# Thomas Kinkade, You are a festering boil on the ass of art. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [March 14, 2002, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thomas-kinkade-you-are-a-festering-boil-on-the-ass-of-art/98278 "2002-03-14T14:56:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Homebrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Homebrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Homebrew)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2002, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thomas-kinkade-you-are-a-festering-boil-on-the-ass-of-art/98278/1 "2002-03-14T14:56:40Z")
Thomas Kinkade said recently in a [USA Today](http://www.usatoday.com/life/2002/2002-03-12-kinkade.htm) interview that he places his art along side the likes of Norman Rockwell and Andy Warhol. > [@](#): > > That’s not to say the commercially minded Kinkade doesn’t want to join the pantheon of art’s elites. Critics may scoff, but Kinkade places his work beside that of two heroes, **fellow populist** Norman Rockwell (“I’ve seen every single thing he ever painted”) and renegade pop genius Andy Warhol (“He is my hero, and **I’m his heir apparent** ”). And in what bizarro world do the paint stains that churn out of your factories resemble in any way Warhol’s _Marilyns_ or _Campbell Soup Cans_? This is just so absurd I am at a loss for words! ---
**Author:** ![Tars\_Tarkas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Tars\_Tarkas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tars_Tarkas)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2002, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thomas-kinkade-you-are-a-festering-boil-on-the-ass-of-art/98278/2 "2002-03-14T16:00:19Z")
That man’s head has swelled so big, it probably crushed everything in his hometown! Factory art is crap, i’d rather hang a painting made by beating a canvas with a monkey than any of his junk. But that’s just my opinion, i could be wrong (not very bloody well likely) ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2002, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thomas-kinkade-you-are-a-festering-boil-on-the-ass-of-art/98278/3 "2002-03-14T16:06:39Z")
I’ve never really cared much for Warhol… but comparing yourself to Rockwell? Those are fighting words. (BTW - did anyone else catch the Rockwell exibit at the Guggenheim?) ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2002, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thomas-kinkade-you-are-a-festering-boil-on-the-ass-of-art/98278/4 "2002-03-14T16:07:19Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Homebrew \* > \*\* > And in what bizarro world do the paint stains that churn out of your factories resemble in any way Warhol’s _Marilyns_ or _Campbell Soup Cans_? This is just so absurd I am at a loss for words! \*\* Over-rated art for the masses is over-rated art for the masses no matter who makes it. The only major difference is that the masses can buy “original” Kinkade works. TK has been a favourite target for bashing in the Pit. Say what you will about his “art” (I call it crap), but he has found a niche and is expoliting it to the hilt. His art is crap, but it is making him a decent nest egg. ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2002, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thomas-kinkade-you-are-a-festering-boil-on-the-ass-of-art/98278/5 "2002-03-14T16:23:13Z")
Why are you guys so hard on him? Whenever I need a painting of a picturesque neo-fantasy cottage softly lit with yellow light, surrounded by ethereal looking trees and maybe a broken toy in the foreground, Kinkade is the first place I look. Or when I need a painting of a picturesque neo-fantasay cottage softly lit with yellow light, surrounded by ethereal looking evergreens, with a light dusting of snow and maybe a worn looking sled in the foreground, once again, Kinkade is the man. For those times I need a painting of a softly worn bridge, surrounded by blooming flowers, fiesty squirrels, all lit softly with yellow light and a bible verse in the corner, Kinkade’s got it. How 'bout a painting of a hidden arbor, with an American flag in the foreground reflecting the events of 9/11 in a non-invasive manner, all lit with a soft yellow light? I challenge you to find anyone but Thomas Kinkade who provides such a thing. You’re too hard on the guy. ---
**Author:** ![Spritle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Spritle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spritle)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2002, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thomas-kinkade-you-are-a-festering-boil-on-the-ass-of-art/98278/6 "2002-03-14T16:34:53Z")
Piker! Charlatan! Wannabe!!! We all know who the true _Artiste_ is. This is **truth** and evermore shall be so. Thus **Spritle** has spoken and he spake thus. [sub]We miss you, Bob Ross![/sub] ---
**Author:** ![Mojo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Mojo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mojo)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2002, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thomas-kinkade-you-are-a-festering-boil-on-the-ass-of-art/98278/7 "2002-03-14T17:53:28Z")
[Thomas Kinkade doesn’t seem to](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=28376&highlight=kinkade) [be too popular around here.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=60264&highlight=kinkade) ---
**Author:** ![ChoosyChipsAndCeilingWhacks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c77e96/32.png) [@ChoosyChipsAndCeilingWhacks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChoosyChipsAndCeilingWhacks)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2002, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thomas-kinkade-you-are-a-festering-boil-on-the-ass-of-art/98278/8 "2002-03-14T18:42:04Z")
The reason I so wholeheartedly loathe this man is not really his art. I mean, if any one of you was a mediocre, run of the mill painter without much talent who loved what they do and managed to figure out how to turn a buck doing so, I’d congratulate you. Sure, I’d never hang one of his nostalgia-fest gingerbread-sweet pieces of crapola over my sofa. But if you can convince people that they like what you produce, then who am I to say there’s something wrong with their taste? What I completely object to is the ignorant way his posters are sold at the prices of real paintings. The public is being duped into believing that they are collectable and will appreciate…in the manner of REAL paintings that are NOT horrible. People are paying $3000 for his framed posters, and as far as I’m concerned, that makes him not only a crapiferous artist, but a lying, cheating, thief. L ---
**Author:** ![City\_Gent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a87d85/32.png) [@City\_Gent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/City_Gent)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2002, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thomas-kinkade-you-are-a-festering-boil-on-the-ass-of-art/98278/9 "2002-03-14T19:53:32Z")
On a recent visit to the local mega-mall, I saw a Thomas Kinkade Gallery right in the food court, next to the “Baja Fresh”. That tells you a lot about Thomas Kinkade. ---
**Author:** ![fluiddruid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@fluiddruid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fluiddruid)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2002, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thomas-kinkade-you-are-a-festering-boil-on-the-ass-of-art/98278/10 "2002-03-14T20:05:18Z")
When I searched for ‘Thomas Kinkade’ in Google, this turned up as recent news: [Thomas Kinkade says he’s divinely inspired to mass-produce works](http://www.usatoday.com/life/2002/2002-03-12-kinkade.htm) ---
**Author:** ![sidle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee59a6/32.png) [@sidle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sidle)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2002, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thomas-kinkade-you-are-a-festering-boil-on-the-ass-of-art/98278/11 "2002-03-14T20:24:58Z")
Athena, let me just say 😃 😃 😃 😃 😃 😃 😃 😃 😃 !!! Your post had me giggling loud enough to elicit inquiring glances from co-workers. :chuckle: ---
**Author:** ![bashere](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/779978/32.png) [@bashere](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bashere)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2002, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thomas-kinkade-you-are-a-festering-boil-on-the-ass-of-art/98278/12 "2002-03-14T20:36:45Z")
> [@](#): > > i’d rather hang a painting made by beating a canvas with a monkey than any of his junk. Hey, are you thinking of making such a painting? Cuz it might be cool.\* > [@](#): > > Whenever I need a painting of a picturesque neo-fantasy cottage softly lit with yellow light… It’s true. Think of all the low-budget dentist offices and corporate lobbies that would go sadly unadorned were it not for TK. \*this poster in no way condones the harming of monkeys, even in the creation of artwork ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2002, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thomas-kinkade-you-are-a-festering-boil-on-the-ass-of-art/98278/13 "2002-03-14T22:09:18Z")
And people were upset about Chris Ofili ??! Man, I’d rather have the Elephant Dung Mary in _my_ foyer than the visual glurge Athena describes. ---
**Author:** ![Bob\_Scene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19adc/32.png) [@Bob\_Scene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bob_Scene)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2002, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thomas-kinkade-you-are-a-festering-boil-on-the-ass-of-art/98278/14 "2002-03-14T23:30:34Z")
> [@](#): > > “His works are facsimiles of something inherently dead. Escapism is not art,” says Kenneth Baker, art critic for the San Francisco Chronicle. “He might as well not exist. He could just be a branding concept. He might as well be selling hamburgers.” Well, that’s really just nit-picking, isn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![pesch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pesch/32/4925_2.png) [@pesch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pesch)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2002, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thomas-kinkade-you-are-a-festering-boil-on-the-ass-of-art/98278/15 "2002-03-15T00:56:05Z")
[Be afraid; be very afraid](http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0425183378/qid=1016153674/sr=2-3/ref=sr_2_3/103-0657801-8411067) “Cape Light” is a smaltzy Jan Karon-lite book in which TK is credited as “co-author” but best I can tell his involvement is limited to taking the next house canvas off the top of the stack and plastering it on the cover. ---
**Author:** ![Homebrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Homebrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Homebrew)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2002, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thomas-kinkade-you-are-a-festering-boil-on-the-ass-of-art/98278/16 "2002-03-15T01:42:44Z")
That is indeed scary, **pesch**. I enjoyed the reader comments, especially: > [@](#): > > Most likely you’re just scrolling down the Kinkade page for laughs. So I won’t going on about this novels lack of merrit ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2002, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thomas-kinkade-you-are-a-festering-boil-on-the-ass-of-art/98278/17 "2002-03-15T03:06:05Z")
You guys will all be happy to read [this article](http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2002/03/03/BU102714.DTL). ---
**Author:** ![capybara](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/capybara/32/202_2.png) [@capybara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capybara)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2002, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thomas-kinkade-you-are-a-festering-boil-on-the-ass-of-art/98278/18 "2002-03-15T03:48:28Z")
I would like to support Sexywriter’s statements here-- taste is one issue, BUT this guy, along with the rest of the gen-u-wine canvas transfer crowd, is capitalising on buyers who know little about art. All art is fetishistic and overpriced in terms of materiality, but he goes farther than most. Having one of any number of lackeys brush on some GESSO before the thing gets PRINTED just grates on my nerves-- I don’t know if anyone is really dense enough to think of each of these as an original singular work (I’m sure someone thinks they are of an extremely limited run), but it worries me that a Kinkaide is more expensive than many Rembrandt impressions-- I can’t help but feel that some of the less art-market-savvy are being taken for a ride. Does anyone think these things will appreciate in value? I mean, if he wants to openly acknowledge the nature of these works, why doesn’t he just serigraph them and not add in all these tacky borderline misleading material elements, like ‘brushwork’ and edition numbering and all that crap. Yes, I know the market is supporting him, but I think that his market isn’t the “usual” art market and may not be totally clued in,. Yes, his buyers know what they like, but they should really understand what it is, materially and collectibly, that they’re paying for, and I don’t trust his marketing not to be completely fubarxed. What would Walter Benjamin do? (WWWBD) PS-- yes, I AM an art snob, so don’t bother pointing it out. ps– ---
**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:** [March 15, 2002, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thomas-kinkade-you-are-a-festering-boil-on-the-ass-of-art/98278/19 "2002-03-15T04:20:38Z")
Some of his paintings are okay-like people said, it’s not the paintings. They’d make good illustrations for children’s fairytale books, perhaps. But this whole smug, “I’m the Painter of Light TM” thing…ugh. It’s so sickly sweet and disgusting. Give me John William Waterhouse anyday! ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2002, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thomas-kinkade-you-are-a-festering-boil-on-the-ass-of-art/98278/20 "2002-03-15T04:34:48Z")
If I want fairy tale images, I’ll look at Maxfield Parrish’s work! Thomas Kinkade is to art what McDonald’s is to fine dining. And why does this shit monger sell so well? I dunno, maybe its because we’ve gutted the funding for art’s education in the schools? Nah! Couldn’t be! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thomas-kinkade-you-are-a-festering-boil-on-the-ass-of-art/98278.md?page=2)