Autopsy Scheduled for Painter Thomas Kinkade

[Hissyspit]

Source: Reuters

Autopsy scheduled for painter Thomas Kinkade

Sun Apr 8, 2012 9:35pm EDT

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A California coroner is due to conduct an autopsy of Thomas Kinkade on Monday, three days after the famed American painter died unexpectedly, the Los Angeles Times reported on Sunday.

Kinkade, whose luminescent, homespun scenes captivated millions even as critics scoffed, died alone at his home in Los Gatos in northern California of apparently natural causes, according to family spokesman David Satterfield. Kinkade was 54.

The Santa Clara County coroner will perform the autopsy. Officials have offered no further details on the case.

Kinkade claimed to be America's most collected living artist, his prints hanging in the homes of an estimated 10 million Americans. He was a Christian who often depicted scenes from the Bible, and his work expressed a wholesome idealism.

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSBRE83801M20120409?irpc=932

[tularetom]

1. "wholesome idealism" my ass

The guy was a hypocrite, a control freak, a scam artist and an alcoholic, not necessarily in that order.

He made a fortune selling his sentimentalized crap to naive cretins and conned his business associates out of millions of dollars.

The article mentions the $860k settlement won by two gallery owners who were defrauded by Kinkade, but it says nothing about the fact that the award was increased to $2.8 million by the court. It also omitted some details about curious episodes of odd personal behavior such as the time he took a leak in a Las Vegas elevator to the shock of a carful of patrons.

Not meaning to speak ill of the recently deceased, but there are dozens of skeletons in Mr Kinkade's closet, very few of which will be divulged by the media reportng of his demise.

[Hissyspit]

3. Yes, I'm hating these write-ups.

[jberryhill]

4. Oh come on...

Who hasn't taken a leak in a Vegas elevator?

[AlbertCat]

5. "wholesome idealism" my ass

Last edited Mon Apr 9, 2012, 01:06 PM - Edit history (1)

"Painter of light" my ass.

I mean, you don't have to be an art nerd to think of many more "real" artists who are more "painter of light" material.

Off the top of my pointed head, I bet can come up with 5 in 30 seconds...

Vermeer
Monet
Hopper (not Harper)
de la Tour
Turner

Let's see if I can find examples...

Vermeer
Monet
Hopper (not Harper)
de la Tour
Turner

Anyway.... self promotion and consumerism do not make one a "real" artist.

Well, I hope he didn't suffer....


BTW.... it's "Hopper" as in Edward Hopper.... not Harper.... as was pointed out to me. Thank you... I have no idea where "Harper" came from since I had to do a search to find a good painting! But all my art education comes from doing research for set and costume design, so y'see, I'm no expert. Still, I do know who Edward Hopper was.

No really!

And STILL could come up with 5 painters of light in 30 seconds (if not exact)

[kpete]

6. Renoir

Landscape on the Coast, near Menton 1883
Pierre-Auguste Renoir

[AlbertCat]

7. Then there's this!

Last edited Mon Apr 9, 2012, 01:08 PM - Edit history (1)

Too soon?

[XemaSab]

9. Never!

[ashling]

19. Is the autopsy really

going to be performed by 15th century disgusted Dutch artists?

[AlbertCat]

54. going to be performed by 15th century disgusted Dutch artists?

Well, they're 17th century....

But regardless of the century, artists of all stripes will learn nothing from it.

[ashling]

56. That's what I meant

[Ken Burch]

21. Wow...TMZ got the autopsy pictures already?

[Ian David]

34. LOL!!! n/t

[rrneck]

41. Perfect! nt

[grantcart]

47. Oddlly I find this picture both "wholesome" and "idealistic".

[pansypoo53219]

26. ACK1 NOOOO!!! monet is the IMPRESSIONISISM krapcaid!

frothy sugary. at least his later stuff.

[AlbertCat]

50. monet is the IMPRESSIONISISM krapcaid!

I wholeheartedly disagree!

But that's beside the point. All those views of the Houses of Parliament, and Notre Dame.... painter of light!

[XemaSab]

12. Apart from Goya, how many painters of darkness have there been?

[Mz Pip]

13. Edvard Munch

The Scream come to mind.

Kind of how I felt looking at Thomas Kincaid paintings.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/visionshare/5973897005/

[Brother Buzz]

14. Hieronymus Bosch?

[Ken Burch]

23. Is that one titled "The Lawrence Welk Orchestra in Hell"? n/t.

[Tom Ripley]

27. Ad Reinhardt, Frank Stella

Yeah, I'm a wise guy

[mopinko]

36. leon golub.

sue coe



ed paschke

[AlbertCat]

51. leon golub.

Golub has some very interesting images. I like these...








And his technique is not unlike Egon Schiele:





I must check him out some more.

[Brickbat]

39. Francis Bacon.

[Ken Burch]

22. But only Thomas Kinkade was a painter of Jesus-lovin' gay-hatin', tax-cut-wantin' GOP light!

Last edited Mon Apr 9, 2012, 03:32 PM - Edit history (1)

See the difference?

[mopinko]

59. yeah, that does make it all add up, doesn't it?

[mopinko]

35. uh, light was the whole fucking point of the impressionist movement.

only about a century late for that claim.
and what a smarmy waste of paint.


at least i outlived the fucker.

[colorado_ufo]

60. Just got back from the Monet exhibit at the Bellagio in Vegas -

A wonderful experience.

[Spider Jerusalem]

38. There's a lot to be critical of Kinkade about...

but I really don't think that his alcoholism is something that's fair game, honestly. Addiction is a disease, not a moral failing.

[Scairp]

65. Big time deadbeat

Last edited Tue Apr 10, 2012, 08:10 PM - Edit history (1)

Some years ago my husband was telling me how much Kincade's company owed his in back pay. I can't say what company or the services they provided but suffice it to say it was necessary and I believe his company is just one of many who had to take Kincade to court. And why would they need to do a post on someone who died of natural causes? Don't they usually just do a view, draw fluids and that's it? Seems like a waste of resources.

And how the hell exactly do you spell his name? I've seen it spelled three different ways. Oh, I just remembered, I don't care.

[lester94111]

2. Isn't there enough coverage of this hack already?

<eom?

[Cracklin Charlie]

8. Caravaggio

[img][/img]

[rusty fender]

64. I was going to post his name as painter of light and dark

[NoodleyAppendage]

10. Tasteless fools and their money are easily parted...by Kinkade. n/t

J

[kwassa]

11. Autopsy reveals Kincade died from schlock.

[Hissyspit]

15. !

[aquart]

16. How does one nominate a DUzy?

[dixiegrrrrl]

42. go here and use send mail link

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=journals&uid=278973

[Auggie]

30. +1

[marions ghost]

66. good one...

[Tom Ripley]

17. That's the closest he will ever come to Francis Bacon

[PatrynXX]

18. must say disappointed in the hate in this thread

like saying Ken Burns isn't a historian. the fact your arguing if it's art or not reaffirms it's art. So all your doing is making Thomas the better Artist ....

Prefer other modern art. But his light was always best.

[EFerrari]

24. Light as seen from Pluto.

lol

[Hissyspit]

25. Nonsense.

[muriel_volestrangler]

28. Not having seen many of his before his death

Last edited Mon Apr 9, 2012, 07:54 AM - Edit history (1)

(since he's not talked about in Britain), I have to say his approach to 'light' seemed to be 'whatever time of day, every window in every house must have a light in it'. Which makes some of them look a bit surreal, since the light in the window has to look stronger than daylight. It also doesn't give an impression of reality, in which some lights are on, and others aren't. But I can't work out if there's a 'message' behind this expression.

Maybe there are paintings of his without houses? They might be better.

[dixiegrrrrl]

44. He also had flowers, shrubs and trees from3 seasons

blooming madly at the same time in some of his pics.

[lunatica]

29. When you paint light it's supposed to capture what real light does

Kincaid painted variations on something that was floating around in his head and which have nothing to do with physical reality, or the laws of Nature. Artists try to capture the fleeting moments of what real earthly light does or they deliberately defy what real life shows. Kincaid not only made it all up but he also brought a cotton candy saccharin element to his invented pastoralesque scenes. It's that element of saccharin that turns art critics and artists off, because it shows a strong element of dishonesty which smacks of cynicism. It's formulaic and commercial. In the world of literature it can be compared to the formula writing of the modern romance novel compared to what is considered outstanding literature which mirrors the true messiness of real life.

Maybe in your mind his light was always best, but what are you comparing it to? Real life or some other artists version of what he or she thinks light should be doing instead of what it really does?

Nobody set out to hate his art.

[Auggie]

31. As a painter, Kinkade was a fraud. His work was kitsch.

[Inuca]

32. Agree

I don't know anything about his life, but his paintings define kitch.

[cosmicone]

49. +1000000 n/t

[rrneck]

43. It's art.

But it's bad art. It might work formally or even be interesting technecally, but it was designed to feed off the viewer and our culture.

[Hissyspit]

45. Speaking as a painting instructor

it's bad technically, too.

[rrneck]

46. I have to admit I've never seen one in person.

I will gratefully defer to your evaluation.

[Scairp]

67. Such bad art

I have no idea what so many saw in his crap, and enough to pay money for it too. One born every minute they say.

[rrneck]

70. Tell people what they want to hear

and they'll line up across the street to get it.

[Beacool]

55. I don't get the hate either.

He wasn't my cup of tea, but I don't understand why people are being nasty about his death. His stuff was quite popular and made him rich, so someone must have been buying his work.

[emilyg]

20. RIP.

[Ian David]

33. I hope we find out he was murdered by Jon McNaughton. n/t

[AlbertCat]

52. LOL!

I need to paint a bad painting of McNaughton holding a burning Kinkcade and pointing to it.

[Ian David]

53. Do that! That would be funny! n/t

[Mz Pip]

68. Jesus has to be in there

mayby crying.

[Liberal Veteran]

37. So much for my guess that he would rise again on Sunday.

It seemed only fitting that he would die on Good Friday and rise on Easter to pay for our kitschy sins of hanging pictures of impossibly narrow roads leading to impossibly lit and impossibly idealized charming cottages in our homes.

[Evasporque]

40. He died of a saccharin overdose....

[AlbertCat]

48. God... I hope they don't have hurricanes there!

That cottage is doomed... from even just a Nor'easter!

And the perspective of the steps....

[Evasporque]

57. But those are soft fluffy waves...

The light house looks really wrong....the whole thing looks really wrong...

But you know...it is what it is...I knew a guy in Art school that only painted ram's heads....

for four years....rams heads....

[Hissyspit]

62. It's a pastiche of painting clichés

sewn together like some kind of Frankenstein monster.

[Evasporque]

71. Percy Fraunckenstine says....

"I find the form reminiscent of a British Romantic having been tied with velvet straps and drug through a Rococo garden by unicorned chariot and a host of cherubs."

[tawadi]

58. This one does look misproportioned

Damn, now even I cannot appreciate his paintings as much. I still like the snow scenes.

[jmowreader]

61. There's no need for an autopsy. I know what the cause of death was

Ol' Tom decided to paint A Major Work on Good Friday in honor of Our Fallen Savior. Jesus didn't like the painting and smited him.

[leveymg]

63. Gotta hand it to him. The man knew his audience and their taste>

[marions ghost]

69. People are apparently buying Kinkades right now but you can't buy an original:

"Interesting side note on the Studio Proof. When the first Thomas Kinkade Gallery was started it was located in Carmel CA, an exclusive community near Pebble Beach. Carmel had by laws that required an art gallery to only sell originals. Thom wanted to keep his originals for himself. So they came up with the Studio Proof and dubbed it a "Semi-Original" because Thom did some hand highlighting on them. This allowed them to start the first Thomas Kinkade Signature Gallery.

And now the most exclusive edition outside of the original of course. The M/E - Masters Edition. Today a Masters Edition is limited to one piece per size per image. In years past there were sometimes more produced, but always a small quantity. A Masters Edition is a piece that Thom entirely repaints just for you. And because there is only one per size of the current releases, it makes it the most collectable. A Masters runs anywhere from $8,000 to $54,000.00 depending on the size. Very exclusive piece, very few around.

Originals have not been sold since 1997. Clearing Storms was the last original sold, all the rest have gone into Thom's museum."

http://reviews.ebay.com/Former-Kinkade-Gallery-Owner-Answers-Edition-Questions?ugid=10000000004415859