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Dark clouds gather over 'Painter of Light' [Kinkade accused of drunken antics]
The Guardian (UK) ^ | March 25, 2006 | by Oliver Burkeman in New York

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 ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society
KEYWORDS: art; assemblylineart; christian; hitpiece; kinkade; kitsch; liberalmedialies; paintbynumbers; schlock; thomaskinkade
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To: SlowBoat407

Maybe there is a helicopter pad we can't see in the clearing behind the house at the back.


61 posted on 03/24/2006 7:16:51 PM PST by Cecily
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To: Cicero

There is also a detectable sheen of oil in the creek. It is no doubt coming from a leak in the line that supplies fuel for the lamp post. The reason you see no people is because they have been evacuated due to the threat of expolosion. That snowman may be headed over the moon at any moment.
What drama!


62 posted on 03/24/2006 7:17:02 PM PST by Crawdad (So the guy says to the doctor, "It hurts when I do this.")
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To: Billthedrill

LOL. That too. I don't think I could deal with it hanging in my house. It would be like a constant reminder of the legislature in Harrisburg.


63 posted on 03/24/2006 7:17:41 PM PST by Tribune7
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To: keithtoo

We think alike! lol
I look at those and think- " Good grief, not a sidewalk or mall in sight!"
I'd last less than a day in a place like that.
Technically, very well done, but...boring.


64 posted on 03/24/2006 7:17:57 PM PST by ClearBlueSky (Whenever someone says it's not about Islam-it's about Islam. Jesus loves you, Allah wants you dead!)
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To: Miss Marple
I fully expect future paintings to have unicorns frolicking around behind the houses with the glowing windows.

The unicorns would probably improve things. Especially if they would glow under a black light.

65 posted on 03/24/2006 7:18:35 PM PST by Tribune7
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To: pandoraou812
I meant to add this one . . . look at that horror of a horse . . . and the elongated scarecrow waving from the front door . . . no wonder he doesn't put many figures into his paintings . . .


66 posted on 03/24/2006 7:21:09 PM PST by AnAmericanMother (Ministrix of Ye Chase, TTGC Ladies' Auxiliary (recess appointment))
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To: Liz; Joe 6-pack; woofie; vannrox; giotto; iceskater; Conspiracy Guy; Dolphy; Intolerant in NJ; ...

Art Ping


Another Kincaid thread

What Fun

Ya want on or off this Art Ping list ya have to name Mona Lisa's mothers maiden name........

or contact Republicanprofessor,Sam Cree or me


67 posted on 03/24/2006 7:21:13 PM PST by woofie
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To: Paved Paradise
Geez I hate clowns!


68 posted on 03/24/2006 7:22:19 PM PST by ErnBatavia (Meep Meep)
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To: Miss Marple
What I love is the same *(&(&%(^ snowman (with the same hat, decorations, and impossible arms) who keeps appearing in painting after painting (along with the miraculous lamp-post.)
69 posted on 03/24/2006 7:22:23 PM PST by AnAmericanMother (Ministrix of Ye Chase, TTGC Ladies' Auxiliary (recess appointment))
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To: AnAmericanMother

It's an Evil Snowman. They have powers of teleportation.


70 posted on 03/24/2006 7:23:37 PM PST by Billthedrill
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To: Tribune7
On second thought, I don't think he would add unicorns. He can't paint animals or people. He did do a Paris street scene which I saw in the kiosk in the mall a year or two ago that was pretty good...but no people in it.

Alas, no unicorns will appear, unless an apprentice has spent his childhood years drawing horses, like my granddaughter.

I bet that snowman is in that picture because snowmen are currently the hottest Christmas collectible.

71 posted on 03/24/2006 7:24:01 PM PST by Miss Marple (Lord, please look after Mozart Lover's and Jemian's sons and keep them strong.)
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To: aculeus
This may be a rhetorical question, but if 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!
72 posted on 03/24/2006 7:24:40 PM PST by Revolting cat! ("In the end, nothing explains anything.")
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To: jwfiv

Kinkade's art is the equivalent of Eddie Furlong's music.


73 posted on 03/24/2006 7:24:58 PM PST by Serb5150 ("Tesla, you don't understand our American humor." —Thomas Edison)
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To: Tribune7; Miss Marple
Howza 'bout this one?

I really like the Giant Poison Frog. I really do.

74 posted on 03/24/2006 7:25:43 PM PST by AnAmericanMother (Ministrix of Ye Chase, TTGC Ladies' Auxiliary (recess appointment))
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To: aculeus
painter of light?

junk.

75 posted on 03/24/2006 7:25:48 PM PST by Trajan88 (www.bullittclub.com)
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To: ErnBatavia

Your link/picture was one of those little boxes with the red x.


76 posted on 03/24/2006 7:26:28 PM PST by Paved Paradise
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To: Miss Marple

I wonder how the snowman would look under a black light?


77 posted on 03/24/2006 7:26:33 PM PST by Tribune7
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To: Revolting cat!

I don't know about that other stuff, but you're right abour Eddie Van Halen.


78 posted on 03/24/2006 7:26:34 PM PST by Crawdad (So the guy says to the doctor, "It hurts when I do this.")
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To: Billthedrill
I think it's an Undead Evil Snowman, because it never casts a shadow (look at that first painting).
79 posted on 03/24/2006 7:26:38 PM PST by AnAmericanMother (Ministrix of Ye Chase, TTGC Ladies' Auxiliary (recess appointment))
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To: Cicero

I hope the owner of that house has some govt. sponsored flood insurance.


80 posted on 03/24/2006 7:26:50 PM PST by Trajan88 (www.bullittclub.com)
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