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by Nick on January 12th, 2008
Craft, not art. His products are interior decoration that looks like painting, but in fact is industrially produced stuff.
by Ms.A on January 4th, 2008
He sure figured out how to market his work.I am not a big fan of the style or subject matter of his work, though.
by caveman1613 on March 27th, 2009
another sell out but then again if we thought of it would we turn down the millions he is making, blame it on ignorance but people are not that educated about fine art....thomas kinkade was painting beautiful work at one time but it was just like so many others...he found a gimmic to appeal to the housewives trying to glitz up the room and tie in the colors to the carpet and walls/furniture etc...good marketing team!
by Yarnlady is happy every day on April 18th, 2008
I have always loved his style and subjects. I think it is wonderful that he has made them available to the masses. I don't see people complaining about the plastic King Tut masks and Egyptian art you can find in every store, why should they complain about this man?
by Philip on April 18th, 2008
The painter of light, is pretty cool. You would be waisting the picture though it you didn't have a light with a dimmer shinning on it.
by MrsTempleton on April 18th, 2008
Yes he is talented, but it is more commercial than innovated. But commercial paintings appeal to the masses and pay the bills. Just not my style though.
by shellzbellz on January 30th, 2008
regardless if its craft or not, he painted what he liked - morphed it to a subject matter that sells, made a fortune and now can paint whatever whenever...i think the interior design feel is only because its reproduced in mass. not my taste but but a good role model.
by Constant Fluxation on January 10th, 2009
ok Kinkade
by confused008 on August 27th, 2010
is the simplicity of his art, that everbody understands, bothering you all. oh i guess, a thing in excess loses its value
by Little Prince on June 24th, 2010
Far and few between.
http://articles.latimes.com/2006/mar/05/business/fi-kinkade5
Try Thomas Cole instead, predecessor to both Kinkade and Bierstadt.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Cole
by Wynper on August 27th, 2010
It's god-awful stuff churned out in factories designed for the living rooms of blue haired old ladies and people who want to say they own "art"
I saw some of his stuff that features LED lights...please what the hell is that about...it's more awful even than paintings of Elvis on black velvet.
Never underestimate the bad taste of the American public...Kinkade proves just how bad it is.
by Violette on January 10th, 2009
I have seen his en plein air stuff and he is very good when he paints in that style. I despise his stylized (the popular stuff he sells) works. Along with other artists, I thought he had sold his soul. Now, I'm not so sure. No matter how good an artist is, it is almost impossible to make a living at it. Therefore, a lot of artists find some niche/trick that is popular. I don't know if I could do it. Don't think so unless I was starving.
by Bcherry89 on June 24th, 2010
What are my thoughts? He's a genius. The animosity towards Kinkade from the modern art community personifies the modern art world for me so well. It's full of no talent nobodies (with the occasional talented artist who gets overshadowed by crap) who are so self absorbed they can't give credit where credit is due. Their lack in ability to affect someone on an emotional/spiritual or intellectual level with their art only fuels their hostility towards Thomas Kinkade's painting style only more... and the only way they feel they can beat him is by criticizing everything and anything about him, for example, saying that his art reminds them of Hitler's (Hitler was absolutely terrible, technically and on a level of emotion). And the only way they get recognized anymore is in their local communities because that's the cool-hip-scene thing to do now-a-days isn't it? "Support local art!" It doesn't matter if it's crap anymore, today people praise crap so much, to them it becomes roses. And that is the reason talented people get overshadowed with today's youth. Don't get me wrong, I love all styles of art but people today seriously lack taste.
If you could compare Kinkade to anyone it would be Bierstadt, although obviously Bierstadt was much more talented in my opinion. But then again the styles are still different between the two and it's hard to compare because they both convey feeling so well.
Nick here thinks craft isn't art... Interior decorating isn't art either, wow, genius. They criticize his ability to compose beautifully and match colors well so now his painting's are just craft. Guess what, if craft can communicate with you, and convey a message... it's art!
Getting into the definition of art on a philosophical level is almost hopeless with the modern art community but I'll do it anyway. Art is anything where someone tries to communicate with someone, whether it's a statement, or feeling. Speech is an art form, so is poetry. Yes, even kitsch is an art form. The reason why Thomas Kinkade is so criticized is because people believe that because his artwork is easy for people to digest... and everyone can understand it... that it is kitsch and must not convey any real artistic effort. The idiocracy of that statement baffles me. Everyone has a different type of artistic quality, his is just that he can communicate well with people in his paintings. It's not even because he paints little cute warm cottages and the same flowers in every painting, it's the use of warm soft light, and the amazing way he uses color. Thomas Kinkade relies heavily on spiritual feelings to create his paintings. To not see the artistic quality in Thomas Kinkade's painting style is almost the same thing as saying you've never felt joy on a spiritual level. All I can categorize his wok as, for those who don't get anything from it, is "potential art".
I think it's funny that the art community is all about conveying a message, which basically entails that you should know something about human beings on a level of emotion... but when it's optimistic, spiritual or warm and inviting it gets ridiculed or they can't understand it. "Oh the hypocrisy." Ridiculous... just ridiculous.
It's like someone explaining a math problem in a simple way and a mathematician getting angry because he could have explained it in a much more complicated manner where only few people would have understood. And because it was explained in such a simple way it was degrading to the mathematician. To me, being able to speak in simple words is more beautiful, and requires more intelligence.
Conclusion: Thomas Kinkade speaks to me on a spiritual level, and for that reason he is one of my most favorite artists.
by Merfish on January 10th, 2009
I have always had a soft spot for the chocolate box style of art. My grandfather painted in a similar style.
Where can I sell my handmade items online without having to pay upfront to list them? (I don't mind paying a commission if it sells)
by Anonymous on September 7th, 2010
| 1 person likes this
Where can you find easy access of antiques?
by jjquimora on June 30th, 2010
| 1 person likes this
How much is Mill in the Mist 'Original' by Gerald Coulson worth?
by murgin on June 1st, 2010
| 1 person likes this
Do you like bug drawings?
by Marguerite on July 26th, 2010
| 1 person likes this
Where or how can I sell my web graphics if I am a 16 years old?
by Myles_L on August 21st, 2010
| 1 person likes this
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Comments
You can often buy originals in his studios, but of course, the originals are extremely expensive.
by Yarnlady is happy every day on April 18th, 2008
I think even his originals look very much like craft. He is not an innovative, challenging painter.
by Nick on April 19th, 2008
I couldn't have said it better myself.
by Lemonyellow Di Vintage on July 15th, 2008
Thank you!
by Nick on July 26th, 2008
You know, Kinkaide's stuff reminds me of Hitler's. Just a thought.
by Lemonyellow Di Vintage on July 26th, 2008
Could make sense, but seen in this light, we should wish Mr Kinkade all the best with his career as a painter of sorts.
by Nick on July 26th, 2008
Does he need our well wishes?
by Lemonyellow Di Vintage on July 26th, 2008
I don't think so, I only would not want a second AH, and as we know, a substantial part of his dedication to become a dictator was due to the fact that he was a frustrated painter.
by Nick on July 26th, 2008
Perhaps Kinkaide is a reincarnation of Hitler as a sucessful painter. I guess you'd have to believe in that sort of thing.
by Lemonyellow Di Vintage on July 26th, 2008
It might be fun to imagine that.
by Nick on July 26th, 2008
Not very just though.
by Lemonyellow Di Vintage on July 26th, 2008
Yes, that's the fun part of it.
by Nick on July 26th, 2008