it.

If "artists" today had to rely upon patronage and commissioned work (rather than the NEA) we might have more Michelangelos and fewer Pollocks.

[garyhope]

Ah yes, The Painter of Happy Little Trees. This guy made a whole hunk of cash too selling "How To Paint" books.

Hilarious.

What's with the flying wombat?

[Thumper1960]

If "artists" today had to rely upon patronage and commissioned work (rather than the NEA) we might have more Michelangelos and fewer Pollocks.

And, the Velvet Elvis I almost picked up for a song at a garage sale wouldn't have existed.

(I am holding out for one with a genuine bananna cream pie stain!)

[luvbach1]

Kinkaid is mostly technique. You would be amazed how quickly he can create his seemingly detailed paintings. Some, like Bob Ross will do it on camera, finishing a "detailed" painting in 1/2 hour. Kinkaid can do the same, although he will not do it on camera. That definitely is a talent. But one might also say it's a triumph of technique over art.

[sphinx]

If you buy a couple of my most exclusive, limited edition prints (only 100,000 prints will be made!!!) for $800 apiece

I think the limited edition artwork business is a gimmick, but what do I know? There it is. Sculptors have done it forever; so have painters. I don't see any reason to pick on Kinkade for playing the game.

I'm not a Kinkade fan, btw; if I were going to buy limited edition prints, I'd lean towards Don Troiani's Civil War stuff. Now that's great art.

[luvbach1]

Norman Rockwell! Now there was an artist!

[Dinsdale]

A fool and his money were luckey to get together in the first place.

More power to him if he can get people to pay $800 for prints of paint by number work he completed.

[lesser_satan]

I wholeheartedly agree with you on that one.

[Shion]

>>>A Pollock in person is an impressive thing. If you haven't been there, hold back your judgement.<<<

Bleh. Been there, done that. The only thing that captures my imagination with his work is why, why oh why, does so little talent make so much money....

Kinkaid has more technical talent, unfortunately he uses it to paint creampuffery. Looking at his art makes me feel like I just ate a whole jar of Marshmallow Fluff and got doused in gramma's perfume.

[lesser_satan]

Perhaps. But couldn't I just dump paint on the floor and save myself a trip to the museum?

[Triggerhippie]

There is more artistic talent under the bubblegum stain on that abstract than (excluding the ability to make money off suckers) in all the Kinkeads ever mass-produced.

So how do the Emperor's new clothes look?

Personally, I think Kinkade's stuff looks like a paint-by-numbers pic.

That being said...

No pretentious bullsqueeze can turn that 'bubblegum stain' into anything more than it is, a dropcloth, nothing more.

[AnAmericanMother]

Kinkade's not playing the game honestly.

He doesn't even SIGN the so-called "limited edition" prints - he just puts his hand on the stack, so he can claim he "personally touched" them.

Troiani is a pretty good "Civil War Artist", but he has occasional problems with horse anatomy - especially the legs.

Look at Stonewall's horse's hind legs - badly out of drawing. (I'm an authority in that area, because I have groomed more square inches of horse hide than Troiani has painted.)

That said, he is one of the better modern painters in that line.

But Winslow Homer still stands alone as the greatest Civil War artist of all time.

I would rather have a quality reproduction of a Homer painting than all the Troianis in the world.

[WorkingClassFilth]

Hey, Pal, I've got some impressive drop clothes you might care to add to your tasteful collection. I can always tell a man of refinement and discerning tastes.

[AnAmericanMother]

Rockwell was an extremely accomplished painter. He wasn't taken seriously because he worked as a "mere illustrator" . . . but in technical knowledge and execution he has few peers -- N.C. Wyeth among them, I think (but not Andrew).