Dark clouds gather over 'Painter of Light' [Kinkade accused of drunken antics]

The Guardian (UK) ^ | March 25, 2006 | by Oliver Burkeman in New York

[aculeus]

Entrepreneur artist who hangs in one in 20 US homes accused of fraud and drunken antics

"There's over 40 walls in the average American home," a business manager for the artist Thomas Kinkade once said, "and Thom says our job is to figure out how to populate every single wall in every single home and every single business throughout the world with his paintings."

Kinkade's luridly idyllic landscapes, full of quaint cottages and glowing firelight, already hang in an estimated one in 20 US homes. "In the often hurried, unsympathetic and complex world we live in, the images Thomas Kinkade paints offer a place of refuge," his company's literature purrs. "A place where the transient things of life give way to the things that matter most ... faith and family, a loving home and the people who know and love us."

Art critics have long dismissed his work as a kitsch crime against aesthetics. But now the world has grown even more "unsympathetic and complex" for the artist, who describes himself as a devout Christian and has trademarked his "Painter of Light" soubriquet. In court documents and other testimony, he has been accused of sexual harassment, fraudulent business practices and bizarre incidents of drunkenness including a habit of "ritual territory marking" that involves urinating in public places.

'Misleading picture'

A court-appointed arbitration panel has ruled in favour of two former owners of Kinkade-branded galleries, ordering his company to pay them $860,000 (£500,000) for breaching "the covenant of good faith and dealing" and failing to disclose pertinent business information.

[stands2reason]

If anything else, the man is colorblind.

[stands2reason]

Doi, that's "if nothing else"

[woofie]

I agree

[STARWISE]

ROFL Bump!!!! Priceless ... ya gotta put it on a N'awlins entitlement thread.

[STARWISE]

The smoke is SO perfect ... LOL .. like smoke goes in perfect, straight lines from 5 different chimneys.

[Elyse]

Did you read the post that I was addressing? It looked like he was making the assumption that Kincaide was a drunk based on the article. There were also several other comments where people seemed to be taking the article as truth. Everyone wasn't just talking about his art and I felt the source should be brought into question.

[ccmay]

WTF is that? It looks like a log cabin being washed ashore on a forested coastline in a cyclone.

-ccm

[kitkat]

***Does anyone ever think like me and think "If I really did have a house that close to a creek and if it ever rained more than 1 inch my house would flood"?***

And, does anyone wonder why there is a weeping willow (just to the right of center) that is in full bloom when there's snow on the ground?

[Erasmus]

"Mary, still unable to get on her feet after a night of binge drinking, wonders how she ended up so far from the house."

[Erasmus]

You still have to ask yourself, why is every light in every building on in the middle of the day? All those lights blazing look strange.

The residents did that as a favor to the artist.

[GraceCoolidge]

Not only is the house impossibly close to the creek, the front stoop is at the edge of it! You literally can't walk two steps out the front door without falling in!

And if it's true that Kinkade is drinking heavily, you would think he'd be more careful about this. Anyone who comes stumbling out that door is in for a rude awakening.

[GraceCoolidge]

[I]f it's so easy to detect bad art in painting, why is it so hard for us to do it in other art forms such as literature, cinema, music? I mean, say something negative about Tom Clancy ("the most successful bad writer since James Fenimore Cooper"", according to Chris Buckley), or Hairy Potty or the Star Trek kitsch, or, heaven forbid, about Eddie (Van Halen, whodya think?) and you're marked on this forum as an "elitist" with Communist sympathies. Yeah, Eddie, the greatest musician since Mozart!

I think there is a difference. What drives me crazy are the Kinkade fans who insist that his work is capital A "art," and going to be a collector's item, a masterpiece, etc. I like some pop culture/kitsch type things, but I don't claim they are an investment. I think it is more about the attitude of the purchaser. I don't display my Harry Potter books in order to convince visitors that I am a literary genius. I read them because I enjoy them. They aren't on display. So I believe it is the combination of displaying the "art" (something you don't do with books, music, cinema, usually) along with the insistence of some fans that Kinkade is the world's most important artist. I'd say he is among the world's marketing greats, but that's about it. But if people enjoy Kinkade and want to hang his work on every surface in their home, I say go for it-- just don't try to tell me you're doing it because he is an Important Artist, or this is an investment.

[WestCoastGal]

LOL That IS funny!

I used to like Kincaide's paintings because they look so much like the little cottages in Carmel, California and are so peaceful and serene like a fairytale setting.

However, since he started putting those images on everything from keychains, to coasters to toilet paper and much more junk that I think he's just greedy.

[bkepley]

New Age was what I thought the first time I saw his art. I never even considered Christian which I gather he tried to glom onto.

[Denver Ditdat]

Don't forget the boringly pretentious Rush (the band, not the talkshow host).

[Cicero]

Brilliant.

[Cicero]

I'd take one of those poker-playing dog pictures and put it on my wall any day of the week. I think they're great!

[Old Professer]

If you look close enough, you can still see the numbers.

[Old Professer]

[Old Professer]

Funny how the front tires on those cars left no marks.