[Images] Thomas Kinkade

[invisible]

Ideas and Opinions on the work of Thomas Kinkade?

A portrait of the artist:

It has always seemed to me like he was prolific in his lifetime. I think his work has sometimes been described as "kitsch". I like kitsch. It's a gentle and sensitive philosophy about the world, it sentimentalises everything and does not permit obscenity.

This one is called "Bambi's First Year", and it definitely has a "Disney" vibe about it. Wow, it seemed impossible to look at an image of this painting without a copyright watermark.

I think this one is called "Gardens Beyond Spring Gate". I'm drawn to the depiction of a bright spring day with every hearth in the house aflame. The architectures of the house and garden are fantastical. A scene of ease and luxury.

I found this thread on a forum called "wetcanvas" about the medium in which Kinkade worked. He sketched and then composed his works in layers starting with acrylic, then oil, and then continued detailing the work with other materials. I'm guessing that might not be considered classical technique, it seems like a different kind of approach that became popular in the 20th century.

Today I learned about Thierry Duval, an artist in watercolors, and looking at his watercolours brought the work of Kinkade to mind. The approach is very different, purist and realist, but there's a cleanliness, a clutter, and an idealistic glow about them that reminds me of the kitsch of Kinkade.

 

[invisible]

I think Kinkade's work is maybe a precursor to pop surrealism.... a lot of pop surrealism focuses on portraiture but it is also a lot of the time very much portrait in landscape. It seems like many of the outrageous elements in pop surrealism are already in Kinkade's work, but the tone is more innocent, while pop surrealism kind of exaggerates everything in this way that is mostly playful but also slightly menacing. I wonder, is pop surrealism really a form of kitsch? I don't think so... I think it deals with ideas about kitsch... but I don't think it qualifies ss kitsch itself. Maybe I'm wrong?

 

[the]

I was just thinking "what happened to him?" Last month. Thank you for this thread.

 

[Pin]

I'd like to own these paintings.

 

[invisible]

@the and @Pin, enjoyed reading your posts

 

[invisible]

Actually kitsch art is something that I'm kind of in the process of discovering and thinking about and understanding. I wonder whether there are any others on forum with opinions about kitsch?

I follow a Facebook group pretty avidly that is called "Kitschy Living", which I noticed because a friend follows it. When I started looking at all this kitsch art and objects and home settings, I think I was kind of looking down my nose at it, but I have warmed up to it over time, and seen a different side to kitsch than what I originally saw.

When you're growing up you're kind of taught that kitsch is tacky, but I'm not sure that's a very interesting or sophisticated way to understand it. It's not an engaged way to approach it, it's a dismissive way to approach it. I think that "dismissive" is basically the diametric opposite of "analytical". You can't get any knowledge out of that approach, it's an approach that is rejecting of knowledge.

These days, I actually collect kitsch. I have a collection of 20th century kitsch ceramic animal figurines, I think mostly made in Japan. They're weird. I spend time contemplating them and trying to figure them out. What are they all about? I collect them because there is a beauty about them that really appeals to me, but at the same time they sort of puzzle me. They're like a weird combination of artfulness and artlessness, of cynicism and innocence, almost like wisdom.

But still, I struggle to engage with kitsch. When I look at these paintings, I'm highly critical of them. The first post I wrote on thread took me a long time to write, because I kept finding intensely spiteful things to say about Kinkade's art. I really had to restrain myself. The things I said were the least spiteful things I could think of, and they're still clearly spiteful.

Is there anyone on forum who really hates Kinkade's art? I'm just curious.

 

[invisible]

I did a Google image search for worst Kinkade ever.

This was the first result:

I'm not completely sure what's so bad about it, but the thing that for me is most striking about it is that all the fireplaces in the area are fired up. However down by the water, the foxgloves are blooming, they are a summer flower. Every fireplace around lit up in the middle of summer? That is nonsense. Is this a scene that is asserting itself as pure fantasy - the world can never be this perfect? Is it a comment on the imperfection of reality?

The other detail that really stands out for me is the "Celtic Cross" motif between the houses. This motif is usually used for a memorial or grave marker, yet here it is between 2 houses. The ambiguous suggestion of a grave between these dwellings? That seems highly erroneous, almost macabre. I think it's an unfortunate manifestation of what I've read critically described as "featurism" in Gothic art.

Also of note in the search results were these 2 spoof Kinkades.

I really enjoy looking at these. But also when I look at them, I can't help noticing the vastly inferior technique. Because of that I can't help suspecting that both of these authors secretly adore Kinkade. At least, treating the works according to their greatest critical potential, which I think is the most philosophically correct approach to critically treating artworks.

 

[Wyote]

When you're growing up you're kind of taught that kitsch is tacky, but I'm not sure that's a very interesting or sophisticated way to understand it

Kitsch is tacky. That's what makes it awesome.

 

[Wyote]

Is there anyone on forum who really hates Kinkade's art?

I find it sort of annoying. When I look at a Kinkade piece, I feel like I am supposed to enjoy it more than I actually am enjoying it. Then when I sit with it for a moment, I start to enjoy it a bit more, and then I expect to enjoy it a lot more at some point but it just sort of falls short. Then I get mad.

It's a very unique experience for me personally, I'll give him that.

 

[infinite dreams]

Looking at Kinkade's work reminds me of when I worked at Walmart as a teenager and the store sold prints of his art. His Wikipedia entry says that an estimated 1 in 20 American homes owns at least one Kinkade print, which wouldn't surprise me at all.

He was obviously talented and his work had mass appeal. His style, while kitschy or whatever, was indelibly his own. That said, it doesn't appeal to me on an aesthetic level, and I wouldn't hang one of his works in my home if someone paid me to do it.

Thierry Duval though is a different story. This stuff is remarkable.

 

[invisible]

Kitsch is tacky. That's what makes it awesome.

I think that the idea that something can be tacky is a "tastefulness" perception that arises as a function of a wealthy education rather than being a quality of the kitsch object or artwork itself.

The work of Ryden deals with the idea that kitsch is tacky and that's awesome. But that's a sophisticated values judgment about kitsch art. I don't think kitsch itself is tacky. I think that kitsch itself either fails to recognise fine distinctions of taste, or (more likely) deliberately eschews these distinctions completely in favour of focusing on its preoccupations - reproducibility, affordability, accessibility, sentimentality, nostalgia, innocence, etc. Maybe I'm splitting hairs - maybe simply eschewing taste is the qualification for being tacky, but I think it's a different matter.

It's interesting that the work of Kinkade is definitely made for duplication and popular circulation, but on the other hand I have read that Kinkade originals would be unaffordable for Kinkade.

 

[invisible]

@acd and @Gaze, Hope you don't mind me asking, I'm interested in whether you have any opinions on this artist.

 

[invisible]

In this (2006) Ryden painting "Girl Eaten by Tree", a young woman is being devoured by an anthropomorphised tree, which is pretty easily recognisable as a kitsch manifestation. I think on one level it's a serious fine art painting about the dangerous power of nature, but I think it's also a painting about the power of kitsch of giving power to nature.

 

[invisible]

Thierry Duval though is a different story. This stuff is remarkable.

Definitely a "fine art" perspective rather than a "kitsch" perspective, Absolutely gorgeous depictions with massive aesthetic appeal, mesmerisingly compelling technical achievement. At the same time to me, the perspective seems excessively romantic and idealised - for all of their clutter, these city landscapes are pristine! Everywhere there is only busy prosperity. I don't think that Duval would ever treat urban decay as his subject. Not that there's anything wrong with that at all.... but the romantic and idealistic outlook on landscape is I think something in common with Kinkade.

 

[acd]

@acd and @Gaze, Hope you don't mind me asking, I'm interested in whether you have any opinions on this artist.

Well you know I love me some kitsch!

I actually enjoy his work. In fact, there's a special place in my heart for the worst Kinkade painting, Cobblestone Bridge, because my grandmother had a completed jigsaw puzzle of it framed and I would stare at it for long periods of time when I was young. And as poor folk, that was the kind of art we could proudly hang up!

I know a lot of people scoff at his stuff and he was never taken seriously among anyone in the art world, but I can appreciate things for what they are. He was talented. He created whimsy and he made a lot of money doing it. I'm OK with that.

I always enjoyed staring at that framed puzzle at my grandmother's because it transported me to a much more pleasant world.

 

[invisible]

Well you know I love me some kitsch!

I actually enjoy his work. In fact, there's a special place in my heart for the worst Kinkade painting, Cobblestone Bridge, because my grandmother had a completed jigsaw puzzle of it framed and I would stare at it for long periods of time when I was young. And as poor folk, that was the kind of art we could proudly hang up!

I know a lot of people scoff at his stuff and he was never taken seriously among anyone in the art world. But I can appreciate things for what they are. He was talented. He created whimsy and he made a lot of money doing it. I'm OK with that.

I always enjoyed staring at that framed puzzle at my grandmother's because it transported me to a much more pleasant world.

Nice. I really enjoyed reading your thoughts about Kinkade and about your experience of this art growing up. When I read what you wrote I think that there is something about these works that is very gentle and sympathetic, and even encouraging... you can look into them and imagine a better world, harmonious, where everything is OK and at peace. These artworks are not blind to human suffering.

 

[Gaze]

In this (2006) Ryden painting "Girl Eaten by Tree", a young woman is being devoured by an anthropomorphised tree, which is pretty easily recognisable as a kitsch manifestation. I think on one level it's a serious fine art painting about the dangerous power of nature, but I think it's also a painting about the power of kitsch of giving power to nature.

I don't know anything about this artist, but from this painting, I find that I see this more as a slightly offbeat take of Alice in Wonderland. There's a slap in the innocence of childlike dreams or fantasies. The tree, unlike Alice's adventure down the hole, the three will not take these young girls on a wild journey. Rather, it will engulf them whole if they are not wary or guarded. They can't simply assume nature is there to protect or soothe them.

@acd and @Gaze, Hope you don't mind me asking, I'm interested in whether you have any opinions on this artist.

Not an sophisticated analyst like you , but I loved his work in the past, and my mom did as well. We also, like @acd, got a few puzzles with is artwork. I liked his use of color and the brightness in his images. His style was a mix of impressionism of course and romanticism, two art and literary movements I dearly love. Yes, he later became popularized, and maybe the work suffered from this.

Here are a few that I love, because of the composition including the geometric shapes and lines he uses in the house and the nature to separate and unite the two in the same space.

I also enjoyed the way the inside of the churches or homes were lighted so that your view from the outside, gives the impression that the inside is a warm, inviting and homely feeling. Of course, the bright (but not overpowering) and soft pastel colors of the flowers and tree leaves are eye catching.

When the colors of the landscape were blended with the surrounding scenes, it gave the pictures a serene and calming tone or mood. It's relaxing for me to look at the picture above. There's a feeling of being more at ease.

And this one is just cozy and classic.

 

[Gaze]

Just looked up some romanticism inspired paintings.

THOMAS COLE ROMANTIC LANDSCAPE NORTH CAROLINA MUSEUM

Maxim Grunin "Romantic Souls"

"Flight of the Setting Sun"

Simeon Larson

 

[acd]

I'm actually really drawn to the one with the church by the stream @Gaze posted. At first I thought, "What an odd place for a church, just right there in the middle of the wilderness!" How do you get there? (Maybe it's a brisk walk down a mountain or wooded path from town.) Imagine sitting in one of the pews and not being distracted by the beauty of what is outside of those big windows. If I was in church, I'd be anxious to get out and walk around or sit by the water. I can almost hear the babbling brook when I imagine myself sitting in the pew. It's drowning out the sermon, hallelujah!

I just think it's curious. The church windows are glowing and inviting, but you're also drawn to the nature outside of it. It creates a conflict.

I better head on out to Walmart and pick up a puzzle of this one to frame!

 

[Wyote]

I just had a flash memory of doing this puzzle in my youth. I think I have some sort of trauma associated with Kinkade. I'm not terribly fond of puzzles unless I'm by myself or in the company of a non militant type, as far as puzzles go.

That tree was a bish