# 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:** 6
**Author:** ![Truman\_Burbank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecc23a/32.png) [@Truman\_Burbank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Truman_Burbank)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2012, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-thomas-kinkade/618058/101 "2012-04-08T01:57:54Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Aside: It bugs me when people refer to that as a Twilight Zone reference, since the original short story was already one of the great classics of science fiction, and now seems almost forgotten in the shadow of the TV adaptation. Jerome Bixby, I’m pretty sure it was. Fantastic piece of writing. Kincaid, a fantastic piece of selling, until the ceiling fell in. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2012, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-thomas-kinkade/618058/102 "2012-04-08T01:59:59Z")
> [@Truman\_Burbank](#): > > Jerome Bixby, I’m pretty sure it was. Fantastic piece of writing. > Kincaid, a fantastic piece of selling, until the ceiling fell in. I’m sure it was _very very_ good! ---
**Author:** ![MOIDALIZE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e274bd/32.png) [@MOIDALIZE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MOIDALIZE)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2012, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-thomas-kinkade/618058/103 "2012-04-08T02:10:58Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > Who was the German TV painter who the “mighty, mighty” this and that? William Alexander. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2012, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-thomas-kinkade/618058/104 "2012-04-08T02:22:58Z")
How you like Pooh _now_, Tommy? What? Oh, you ain’t got shit to say? Yeah, I thought so. Dead-ass schlock-paintin’ mother _fucker_. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2012, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-thomas-kinkade/618058/105 "2012-04-08T02:35:25Z")
I honestly don’t konw. We have a few paintings that are schlock just to have something on the walls. Was he the guy that did those paintings of houses where he would paint your last name on the mailbox? ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2012, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-thomas-kinkade/618058/106 "2012-04-08T03:41:44Z")
> [@Sarabellum1976](#): > > Do people feel sort of the same way about that Hawaiian marine life painter by the name of Christian Riese Lassen? At one point, I remember the Lassen guy was getting really over commercialized, and had little mall-based “galleries” the way Kinkade did. People were paying thousands for these horrid little paintings of whale-tails and such. His stuff looks like Lisa Frank’s trapper keepers. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2012, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-thomas-kinkade/618058/107 "2012-04-08T04:44:59Z")
> [@twickster](#): > > 1 in 20 U.S. homes has one of his paintings hanging in it. And at any given time, a certain number of U.S. homes have a toilet overflowing with shit. (Yes, I’m an artist.) ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2012, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-thomas-kinkade/618058/108 "2012-04-08T05:03:02Z")
> [@Sarabellum1976](#): > > … > Do people feel sort of the same way about that Hawaiian marine life painter by the name of Christian Riese Lassen? At one point, I remember the Lassen guy was getting really over commercialized, and had little mall-based “galleries” the way Kinkade did. People were paying thousands for these horrid little paintings of whale-tails and such. I have to admit, this guy could absolutely corner the market in black velvet art. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2012, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-thomas-kinkade/618058/109 "2012-04-08T05:53:20Z")
> [@Ephemera](#): > > His stuff looks like Lisa Frank’s trapper keepers. Hey, Lisa Frank was the shit back in grade school. Don’t be hatin’. ---
**Author:** ![AboutAsWeirdAsYouCanGet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@AboutAsWeirdAsYouCanGet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AboutAsWeirdAsYouCanGet)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2012, 8:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-thomas-kinkade/618058/110 "2012-04-08T08:48:19Z")
> [@Ephemera](#): > > His stuff looks like Lisa Frank’s trapper keepers. My thought EXACTLY! ---
**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2012, 9:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-thomas-kinkade/618058/111 "2012-04-08T09:51:34Z")
You guys and ladies scare me. Quasi ---
**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2012, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-thomas-kinkade/618058/112 "2012-04-08T11:58:16Z")
I had to google, not being familiar with his work. Every single image that came up looks like a cristmas card. Kitschy for the most part but there are some pretty images. Although I can’t imagine somebody framing one of these and hanging it on their wall. Unless you’ve already got dogs playing poker, then it’s OK. ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2012, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-thomas-kinkade/618058/113 "2012-04-08T12:29:42Z")
Since I’m as much a nobody as those who liked his work, I’ll wait for an artist or art critic I respect to find something redeemable in him. William de Kooning had some kind words to say about Norman Rockwell (or perhaps de Kooning wished he could say out loud that Rockwell’s JFK was better than DeKooning’s ex-wife’s JFK). But I think he’ll be a quaint curiosity, along with McMansions and Blues Travellers as “Clinton/Bush-era” cultural clues. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2012, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-thomas-kinkade/618058/114 "2012-04-08T12:47:25Z")
> [@Ephemera](#): > > His stuff looks like Lisa Frank’s trapper keepers. THAT’S the association I was trying to remember! Middle-school-girl Trapper Keepers. My inlaws have one of those garish sea life paintings in their house and it always reminded me of something, but I couldn’t figure out what until now. ---
**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 8, 2012, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-thomas-kinkade/618058/115 "2012-04-08T15:19:00Z")
I just found a painting he did of the gates of Graceland. Throw some “official bikini inspector” tshirts in there and there you have an American holy trifecta. ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2012, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-thomas-kinkade/618058/116 "2012-04-08T15:34:47Z")
Hey, Maxfield Parrish was derided as a “commercial” painter, in his time. Howver, in the past 30 years, Parrish has been recognized as a very talented painter, whose works are now well regarded. Vermeer was forgotten ntil 160 years after his death-maybe Kinkaid will be recognized some day. Of course, paintings of cottages?-maybe something else. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2012, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-thomas-kinkade/618058/117 "2012-04-08T15:57:13Z")
Kinkade painted glurge on a canvas. He’s not our style - our style is limited-edition prints of well-painted cougars. I did love the SomethingAwful Kinkades, though. 🙂 ---
**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 8, 2012, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-thomas-kinkade/618058/118 "2012-04-08T16:07:46Z")
If I had photoshop I’d be strategically placing my artsy friends in all of his cottages. Of maybe the one with the deer and the lightning and the rainbow. ---
**Author:** ![Sarabellum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sarabellum/32/3492_2.png) [@Sarabellum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sarabellum)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2012, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-thomas-kinkade/618058/119 "2012-04-08T21:32:50Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > Ok. I Googled him and looked at a bunch of his paintings, and NOW I’m contemptuous of him. He’s the Thomas Kinkade of Sea World. Though I do kind of like some of his portraits of Flipper. > [@Ephemera](#): > > His stuff looks like Lisa Frank’s trapper keepers. Years ago, someone gave me one of those Springbok puzzles that Hallmark used to sell - it was a 1500-piece Lassen marine painting, complete with Moorish Idols and whale. Every color of the rainbow is well-represented. The Lisa Frank Trapper-Keeper reference made me laugh - so true! I have always thought of him as the “Aqua-Kinkade”. He is also rumored (like the real Kinkade) to be a total ass, and rumors of his hundreds of sexual conquests (both men and women) and questionable business practices (letting other artists paint 95% of the painting, he adds a couple fish, signs his name, and calls it a day) have also been reminiscent of Kinkade. ---
**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2012, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-thomas-kinkade/618058/120 "2012-04-08T22:48:51Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > And at any given time, a certain number of U.S. homes have a toilet overflowing with shit. > > (Yes, I’m an artist.) SIG LINE!!!:):):):D:D:D Quasi [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-thomas-kinkade/618058.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-thomas-kinkade/618058.md?page=7)