# 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:** 2
**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, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thomas-kinkade-you-are-a-festering-boil-on-the-ass-of-art/98278/21 "2002-03-15T04:41:14Z")
I’d have to see Parrish’s work to tell. The problem with Kinkade is they all look the same. The man isn’t an artist. He’s a hack. He doesn’t even do his own work. He also wrote a book, as mentioned. My god-this man is a millionaire, and I’m slaving away at Kmart. Why? ---
**Author:** ![Earthling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/90db22/32.png) [@Earthling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earthling)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2002, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thomas-kinkade-you-are-a-festering-boil-on-the-ass-of-art/98278/22 "2002-03-15T04:51:28Z")
Schmaltz factor aside, I find his works to be technically deficient as well, especially in perspective and draftsmanship. Andrea Mantegna he is not. But here’s a question: If people are buying his framed productions with the idea that they really are collectible and will appreciate in value some day, do we have any data to indicate his valuation on the secondary market? In other words, how does he do on eBay? On the other hand, maybe I don’t really want to know. **Athena** , I present to you [G. Harvey](http://www.genesisart.com/g_harvey.html) **Guinastasia** , meet [Maxfield Parrish](http://sunsite.dk/cgfa/parrish/index.html) ---
**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, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thomas-kinkade-you-are-a-festering-boil-on-the-ass-of-art/98278/23 "2002-03-15T04:51:57Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Guinastasia \* > \*\*I’d have to see Parrish’s work to tell. > > The problem with Kinkade is they all look the same. The man isn’t an artist. He’s a hack. He doesn’t even do his own work. > > He also wrote a book, as mentioned. My god-this man is a millionaire, and I’m slaving away at Kmart. Why? \*\* Because God hates you! 😃 Just kidding. Anyways go [here](http://www.mcduffskeep.com/parrish/pictures/Daybreak.jpg) and [here](http://www.mcduffskeep.com/parrish/) for some samples of his work. Bear in mind that your monitor probably won’t reproduce the sensuality of his paintings very well, but its enough for you to get a taste. ---
**Author:** ![Arden\_Ranger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b487fb/32.png) [@Arden\_Ranger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arden_Ranger)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2002, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thomas-kinkade-you-are-a-festering-boil-on-the-ass-of-art/98278/24 "2002-03-15T04:53:11Z")
More [Maxwell Parrish](http://www.primenet.com/~byoder/artofmp.htm) ---
**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, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thomas-kinkade-you-are-a-festering-boil-on-the-ass-of-art/98278/25 "2002-03-15T05:08:57Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Earthling \* > \*\*Schmaltz factor aside, I find his works to be technically deficient as well, especially in perspective and draftsmanship. Andrea Mantegna he is not. > > But here’s a question: If people are buying his framed productions with the idea that they really are collectible and will appreciate in value some day, do we have any data to indicate his valuation on the secondary market? In other words, how does he do on eBay? > > On the other hand, maybe I don’t really want to know. > > **Athena** , I present to you [G. Harvey](http://www.genesisart.com/g_harvey.html) > > **Guinastasia** , meet [Maxfield Parrish](http://sunsite.dk/cgfa/parrish/index.html) \*\* Apparently, he’s not doing all that well on ebay. 😃[Here’s](http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=850029094) the highest auction of his crap that I could find. Notice no one’s bid on it yet! 😃 The stuff that does get bid on all seems to go for less than $100, so I’d say he doesn’t exactly have great resale value. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Earthling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/90db22/32.png) [@Earthling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earthling)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2002, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thomas-kinkade-you-are-a-festering-boil-on-the-ass-of-art/98278/26 "2002-03-15T05:25:19Z")
Whew. I’m glad to hear that the Invisible Hand of the Market is working. $10,000 asking!!! Holy cow. But with no bids…some people are going to be in for a rude awakening when they try to sell this stuff. Unless, that is, they think Kinkade’s works are so beautiful that they’ll _never_ sell’em. ---
**Author:** ![Truth\_Seeker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5fc32e/32.png) [@Truth\_Seeker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Truth_Seeker)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2002, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thomas-kinkade-you-are-a-festering-boil-on-the-ass-of-art/98278/27 "2002-03-15T05:34:22Z")
Kinkade is just an example of a new phenomenon of mass market “art,” albeit probably the most extreme example. [Wyland](http://www.wyland.com) is sort of the undersea equivalent of Kinkade except he doesn’t have quite as many retail outlets. I blame television. ---
**Author:** ![DPWhite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d26b3c/32.png) [@DPWhite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPWhite)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2002, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thomas-kinkade-you-are-a-festering-boil-on-the-ass-of-art/98278/28 "2002-03-15T05:40:09Z")
Well, one TM “painting” hanging in the corner of someone else’s house isn’t likely to set me off. But here in WC, we have a TM “gallery” where you can see a bunch at once. The horror! The horror! And the prices. Frankly, its not awful painting, and if some kid did it, I would say nice job. I wouldn’t buy it, but all alone it isn’t crap. But a dozen of them. Eww! And the prices. I couldn’t sleep at night knowing I was charging several thousand dollars for a painting of such mediocre quality, much less a print or lithograph of it. It’s immoral. I actually know (not a friend, but runs in the same business circles) an artist who does something similar, but is substantially less talented. He’s a former CPA and paints in acryllic. He does sell the originals for about $25,000 and up, and then sells some sort of reproduction process. He also puts them on trivets (coasters for pots and things). He makes a ton of money. He has a very different style than TM, but basically, they are pictures without people in them. It’s not so much that the work is either bad or run of the mill, it’s ripping people off who don’t know better that makes these guys jerks. :mad: ---
**Author:** ![Earthling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/90db22/32.png) [@Earthling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earthling)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2002, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thomas-kinkade-you-are-a-festering-boil-on-the-ass-of-art/98278/29 "2002-03-15T05:53:40Z")
So, after asking the eBay question, and prompted by **Tuckerfan** ’s reply, I poked around a bit myself and came across [this](http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=850394284) Kinkade original with a $40,000 ask, but > [@](#): > > In 1999, the painting was appraised by the Thomas Kinkade National Archive in Monterey, CA for $59,500. Sounds to me like the Kinkade market exists in its own micro-ecology, and no _real_ art appraiser would touch his stuff. That’s just too bizarre. In the rest of the world. $59K (or even $40K!) can get you some mighty fine real art. And lots of it, too, if you didn’t want to blow it all on one piece. ---
**Author:** ![Largo62](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/45deac/32.png) [@Largo62](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Largo62)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2002, 10:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thomas-kinkade-you-are-a-festering-boil-on-the-ass-of-art/98278/30 "2002-03-15T10:08:35Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Athena \* > \*\*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. \*\* Sarcasm, right? I know art is subjective, but IMO Kinkaid’s “art” is so much soulless drek. ---
**Author:** ![Siege](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dbc845/32.png) [@Siege](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siege)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2002, 10:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thomas-kinkade-you-are-a-festering-boil-on-the-ass-of-art/98278/31 "2002-03-15T10:38:20Z")
There was one other thing in the article in _USA Today_ which bothered me. The man makes a lot of noise about being a devout Christian, but then talks about encouraging a “cult” of followers. The impression I got was he likes how they seem to think he’s the epitome of Christian art. Now, this is just a renegade Episcopalian talking, but a devout Christian encouraging a cult of personality centered on himself bothers me. CJ ---
**Author:** ![zut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zut/32/2875_2.png) [@zut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zut)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2002, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thomas-kinkade-you-are-a-festering-boil-on-the-ass-of-art/98278/32 "2002-03-15T13:37:37Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by SexyWriter \* > 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. And, what’s worse, is that there are plenty of good, talented, lesser-known/local artists that people _could_ be patronizing. My wife’s an artist, and we attend a lot of local gallery shows. If you’re willing to drop $3000, you can pick up a truly spectacular, one-of-a-kind piece of artwork. Heck, a lot of stuff sells in the hundreds-of-dollars range, so you could probably pick up a half-dozen great pieces. We’ve bought a number of things, all very good, all much better than Kinkaide, all one-of-a-kind, for under _$100_. The shame of it is that, usually, sales at local galleries are not all that strong. The $3000 (or, even, $100,000, like **Silo** ’s parents spend over time, [as evidenced here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=28376&highlight=kinkade)) would actually be a pretty substantial infusion of cash for many galleries, and probably most artists. It’s too bad that one person can command such high prices for mass-produced prints, when there’s a ton of artists who are much better, sell original art, and are lucky when they sell enough to pay their expenses. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2002, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thomas-kinkade-you-are-a-festering-boil-on-the-ass-of-art/98278/33 "2002-03-15T16:12:47Z")
Be fair now. Rockwell and Warhol aren’t immune to charges of having cranked out a lot sentimental or pop-oriented crap to pander to the mass market, either. But they both did rise above it once in a while. Kinkade does have some technical skill, admittedly. But we’ll never know if he has some actual artistic talent hidden underneath. ---
**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, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thomas-kinkade-you-are-a-festering-boil-on-the-ass-of-art/98278/34 "2002-03-15T23:57:26Z")
[Think again](http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=850131026). Over 1,000 dollars? Shit! And I noticed something about the paintings-as they were loading, and all blurred, they looked, well-better! Nice, colorful blurred images. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2002, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thomas-kinkade-you-are-a-festering-boil-on-the-ass-of-art/98278/35 "2002-03-16T00:48:54Z")
[insert comment about “all art being subjective” here"] ya know, once I had a dream. It was a Thomas Kinkade print. That was 10 years before I saw one of his works, consciously at least. When i saw one of his works for the first time (on a mousepad, no less), last month, I immediately thought of my previous dream. And its not like I think of those scenes every day, in which case he would truly be banal, it was just that one particular dream that I remembered. So I like him because he happened to capture my state of mind at that unique moment in time. That said, I dont appreciate him being in every freaking mall next to the same old freakin stores. then again if I want uniqueness I should move out of Orlando 🙂 And if he indeed tries to pass off brushed over works as original art, yeah, thats offensive too. But i’m not even gonna compare him to Rockwell and Warhol due to subjectivity issues (except to say that from what i’ve seen of warhol, i wouldnt even classify him as an artist.) None of them was Hieronymous Bosch. Just because someone has a recurring theme doesnt mean they are any less of an artist…well, okay it does, but there have been plenty of one-hit wonder bands that have more musical talent than, say, Aerosmith. For instance, I like Vladimir Nabokov, whose themes are limited to: – Sexually Obsessive person (Ada; Pale Fire) – Person persecuted by da “man” (Invitation to a Beheading; Bend Sinister) – Person involved with crime (King, Queen, Knave; Despair) and, when he’s really being wacky: – Sexually Obsessive, persecuted person commits crime (The Enchanter; Lolita) To add some objective note to this post, let me state that for the record I dont even LIKE cottages 😉 ---
**Author:** ![JonScribe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3be4f8/32.png) [@JonScribe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JonScribe)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2002, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thomas-kinkade-you-are-a-festering-boil-on-the-ass-of-art/98278/36 "2002-03-16T05:33:13Z")
In Thomas Kinkade’s personal hell, he will be forced to “highlight” nothing but sad clowns paintings on black velvet. And none of them will ever sell. Oh, and weasels will rip his flesh. ---
**Author:** ![Earthling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/90db22/32.png) [@Earthling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earthling)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2002, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thomas-kinkade-you-are-a-festering-boil-on-the-ass-of-art/98278/37 "2002-03-16T05:33:47Z")
Evidently Kinkade is also not self-aware enough to know the extent of his own mediocrity. From the OP’s link, we hear him say that Picasso “had a talent but didn’t use it in any significant way.” Regardless of how he came to this dubious conclusion, I think one inference we can draw from the statement is that Mr. Kinkade must think _he is_ using his talents to the utmost capacity. Yet to anyone with a critical eye it still ends up looking like diarrhea from a bird that ate too much fruit salad. But then again, the fact a market exists for his stuff just further proves that there _is_ a sucker born every minute. Which leads me to this Wyland character. $195,000 for [this](http://www.wylandgalleries.com/index.cfm?CFID=184371&CFTOKEN=10892164&CategoryID=9&ProductID=452&do=newreleases)? You’ve got to be out of your mind!! For that kind of money, you can get stuff that any museum would be proud to own – and this is not it. Who in this world has the combination of wealth and gullibility to spend this amount on such dreck? What incredible hubris on Wyland’s part. Yeah, yeah, all art is subjective. And I think these guys are shysters. ---
**Author:** ![yosemite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/3ab097/32.png) [@yosemite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yosemite)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2002, 10:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thomas-kinkade-you-are-a-festering-boil-on-the-ass-of-art/98278/38 "2002-03-16T10:00:34Z")
This man has the supreme arrogance to compare himself in any way to Norman Rockwell. Granted, Rockwell did some corny stuff, but he had a history of creating socially relevant artwork, _and_ he just had far more range and technical skill. As far as I can tell, anyway. One of the most difficult things to paint is people. Rockwell was a master at this, but as far as I know, Kinkade doesn’t paint people. (Not that this makes him **bad** in itself, but I can’t properly compare his abilities and talents to Rockwell, since he never has done anything similar to Rockwell, either in subject matter, or technical merit.) And as far as comparing himself to Warhol - well, that’s just bizarre. Compare Kinkade’s drek to this page of Rockwell’s work, which has a few of his civil rights paintings: [I especially appreciate “Murder in Mississippi”.](http://www.rockwelltour.org/preview_4.html) Kinkade is not worthy to clean Rockwell’s brushes, as far as I am concerned. Also, as a Yosemite National Park fanatic, I have to say that I despise his pukey Yosemite painting. I don’t think he’s ever been there, or if he has, he missed the whole point of what Yosemite is about. It’s not all pretty whispy light and whispy clouds fricking _everywhere._ Yosemite doesn’t deserve Kinkade’s hackneyed interpretation, where he gratuitously adds fricking CLOUDS EVERYWHERE!!! What the hell is his problem?!? [Compare Kinkade’s Yosemite](http://www.thomas-kinkade.com/kinka35l.jpg) to a [Albert Bierstadt Yosemite Painting](http://www.majbill.vt.edu/history/barrow/Hist2104/presentations/barrow/093*). You be the judge! ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2002, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thomas-kinkade-you-are-a-festering-boil-on-the-ass-of-art/98278/39 "2002-03-16T16:49:10Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by DesertGeezer \* > \*\* > > Sarcasm, right? > > I know art is subjective, but IMO Kinkaid’s “art” is so much soulless drek. \*\* Yes, DesertGeezer, very much sarcasm. \ glad I checked back on this thread - I would not want to get a reputation as a Kinkade fan! ---
**Author:** ![Largo62](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/45deac/32.png) [@Largo62](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Largo62)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2002, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thomas-kinkade-you-are-a-festering-boil-on-the-ass-of-art/98278/40 "2002-03-16T17:54:43Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Athena \* > \*\* > > Yes, DesertGeezer, very much sarcasm. \ glad I checked back on this thread - I would not want to get a reputation as a Kinkade fan! \*\* Your reputation is saved! 😉 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thomas-kinkade-you-are-a-festering-boil-on-the-ass-of-art/98278.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thomas-kinkade-you-are-a-festering-boil-on-the-ass-of-art/98278.md?page=3)