Suppose Kinkade started churning out imitations of Jackson Pollock paintings (which i regard as paint drippings)? Would the highbrow art critics get all huffy as well? sure, Kinkade isn’t much of an artist-but he paints what people want to buy-so he’s a businessman-what is wrong with that?
Here’s a little something of Kincade for the visually impaired.
NSFW!!!
I don’t understand why that’s NSFW. Is crap now obscene? 
I don’t consider it obscene but I wanted to warn people just in case having a pic of steaming dog shit on their computer could compromise their job. I was erring on the side of caution.
Calling him a “businessman” is a bit of a stretch. His name comes up a lot in the Pit for good reason. Kinkade’s a con artist. Most of his “works” are, in reality, painted by underpaid and overworked starving artist types, KinKade comes along at the end of the process, flings a few drops of paint on them and then scrawls his signature on the bottom. He also sells what are basically giant photocopies of his work for thousands of dollars and suckers people into buying them because their told that’s the “appraised value” of the piece, without bothering to tell people that the “appraisers” are actually in Kinkade’s employ. He’s running a racket, and his fame clock is sitting at 14:59.
Oh, and Jackson Pollock sucks ass as well, IMHO.
If they were imitations? Yeah. Because they would be imitations. There was only one Pollock.
Nothing, but we don’t have to like or admire it. And the thing is, Kinkade is actually a brilliant artist. Look at some of his older work. (Link coming soon if I can find one.) It’s that he chose to sell out by pandering to the trailor park crowd. It would be like a brilliant artist like Richard Thompson suddenly doing Britney Spears songs. That would be just nutty!
Regardless of how the paintings are painted, I can appreciate the paintings themselves. I haven’t actually shelled out any money for them, there are much more interesting things to shell out money on.
Also, didn’t he pee on Winnie the Pooh?
There are those who will point out that past masters did this very thing, but it’s a moot point. Modern technology and economics have rendered the apprenticeship thing a thing of the past.
I’m not being snarky here, but what exactly do you appreciate about them? I’m honestly asking, because when I look at one of those, my eyes feel like they’re being stabbed with daggers made of saccharine.
Promise and ye shall receive.
That’s excellent! I was thinking they are like someone reified the concepts twee, saccharine, and glurge, put them in a blender, and painted a picture with them.
And it’s all the more hilarious because his adorable little forest cottages look like they must house a demonic forge of hellfire to achieve that level of glow.
Somebody needs to kick that guy in the nuts for a month.
I don’t know, they just look appealing. I’m no art expert, maybe that’s why I like them. To me they’re beautiful idealized depictions of rural or small-town settings. Sure he uses bright pretty colors, but if that appeals to the eye why not?
Because it’s appealing to the eye in the exact same way as a Barbie Dream House.
It doesn’t appeal to every eye–that’s the point. To me his stuff looks like greeting cards and so on… it’s too colorful, too cutesy. Now I have seen paintings of his that I did like–it’s just that most of it is syrupy. A painting of a cottage looks more like a painting of a Christmas tree ornament of a cottage, you know?
From what I understand, he’s not exactly the most ethical guy around in regard to his relationships with his “gallery” owners. A couple here lost quite a bit of money opening (and then closing) a gallery of his.
I understand he’s just genereally skeevy as well. Wasn’t there some scandal about him groping a complete stranger?
I’m not sure whether or not I should feel sorry for them. They got ripped off when they tried to put a blight on the landscape. That’s a mixed blessing.
That’s fascinating. He’s almost like the Johnny Hart of the art world.
He’s a hack, a con, and an all around malevolent asshole. He’s bilked his customers and his supporters (gallery owners) out of millions, and then celebrated his wreaking of havoc on the art world by marking his territory on a Disney statue.
That he needs to be kicked in the nuts for a month is beyond question. What I’d really like to know, though, is whether he’ll get his comeuppance in this life and when. See, 'cause if that happens, I’d like to book a flight to wherever it’s going to take place and revel in the ensuing bloodbath.
I hate that guy.