While I genuinely dislike his stuff, I recently travelled to a little village in England... that looks exactly like his work! It was really breathtaking, and I swear the water sparkled like glitter pen on velvet. I am not even kidding.
i'm going to be honest.... i sometimes enjoy thomas kinkade paintings. not because i think he has depth of an artist, i mean you've seen one you've seen them all... but at least it is an entry level way for people to stop at the mall and think, "perhaps clothing isn't all there is to life? maybe i will go to a museum some time."
This Christmas, I got not one but *two* Thomas Kinkade mugs as presents. My mother-in-law confessed that she had thought about getting me a third, but is now aware how much I dislike his art. She got one of the mugs.
I drink hooch out of the mug I kept. Cheap vodka seems appropriate for his oeuvre.
@la.donna.pietra: I heartily endorse your response. The man who was briefly my stepfather actually liked this shlock (sadly, not his worst attribute), and an embarrassingly early response to the divorce was celebration that none of us would have to look upon the print he had bought ever again.
This is blowing my mind, because I always thought that Thomas Kincaid was not a real person! I thought he was just a product name, like Aunt Jemima or Mrs. Field.
1) Heavily wooded/tree laden scene 2) Light source (cottage, lighthouse will do) 3) Path to said source, preferably over water 4) Light burning brightly inside source, sometimes in the middle of the day 5) Sanctimonious Christian pandering
It is easy to poopoo this stuff, it really is, but for some reason it seems to bring several women in my family genuine joy, and who am I to judge that.
@Samanthrax is Sarcastic: you bring up a valid point. kinkade's work resonates with a lot of people. it's popular and commercially successful for a reason.
i went to art school, and i really, really am not a fan of his paintings. HOWEVER, i had a very talented, very wise instructor who told me once that 'the quality, effectiveness, and success of a work often has little to do with YOUR personal taste.'
i always try to keep that in mind when i'm looking at art, particularly art that i hate.
@Samanthrax is Sarcastic: I have mixed feeling on this. I think something that brings someone joy is usually a good thing. However it concerns me that, in our current culture, so much "art" (painting, theatre, film, literature) is about reinforcing the views that people already have about the world around them and wrapping them in a comfortable, pretty bubble. I would prefer art that challenges and changes people, and it seems to be losing its place in our world. And painting like these are the symptoms of this movement.
@schlegs84 thinks John Galt can suck it.: you've just described what matisse felt was the function of art; that it should be an 'armchair'. in essence, he believed that it should be beautiful and uplifting, which i think kinkade's paintings are to a lot of people (i can't believe i just wrote that.)
what i'm trying to say is that, a) this attitude towards art, music, film, literature, or whatever, doesn't always yield bad work, and b) that art as escapism isn't a new idea. it's not symptomatic of cultural 'laziness'. or maybe it is, in which case cultural laziness is a problem that has plagued the human race for a long-ass time.
While I truly believe art is subjective, his "pieces" are such visually offensive shite I cannot fathom what would motivate someone to buy one - and I know there are people out there who own literally HUNDREDS. His abuse of cheap-motel-lobby aesthetics and his own abject greed has come around to get him, and I can't say I'm not experiencing a wee bit of the Schadenfreud giggles.
@AtomiClash: And they pay a TON of money for what are essentially posters of his tripe! It's astonishing!! Not everyone is going to like 21st C conceptual art, but seriously, Kinkade?
Go for it. Horrid strip mall crap. It's anti-art-the very idea of his bullshit scenarios which are badly painted, and repetitively so. I'm all for live and let live, but not at others' expense. You can tell so much about an artist by looking at their work. Guess what? The sh*t matches the shine-ola.
@OneTwoPunch: Two of my favorite Office quotes work so well in this thread:
(from the episode "Conflict Resolution"):
Oscar: I don't like looking at it. It's creepy and in bad taste and it's just offensive to me. It makes me think of the horrible frigid stage mothers who forced the babies into it. It's kitsch. It's the opposite of art. It destroys art. It destroys souls. This is so much more offensive to me than hardcore porno.
(from the episode "Business School"):
Oscar: You're the one who said we needed more culture.
Gil: This is culture to you?
Oscar: It's her first try.
Gil: Yeah, on Van Gogh's first try, he drew the hands of the peasants.
Oscar: Meaning what?
Gil: Meaning, real art takes courage, okay? And honesty.
Oscar: Well, those aren't Pam's strong points.
Gil: Yeah, exactly. That's why this is... motel art.
@AmericanSplendor: Now that's not nice. I agree with Samanthrax downthread, taste is subjective and obviously a lot of people like his work enough to buy the calendar, and it is a shame when someone with talent is also an ass.
If you look closely in each of his paintings, there is a little wolf in sheep's clothing hidden in the background. It's his own little "Where's Wacko"?
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I drink hooch out of the mug I kept. Cheap vodka seems appropriate for his oeuvre.
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[www.mrsfields.com]
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She was probably "real" once, too. Ha.
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1) Heavily wooded/tree laden scene
2) Light source (cottage, lighthouse will do)
3) Path to said source, preferably over water
4) Light burning brightly inside source, sometimes in the middle of the day
5) Sanctimonious Christian pandering
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06/18/09
i went to art school, and i really, really am not a fan of his paintings. HOWEVER, i had a very talented, very wise instructor who told me once that 'the quality, effectiveness, and success of a work often has little to do with YOUR personal taste.'
i always try to keep that in mind when i'm looking at art, particularly art that i hate.
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06/18/09
what i'm trying to say is that, a) this attitude towards art, music, film, literature, or whatever, doesn't always yield bad work, and b) that art as escapism isn't a new idea. it's not symptomatic of cultural 'laziness'. or maybe it is, in which case cultural laziness is a problem that has plagued the human race for a long-ass time.
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Kincade can suck it.
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(from the episode "Conflict Resolution"):
Oscar: I don't like looking at it. It's creepy and in bad taste and it's just offensive to me. It makes me think of the horrible frigid stage mothers who forced the babies into it. It's kitsch. It's the opposite of art. It destroys art. It destroys souls. This is so much more offensive to me than hardcore porno.
(from the episode "Business School"):
Oscar: You're the one who said we needed more culture.
Gil: This is culture to you?
Oscar: It's her first try.
Gil: Yeah, on Van Gogh's first try, he drew the hands of the peasants.
Oscar: Meaning what?
Gil: Meaning, real art takes courage, okay? And honesty.
Oscar: Well, those aren't Pam's strong points.
Gil: Yeah, exactly. That's why this is... motel art.
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Wow, I didn't know my grandma knew how to use the internet. Welcome to Jezzie, Abuela.
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Timothy 6:10 (King James Version):
"For the love of money is the root of all evil"
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(Also, just *thinking* about Bob Ross makes me take a deep, calming breath.)
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