Posted on 03/24/2006 6:35:10 PM PST by 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.
(Excerpt) Read more at arts.guardian.co.uk ...
Now, now. The cottage IS on the floodplain, but if anything happens, they'll have a FEMA trailer and a $2,000.00 gift card to compensate...
I would imagine the sight of all that wet snow defying gravity on those alpine rooftops would drive an amateur carpenter nuts.
Looks like Michael Jackson giving the Merry-Go-Round horsie one last hug before getting off the ride.
He's simply exploring a new medium, as The Painter of PeeTM.
Your right howlin, I am blamed because people are taking swipes at him. I told wifey about her beloved "painter of light" being involved in charges of bad behavior and shoddy business practices. She lept to his defense and of course accused me of being against him. I told her i was merely relaying what was said in the article. FWIW, I think the guy is nothing but a mass marketing machine; but I'd never tell the wife that, cuz I value peace and tranquility.
Kinkade's 'Clearing Storms' was purchased by Bill Gates for about $100,000.
I bought a limited edition offset lithograph of the original about 13 years ago for $1,300. Not as an investment but fot it's beauty.
Kinkade's 'Clearing Storms'
On the otherhand Andy Warhol's soup cans are highly valued by our "esteemed arts community"
sold at Sothebys for $3.8 million in 2001.
Which of the above paintings would you rather hang in your home and why?
Anyway, they did a great job at explaining his art there (I know...you might need Picasso explained, but...Rockwell?) But every painting of his told a story, and the level of detail was astounding when you looked for it. Here are two of my favorites:
You can't see the detail in this one, but if you could see the scoreboard, you would see Boston is losing in the sixth inning with one more out to go...and the two assistant managers are having words just behind the officials...it is easy to tell what the Boston assitant manager is saying..."Hahaha! You ain't gonna get a chance to to get that last out...it's gonna be a RESCHEDULE game...!" And the frustration on the opposing coaches face is priceless!
In this one, again you cannot see the detail, but that date on the calendar is a Saturday, and if you could make out the clock you would see it is about a minute to closing time for a town office on a Saturday (back then). I love his stuff.
Oh, I could have listed all sorts of names of boringly pretentious bands, though the Thomas Kinkade of rock, that we can all agree on, may be somebody like Michael Bolton or Kenny G.
"Now, where did I leave my guitar..."
I wouldn't hang either one of them at home, but while the syrupy over the top melodrama of Kinkade identifies it immediately as kitsch, the likes of which we've seen before many times by many other flea market painters (it's a popular kitsch theme, in other words), the Campbell Soup painting holds my attention for its compositiion, its lines, and its tension. And it doesn't make any difference what name painted either one of them. (And it's "its", not "it's".) Others, I hope, will articulate it better than I can.
This stuff just slays me. My wife is threatening to pull my internet priveleges because of all the money I have spent on new keyboards.
I am sure she would prefer I surf for porn...it might be less disruptive to our personal life and finances.
No wonder I am addicted to FreeRepublic...
What a strange dichotomy.
If I had to, I'd pick the cans, but only for my kitchen.
Do you know there are more than two artists in the world? And more than two styles?
There are actual artists who can draw people as weil. Unlike Kinkade.
I think I would agree. People are entitled to enjoy whatever they want to enjoy, and my opinion of it shouldn't detract from their enjoyment of it.
However, to present it to me as great art or him as a great artist is going to evoke a response. I don't think that was the case here, people just started slamming him right off the bat without any provocation, which probably made some people feel defensive...
Why can't we all just get along...:)
Don't forget jigsaw puzzles. ;-)
First of all, did you know that his "limited editions" are split up from runs that total 10,000 or more? They are then split up into smaller groups and arbitrarily assigned prices ranging from about $700 to several thousand dollars. They are machine-signed, and never touched by the "artist". In other words, your reproduction is worth just as much as one that someone else originally paid even less for. Wanna real shock? go to e-bay and see how many people are getting their asking price for their Kinkades at this level.
There are other artists who do this romantic genre well. If you like this style, you can purchase an actual original for the price you paid for this mass-produced reproduction. You can find them at your local (or regional) art shows or galleries, and they will be much more appreciative of your purchase than will Mr. Kinkade. In addition, you will have an original with the artist's heart and soul in it.
You would have been better off buying the cans, because now you'd be a millionaire and you could buy real art.
You did it very well, RC.
One of the best... congrats to you!
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