Not to speak ill of the dead, but some of you asked why I dislike Thomas Kinkade so much. As an average hard-working American, I find it reprehensible that he could make millions from his art alone, scam galleries out of millions of dollars, and still declare bankruptcy to prevent paying creditors the $6 million+ he owed them. As an art collector/historian, I find his art formulaic, lacking in any real meaning, soul or depth, and his use of color and “light” kitschy. As an artist, I’m appalled that he commercialized what talent he had by marketing to the Christian majority while at the same time, behaving abhorrently in public, placing lives in danger with his drinking and driving, sexual assault, indecent exposure, pissing all over the damn place, and driving everyone who cared for him away with his selfishness. You can mourn the loss of him all you want, but I for one, will sit back laughing when everyone who tries to sell his prints, asking way more than they paid, are eventually told that because his art flooded the market their collection is pretty much worthless.
Dark Portrait of a `Painter of Light’
“Painter Of Light” Thomas Kinkade arrested for DUI, escapes conviction yet again for crimes against art
This Week in Crazy: Thomas Kinkade
Artist’s firm on hook for $2.1 million