Today the World is a
Little Darker. Thomas Kinkaid, Painter of Light Died Last Night
Thomas
Kinkade (January 19, 1958
– April 6, 2012) was an American painter of popular and commercial realistic,
bucolic, and idyllic subjects. He is notable for the mass marketing of his work
as printed reproductions and other licensed products via The Thomas Kinkade
Company. He characterized himself as "Thomas Kinkade, Painter of
Light", a phrase he protected through trademark but one originally
attributed to the English master J.M.W. Turner (1775–1851 He also claimed to be
"America's most-collected living artist". Media Arts Group—the former
publicly traded company that licensed, distributed and sold Kinkade's
products—claimed that 1 in 20 homes in the U.S. feature some form of Thomas
Kinkade's art.
Kinkade
received criticism for the extent to which he had commercialized his art—for
example, selling his prints on the QVC home shopping network. Others have
written that his paintings are merely kitsch, without substance, and have
described them as chocolate box and "mall art"
Early years
Kinkade grew up in the small town of Placerville,
California, graduated from high school in 1976, and attended the University of
California, Berkeley and the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena. He
married his wife Nanette in 1982 and the couple have four daughters: Merritt
(b. 1988), Chandler (b. 1991), Winsor (b. 1995) and Everett (b. 1997), all
named for famous artists.
Some of the people who mentored and taught him long
before college were Charles Bell and Glenn Wessels. Wessels encouraged Kinkade
to go to the University of California at Berkeley. Kinkade's relationship with
Wessels is the subject of a semi-autobiographical film released in 2008, The
Christmas Cottage. After two years of general education at Berkeley,
Kinkade transferred to the nationally renowned Art Center College of Design in
Pasadena.
In June 1980, Kinkade spent a summer travelling across
the United States with his college friend James Gurney. The two of them finished
their journey in New York and secured a contract with Guptill Publications to
produce a sketching handbook. Two years later they produced The Artist's
Guide to Sketching, which was one of Guptill Publications' best-sellers
that year. The success of the book landed him and Gurney at Ralph Bakshi
Studios creating background art for the 1983 animated feature film Fire and Ice.
While working on the film, Kinkade began to explore the depiction of light and
of imagined worlds. After the film, Kinkade earned his living as a painter,
selling his originals in galleries throughout California.
Artistic themes and style
A key feature of Thomas Kinkade's paintings are their
glowing highlights and saturated pastel colors. Rendered in a naturalistic American
Scene painting values, his works often portray bucolic, idyllic settings such
as gardens, streams, stone cottages, and Main Streets. His hometown of
Placerville (where his works are omnipresent) is the setting of many of his
street and snow scenes. He has also depicted various Christian themes including
the Christian Cross and churches.
Kinkade says he is placing emphasis on the value of
simple pleasures and that his intent is to communicate inspirational,
life-affirming messages through his work. A self-described "devout
Christian" (all of his children have the middle name "Christian"),
Kinkade has said he gains his inspiration from his religious beliefs and that
his work is intended to contain a larger moral dimension. He has also said that
his goal as an artist is to touch people of all faiths, to bring peace and joy
into their lives through the images he creates. Many pictures contain specific
chapter-and-verse allusions to certain Bible passages.
Kinkade has said, "I am often asked why there are no
people in my paintings", but in 2009 he painted a portrait of the Indianapolis
Speedway for the cover of that year's Indianapolis 500 race program that
included details of the diversity of the crowd, hiding among them the figures
of Norman Rockwell and Dale Earnhardt. He has also painted the farewell
portrait for Yankee Stadium. About the Indianapolis Speedway painting, Kinkade
said:
“The passion I
have is to capture memories, to evoke the emotional connection we have to an
experience. I came out here and stood up on the bleachers and looked around,
and I saw all the elements of the track. It was empty at the time. But I saw
the stadium, how the track laid out, the horizon, the skyline of Indianapolis
and the Pagoda. I saw it all in my imagination. I began thinking, 'I want to
get this energy—what I call the excitement of the moment—into this painting.'
As I began working on it, I thought, 'Well you have this big piece of asphalt,
the huge spectator stands; I've got to do something to get some movement.' So I
just started throwing flags into it. It gives it kind of a patriotic
excitement.”
Mike McGee, director of the Grand Central Art Center at
California State University Fullerton, has written of the Thomas Kinkade
Heaven on Earth exhibition:
“Looking just at the paintings themselves it is obvious
that they are technically competent. Kinkade’s genius, however, is in his
capacity to identify and fulfill the needs and desires of his target
audience—he cites his mother as a key influence and archetypal audience—and to
couple this with savvy marketing… If Kinkade’s art is principally about ideas,
and I think it is, it could be suggested that he is a Conceptual artist. All he
would have to do to solidify this position would be to make an announcement
that the beliefs he has expounded are just Duchampain posturing to achieve his
successes. But this will never happen. Kinkade earnestly believes in his faith
in God and his personal agenda as an artist.”
Artist and Guggenheim Fellow Jeffrey Vallance has spoken
about Kinkade's devout religious themes and their reception in the art world.
“This is another area that the contemporary art world has
a hard time with, that I find interesting. He expresses what he believes and
puts that in his art. That is not the trend in the high-art world at the
moment, the idea that you can express things spiritually and be taken seriously…
It is always difficult to present serious religious ideas in an art context.
That is why I like Kinkade. It is a difficult thing to do.”
Essayist Joan Didion is a representative critic of
Kinkade's style:
“A Kinkade painting was typically rendered in slightly
surreal pastels. It typically featured a cottage or a house of such insistent
coziness as to seem actually sinister, suggestive of a trap designed to attract
Hansel and Gretel. Every window was lit, to lurid effect, as if the interior of
the structure might be on fire.”
She goes on to compare the "Kinkade Glow" to
the luminism of 19th-century painter Albert Bierstadt, who sentimentalized the
infamous Donner Pass in his Donner Lake from the Summit. Didion sees "unsettling
similarities" between the two painters, and worries that Kinkade's own
treatment of the Sierra Nevada, The Mountains Declare His Glory,
similarly ignores the tragedy of the forced dispersal of Yosemite's Sierra
Miwok Indians during the Gold Rush, by including an imaginary Miwok camp as
what he calls "an affirmation that man has his place, even in a setting
touched by God's glory."
Business
Kinkade's works are sold by mail order and in dedicated
retail outlets as high-quality prints, often using texturizing techniques on
real canvas to make the surface of the finished prints mimic the raised surface
of the original painting. Some of the prints also feature light effects that
are painted onto the print surface by hand by "skilled craftsmen,"
touches that add to the illusion of light and the resemblance to an original
work of art, and which are then sold at higher prices. Licensing with Hallmark
and other corporations have made it possible for Kinkade's images to be used
extensively on other merchandise such as calendars, puzzles, greeting cards,
and CDs. By December 2009, his images also appeared on Wal-Mart gift cards.
He has also authored or been the subject of over 120
books and is the only artist to license his trademark and artwork to multiple
housing developments.
Kinkade is reported to have earned $53 million for his
artistic work in the period 1997 to May 2005.[
In June 2010, the Morgan Hill, California manufacturing
operation that reproduces Kinkade's art filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy
protection, listing nearly $6.2 million in creditors' claims. The company,
Pacific Metro, plans to reduce its costs by outsourcing much of its manufacturing.
Criticism of business practices
Kinkade's company, Media Arts Group Inc., has been
accused of unfair dealings with owners of Thomas Kinkade Signature Gallery franchises.
In 2006, an arbitration board awarded Karen Hazlewood and Jeffrey Spinello
$860,000 in damages and $1.2 million in fees and expenses due to Kinkade's
company "[failing] to disclose material information" that would have
discouraged them from investing in the gallery. The award was later increased
to $2.8 million with interest and legal fees. The plaintiffs and other former
gallery owners have also leveled accusations of being pressured to open
additional galleries that were not financially viable, being forced to take on
expensive, unsalable inventory, and being undercut by discount outlets whose
prices they were not allowed to match.
Kinkade has denied the accusations and Media Arts Group
has successfully defended itself in previous suits by other former gallery
owners. Kinkade himself was not singled out in the finding of fraud by the
arbitration board.
In August 2006, the Los Angeles Times reported that the FBI
was investigating these issues, with agents from offices across the country
conducting interviews.
Former gallery dealers also charge that Kinkade uses
Christianity as a tool to take advantage of people. "They really knew how
to bait the hook," said one ex-dealer who spoke on condition of anonymity.
"They certainly used the Christian hook." One former dealer's lawyer
stated "Most of my clients got involved with Kinkade because it was
presented as a religious opportunity. Being defrauded is awful enough, but
doing it in the name of God is really despicable." On June 2, 2010,
Pacific Metro, the artist's production company, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy,
one day after defaulting on a $1 million court imposed payment to the
aforementioned Karen Hazlewood and Jeffrey Spinello. A $500,000 payment had
previously been disbursed.
During the years 1997 through 2005, court documents show
at least 350 independently owned Kinkade franchises at peak. By May, 2005, that
number had more than halved. Kinkade pocketed $50 million during this period.
An initial cash investment of $80,000 to $150,000 is listed as a startup cost
for franchisees.
Related projects and partnerships
Kinkade has been selected by a number of organizations to
celebrate milestones, including Disneyland’s 50th Anniversary, Walt
Disney World Resort's 35th Anniversary, Elvis Presley’s purchase of Graceland
50 years ago and the 25th anniversary of its opening to the public, and Yankee
Stadium’s farewell 85th season in 2008. Kinkade also paid tribute to Fenway
Park.
Kinkade was also chosen as the artist of choice to
capture the historic Asheville, North Carolina mansion, Biltmore House, on
canvas and introduced the Commemorative Portrait of the 50th Running of the
Daytona 500 in 2008.
In 2001 Media Arts unveiled "The Village at
Hiddenbrooke", a Thomas Kinkade-themed community of homes, built outside of
Vallejo, California in partnership with the international construction firm Taylor
Woodrow. Salon's Janelle Brown visited the community and found it to be
"the exact opposite of the Kinkadeian ideal. Instead of quaint cottages,
there's generic tract housing; instead of lush landscapes, concrete patios;
instead of a cozy village, there's a bland collection of homes with nothing—not
a church, not a cafe, not even a town square—to draw them together."
Personal conduct
The Los Angeles Times has reported that some of Kinkade's
former colleagues, employees, and even collectors of his work say that he has a
long history of cursing and heckling other artists and performers. The Times
further reported that he openly groped a woman's breasts at a South Bend,
Indiana sales event, and mentioned his proclivity for ritual territory marking through urination, once relieving
himself on a Winnie the Pooh figure at the Disneyland Hotel in Anaheim while
saying "This one’s for you, Walt." In a letter to licensed gallery
owners acknowledging he may have behaved badly during a stressful time when he
overindulged in food and drink, Kinkade said accounts of the alcohol-related
incidents included "exaggerated, and in some cases outright fabricated
personal accusations." The letter did not address any incident
specifically.
In 2006 John Dandois, Media Arts Group executive,
recounted a story that on one occasion ("about six years ago")
Kinkade became drunk at a Siegfried & Roy magic show in Las Vegas and began
shouting "Codpiece! Codpiece!" at the performers. Eventually he was
calmed by his mother. Dandois also said of Kinkade, "Thom would be fine,
he would be drinking, and then all of a sudden, you couldn't tell where the
boundary was, and then he became very incoherent, and he would start cursing
and doing a lot of weird stuff like touching himself."[27]
On 11 June 2010, Kinkade was arrested in Carmel, California on suspicion of
driving while under the influence of alcohol.
Charities and affiliations
Kinkade has supported non-profit organizations focusing
on children, humanitarian relief, and the arts, including the Make-a-Wish
foundation, World Vision, Art for Children Charities, and The Salvation Army.
He was a member of the Church of the Nazarene.
In 2002, he partnered with The Salvation Army to create
two charity prints, The Season of Giving and The Light of Freedom. Proceeds
from the sale of the prints were donated to The Salvation Army for their relief
efforts at Ground Zero and to aid the victims of the attacks and their families
in New York, Pennsylvania, and Washington D.C. More than $2 million was donated
as a result of this affiliation. In 2003, Kinkade was chosen as a National
Spokesman for the Make-A-Wish Foundation, and during the 20 Years of Light Tour
in 2004, he raised over $750,000 and granted 12 wishes for children with
life-threatening medical conditions.
In 2005, the Points of Light foundation, a nonprofit
organization dedicated to engaging more people more effectively in volunteer
service to help solve serious social problems, named Kinkade as Ambassador of
Light. He is the second person in the Foundation’s 15-year history to be chosen
as Ambassador, the first being the organization’s founder, former U.S.
President George H. W. Bush. During his Ambassador of Light Tour, Kinkade
visited cities nationwide to raise awareness and money for the Points of Light
Foundation and the Volunteer Center National Network, which serves more than
360 Points of Light member Volunteer Centers in communities across the country.
Archbishop Mitty High School of San Jose has also
dedicated their theatre complex in his name due to various donations.
Awards and recognition
Kinkade has received many awards for his works, including
multiple National Association of Limited Edition Dealers (NALED) awards for
Artist of the Year and Graphic Artist of the Year, and his art has been named
Lithograph of the Year nine times.
It should be noted these awards are, for the most part, based on number of
sales rather than any inherent artistic merit in the work itself.
In 2002, Kinkade was inducted into the California Tourism
Hall of Fame as an individual who has influenced the public’s perception of
tourism in California through his images of California sights. He was selected
to commemorate the Salt Lake City 2002 Olympic Winter Games and the 2002 World
Series. He was also honored with the 2002 World Children’s Center Humanitarian
Award for his contributions to improving the welfare of children and their
families through his work with Kolorful Kids and Art for Children.
In 2003, Kinkade was chosen as a national spokesperson
for the Make-A-Wish Foundation. And, in 2004, he was selected for a second time
by the Christmas Pageant of Peace to paint the National Christmas Tree in
Washington, D.C. The painting, Symbols of Freedom, was the official image for
the 2004 Pageant of Peace.
In 2004, Kinkade received an award from NALED recognizing
him as the Most Award Winning Artist in the Past 25 Years. Most recently in
2005, he was named the NALED Graphic Artist of the Year. He was also recognized
for his philanthropic efforts by NALED with the Eugene Freedman Humanitarian
Award.
In popular culture
Kinkade says his art is meant to have broad appeal. In
his own words:
There's been million-seller books and million-seller CDs.
But there hasn't been, until now, million-seller art. We have found a way to
bring to millions of people, an art that they can understand.
In Heath and Potter's book The Rebel Sell: Why the
Culture Can’t Be jammed, Kinkade's work is described as "so awful it must
be seen to be believed." In Dana Spiotta’s 2011 novel Stone Arabia,
the main character’s boyfriend, an art teacher at a private school in Los
Angeles, gives her presents of Thomas Kinkade Painter of Light pieces. “When I
asked him why Thomas Kinkade, he just said, ‘Well, he is America’s most
successful artist. And a native Californian as well.’ Or he would say, ‘His name
has a trademark—see?’ and he would point to the subscript that appeared after
his name.” The pieces are “deeply hideous” and “kitschy,” but for some reason
she loves them.
Mat Johnson's 2011 novel Pym includes a parody of Kinkade
named Thomas Karvel, "the Master of Light."
Kinkade is mentioned in Psych (season 6 episode 10) when
it is revealed that Shawn does not know any other artist.
Kinkade's art is parodied on the comedy website Something
Awful, which highlights some of the oddities in perspective and light in
Kinkade's work (i.e., cabin interiors on fire, neon patches of glowing grass
with no light source, etc.)
A self-produced movie about Kinkade, Thomas Kinkade's
Christmas Cottage, was released on DVD in late November 2008. The
semi-autobiographical story looks at the motivation and inspiration behind his
most popular painting, The Christmas Cottage. Jared Padalecki plays
Kinkade and Marcia Gay harden plays his mother. Peter O’Toole plays young
Kinkade's mentor, who tells him, "Paint the light, Thomas! Paint the
light!".
Death
On April 6, 2012, Thomas Kinkade died suddenly of natural
causes while at home in Los Gatos in the San Francisco Bay Area, according to
his family. He was 54 years old. It appears he died of natural causes.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Kinkade
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