My father in law loves the stuff. Their household used to overdo Christmas decorating… no nook cranny door knob, etc was left unfestooned and they had to move furniture into the garage to accomodate a 4 ft x 4ft creche in the living room. And the Santa village with over 70 light up ceramic stores, houses etc.
Thomas Kinkade stuff figured largely in the decorations, but there was plenty of TK’s stuff around the house year round too.
Just for the hell of it, I sent an email to the author of the story asking where that stat comes from. Maybe I’ll get an answer, but probably not. I mentioned their paper wrote a couple of nice articles about me a few years back, for whatever that’s worth.
My sister lives in Shingle Springs, a stones throw from Placerville. When we visited there a few summers ago we had lunch in Placerville and visited his gallery. We didn’t buy anything because it seemed overpriced. Began an investigation (internet style) of him soon after. Didn’t see too much of what I’d like about him as a human, but many people OOOHH and AAAHH about his work. Guy is a hack, but I guess a good marketeer (or racketeer 
).
Amazingly, the next Christmas I got a coffee mug with a Thomas Kincade painting on it from my daughter in law. It’s kind of big, but the coffee tastes fine.
I am very curious about how they found those numbers, too. But, interestingly, enough, the OP started a poll that is currently running 4 to 82. That’s pretty much one in twenty, and I would expect the SDMB to be less than that, but this poll is far from scientific or statistically valid.
Still, though. It’s got to be closer to 1 in 20 than it is to 1 in 500.
One other thing, The article specifies “paintings”, not other stuff like coffee mugs and Christmas ornaments. The OP doesn’t ask quite the same thing, and I wonder if that’s skewing results.
Though, frankly, “paintings” has got to be wrong. There’s something like a hundred million households in the US, and I don’t imagine Kinkade and a slave army of hack painters could produce 5 million paintings. So it’s got to include prints at the least, and probably also includes every coffee mug, drink coaster, and ornament they ever sold.
I think I remember my sister having one of his things on her wall the last time I visited, which absolutely comes as no surprise.
Fuck that tacky motherfucking asshole and his lousy paintings.
Don’t hold back!
Who was the German TV painter who the “mighty, mighty” this and that?
I have literally never knowingly seen one of his paintings. I don’t say that as a snob–I just have no idea what his pictures looked like enough to recognize his work. And I’m a QVC watcher! (But only for the Prindables treats… damn those awesome apples!)
Herr Richard James?
I wouldn’t pay actual money for any of his work, but still, I do own one. Oh, and it’s not real. It’s just a print. A large, Deity-forsaken print.
I inherited it from my mother, upon her passing. It’s in my bedroom closet, because I really don’t like it.
I liked some of his earlier landscapes. He really was quite good with the natural lighting. But either he realized that or someone told him and he took it to the extreme. By the time he started putting in Hobbit cottages or lighthouses in everything. He had lost me long before. Never owned anything by him.
I think this illustrates what I don’t like about his stuff
Kinkade that isn’t actually that bad
There’s something about the less detailed painting that evokes more feeling than the hyper detailed “normal” Kinkade style.
Edward Hopper painted light; Kinkade painted shite.
I believe that was the guy who preceded Bob Ross, and I can’t remember his name either. But he did basically the same stuff as Happy Bob.
Nice example.
How JMW Turner painted light ca 1796.
Thank you. Kinkade can rot, preferable composted with all the trash he produced in his career so we don’t have to smell him.
Something Awful had pretty funny examples of satirical Kinkades.
I don’t own any, and only know of one person who did. To me, they always seemed cartoonish (I remember visiting a Kinkade gallery with that person).
And jigsaw puzzles.
