Thomas Kinkade Dead: Famed Painter Dies At Age 54

[Novaheart]

Thank you for proving liberal elitism. In one post you put down a recently deceased artists art but then are defending to the bone when someone says they don't like the art of a favorite of yours. For some reason you can't seem to understand that people have different tastes. Instead, you choose to be a smug elitist about it.

It's not being a smug elitist. Art is political, but artistic tastes aren't necessarily political. I called it elevator art. Elevator music is some of the most popular music in the world, people listen to it all day long in offices and public buildings. They find it soothing. It's not great music, it's not intended to be great music. It's intended to be soothing.

I happen to love Theme To A Summer Place by Percy Faith. I have no idea what Percy Faith's politics were/are.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaXzeQoWTko

[Odysseus]

There are so many of the left knocking this man after he died, thats a very good reason to check out his works.

I was sort of familiar with him before, and I always liked his technique, but found the execution a bit kitschy. My favorite landscape painter was Maxfield Parrish. The American illustrators of the last century were at least as good as the great masters, but they lose out to them because of subject matter and time.

[Bailey]

I'm surprised you've never seen any of them. You can probably check him out at the nearest shopping mall; there are galleries of his at them all over the country.

lol you are a piece of work. Please dont let the bottom of your nose get sunburned.

[linda22003]

Parrish was a great illustrator, and his colors were absolutely psychedelic. :) I visited his home, "Aspet", years ago; it's in a lovely area of New Hampshire (he was part of the Cornish Art Colony up there). One of his most famous works illustrated the nursery rhyme of "Old King Cole", and is the namesake of the King Cole bar at the St. Regis in New York:

http://kingcolebar.com/

[linda22003]

lol you are a piece of work. Please dont let the bottom of your nose get sunburned.

That wasn't a snobbish comment, just the truth on where to find him. You said you were going to check out his work, which implied you had not seen it.

[Odysseus]

lol you are a piece of work. Please dont let the bottom of your nose get sunburned.

Uh, I hate to say it, but she's right. Kinkade's prints are very popular in mall art shops. There are even versions of his paintings with LEDs embedded in the print to enhance the lighting.

[Novaheart]

Uh, I hate to say it, but she's right. Kinkade's prints are very popular in mall art shops. There are even versions of his paintings with LEDs embedded in the print to enhance the lighting.

I love kitsch, in tastefully limited quantities of course. My friend Barry's grandmother had a painting of Venice with little electric lights built into the scene in place of the gas lamps, street lights, and the lantern on the gondola. I loved it, and asked if he would make sure that I got it if her condo was ever sold (she was already dead). His parents use her condo for vacations, so I guess it's still on the wall.

[Arroyo_Doble]

Call me jingo but I like the 20th Century Americans.

As far as realism, no one beats Robert Bechtle.

[Odysseus]

Call me jingo but I like the 20th Century Americans.

As far as realism, no one beats Robert Bechtle.

Eh. Nice technique, but I feel like I'm looking at a photograph. There's nothing beyond the surface there. Neal Adams used to say that style was the extent to which we got things wrong, but I always thought that style was reality plus vision. The point of a painting isn't to simply reproduce reality (that's what cameras are for), but to give us a sense of more than just the surface.

[Hawkgirl]

There are so many of the left knocking this man after he died, thats a very good reason to check out his works.

He painted a lot of cathedrals and peaceful scenery. Something the left wouldn't know anything about. I love his winter cottages paintings...but he also does a wonderful ocean art as well. He's a well rounded painter and all his work is impressively beautiful. He's also painted Disney characters and makes them come to life in paintings. Amazing stuff. Don't listen to the naysayers.