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I disagree. They are sentimental, but they are good art. The sophisticates hate sentimentality. They also hate Christians. Ergo, their disdain. This is not “velvet Elvis.” This is more of a classic style that will survive the ages.

And why the gratuitous slap at the South? These paintings are equally popular in every part of the nation, Canada, and all over the world.

Have you ever been to a sidewalk art show in New York? Talk about shlock!

They are sentimental, but they are good art.

Respectfully, he couldn't hold a candle to Paul Landry or William S. Phillips. Two of my favorite paintings are Landry's "It's A Wonderful Christmas" and Phillips' "Cape Neddick Dawn". See below:

I disagree. They are sentimental, but they are good art. The sophisticates hate sentimentality. They also hate Christians. Ergo, their disdain. This is not “velvet Elvis.” This is more of a classic style that will survive the ages.

You've already fallen into the trap: "It's not because I'm rude, disdainful, dishonest, lazy, less-than-competent, stupid, or unimaginative. You're not giving me the promotion/you don't like me/you hate me/you're rejecting my application/you're failing my job interview/you're giving me a bad grade on my test because I'm black/gay/Hispanic/fat/female/Rosicrucian/tattooed/old/young/male."

A large portion of the greatest Western art of the past 2000 years features Christian themes. The artistic merit of these works is not despised because of the subject matter. And they are not taken to be great art because of their subject matter.

The reason a lot of people who know art dislike most of Kinkade's work of the past 30 years is not because he's Christian but because, technically, it's crap. He's found one trait (the light) that's necessary among many, many others for a painting to be good and has used it as a substitute for everything else. It would be like a pianist eschewing everything else in the technical repertoire but the trill, "He's a wonderful artist! Have you ever heard anyone do a trill like that!" "But that's all he does! Everything else is degraded or missing." "You're just saying that because he's a Christian!"

A "classic style" may survive the ages, but Kinkade's enduring claim to fame will be his abuse of this style.