# RIP Thomas Kinkade **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 7, 2012, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-thomas-kinkade/618058 "2012-04-07T03:21:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2012, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-thomas-kinkade/618058/41 "2012-04-07T12:40:36Z")
My inlaws have one of his prints hanging in their living room. Could be worse - at least it’s not dogs playing poker. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2012, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-thomas-kinkade/618058/42 "2012-04-07T12:46:16Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > Link’s dead; _"Thank you for visiting York Daily Record/Sunday News. We are sorry the article that you requested is no longer available. "_ I replaced it with an active link. Dunno why the site doesn’t automatically forward you to the updated story. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2012, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-thomas-kinkade/618058/43 "2012-04-07T12:56:42Z")
I worked for the man for two weeks some years ago. ---
**Author:** ![Pai325](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Pai325](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pai325)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2012, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-thomas-kinkade/618058/44 "2012-04-07T13:02:30Z")
He was 54? I thought he was much older. I don’t have anything of his; although I like some paintings like that, he hits you over the head with it. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2012, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-thomas-kinkade/618058/45 "2012-04-07T13:06:32Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > My inlaws have one of his prints hanging in their living room. Could be worse - at least it’s not dogs playing poker. Is it _[NASCAR Thunder](http://www.forgottentreasurez.com/catalog/NASCAR%20THUNDER_thumb.jpg)_? ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2012, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-thomas-kinkade/618058/46 "2012-04-07T13:23:06Z")
Possibly. My father-in-law had some jigsaw puzzles by him. After he died, we may have taken them with us. His stuff was good as a puzzle, but I’d never hang it on our walls. Artist Bob Eggleton says that Kinkade did some great work, but not the stuff he’s known for. His best stuff was things he did for himself or on other projects, but could not sell. Evidently, he was frustrated that he sold out and had to do inferior work because of the money it made. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2012, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-thomas-kinkade/618058/47 "2012-04-07T14:06:09Z")
I’m sorry to hear of his news… 54 is too young to die for anybody not named Hitler. (There, I’ve just done and gone Godwinized the Kinkade thread.) Unless there’s an illustration of one of his works in one on my reference books or something, no I don’t have a Kinkade in my house. (Other than what I can bring up on the phone, laptop, desktop, etc). ---
**Author:** ![freckafree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/freckafree/32/3050_2.png) [@freckafree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/freckafree)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2012, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-thomas-kinkade/618058/48 "2012-04-07T14:15:02Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > I worked for the man for two weeks some years ago. Do tell! Thanks, **gaffa** , for providing the link to the Susan Orleans article. I have looked for it often since having read it in the New Yorker in 2001. ---
**Author:** ![obfusciatrist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/4af34b/32.png) [@obfusciatrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obfusciatrist)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2012, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-thomas-kinkade/618058/49 "2012-04-07T14:50:10Z")
I view him kind of like Kenny G, an undoubtedly skilled and talented person who puts that skill and talent to endeavors of absolutely no interest. ---
**Author:** ![living\_in\_hell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3d9bf3/32.png) [@living\_in\_hell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/living_in_hell)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2012, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-thomas-kinkade/618058/50 "2012-04-07T15:15:42Z")
Let me start by saying that I do understand that taste is relative, and I’m even appreciative of his talent with “light”…but, to refer to himself as the “most collected living artist” seems a little, um, extreme. Not because people may not have more of his stuff than any other artist, but because I’m not sure that all would agree that what he does is “art.” What say you? Is he an artist? Is he an artist because he has pumped out figurines and a lot of people have those? I would posit he may be more of a crafts-type. ---
**Author:** ![living\_in\_hell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3d9bf3/32.png) [@living\_in\_hell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/living_in_hell)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2012, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-thomas-kinkade/618058/51 "2012-04-07T15:46:31Z")
Shoot. I didn’t see this thread before I posted mine. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2012, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-thomas-kinkade/618058/52 "2012-04-07T15:46:33Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > I worked for the man for two weeks some years ago. Any stories? A lot of his former employees over the years have said he was a not good very bad man. ---
**Author:** ![living\_in\_hell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3d9bf3/32.png) [@living\_in\_hell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/living_in_hell)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2012, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-thomas-kinkade/618058/53 "2012-04-07T15:47:51Z")
Sorry. Didn’t see the other thread. ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2012, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-thomas-kinkade/618058/54 "2012-04-07T15:52:39Z")
He creates original works, no matter how formulaic. He’s an artist. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2012, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-thomas-kinkade/618058/55 "2012-04-07T16:01:16Z")
He has a style all his own; you can tell it’s his work without seeing the signature. I think that qualifies him as an artist. ---
**Author:** ![Jenaroph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e8c25b/32.png) [@Jenaroph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jenaroph)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2012, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-thomas-kinkade/618058/56 "2012-04-07T16:14:00Z")
Artist, but one who painted pure unadulterated crap for money. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2012, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-thomas-kinkade/618058/57 "2012-04-07T16:14:57Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Possibly. My father-in-law had some jigsaw puzzles by him. After he died, we may have taken them with us. His stuff was good as a puzzle, but I’d never hang it on our walls. > > Artist Bob Eggleton says that Kinkade did some great work, but not the stuff he’s known for. His best stuff was things he did for himself or on other projects, but could not sell. Evidently, he was frustrated that he sold out and had to do inferior work because of the money it made. I’m not sure if I saw some of the works he was referring to but there were some things I saw that I wouldn’t mind buying. I remember thinking he should stay away from the cottages. Then he became and industry and went farther and farther over the top with schlock. In the beginning there was no hint of religion either. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2012, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-thomas-kinkade/618058/58 "2012-04-07T16:17:16Z")
> [@obfusciatrist](#): > > I view him kind of like Kenny G, an undoubtedly skilled and talented person who puts that skill and talent to endeavors of absolutely no interest. No interest to YOU. Obviously of interest to many. I can’t fault a man for doing what brings in the big bucks rather than what earns him the admiration of a few art snobs. In that position, I’m sure I’d do the same thing. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2012, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-thomas-kinkade/618058/59 "2012-04-07T16:18:29Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > …I remember thinking he should stay away from the cottages… Well, it was a cottage industry. \ ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2012, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-thomas-kinkade/618058/60 "2012-04-07T16:21:38Z")
In honour of his passing, I gathered up my most precious and treasured love: my family. We went for a solemn picnic in a quiet glen with a brook softly passing in the background. Once there, I set a starch-crisped, white linen on the ground as a centrepiece. It beautifully caught and reflected brilliant sunlight intermingled with playful just-budding branch shadows. When the light was at its most magical, we bowed our heads in peaceful and serene contemplation. Then I force-fed everyone Skittles until they vomited all over the sheet. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-thomas-kinkade/618058.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-thomas-kinkade/618058.md?page=4)