I don't quite understand it, but think critics, and perhaps
other painters, may have a problem with him, in the same way they have a
problem with Stephen King. Stephen King
himself has talked about this problem, and said something to the effect that
once an artist reaches a certain amount of fame, his art is equated with fast
food. While other “more serious” writers
are trying to churn out serious, more artistic tombs, Stephen King’s books were
starting to be treated like McNovels. He
even addresses it in some of his stories, writing under the pseudonym Richard
Bachman, and a couple of his characters (Paul Sheldon in Misery, Thad Beaumont/George Stark in The Dark Half) are writers much like himself, churning out their
popular and still well written genre pieces, put yearning for more praise from
the critics and attempting to stretch themselves with deeper works and themes.
I
think some critics, and maybe some other famous painters, don’t take Thomas
Kinkade seriously, in the same way they didn’t take Norman Rockwell too
seriously until many years after his death (and even now, they may still not
take him all that seriously). Good
painters, perhaps, but can they compare to the Masters? Can Rockwell’s Saturday Evening Post covers
and Kinkade’s “simple” and idealized nostalgic landscapes of light compare with
the masterworks of Michelangelo, Rembrandt, da Vinci, Monet, van Gogh, and
Picasso? The art critic would find
Kinkade too commercialized, and then view his work with disdain, I’m sure.
But ask me if I care! I’ve seen some of the “serious and thematic”
paintings by the likes of these painters, and while I tend towards renaissance
and realism in the paintings I enjoy, and even some impressionism, when they
get too high brow, the paintings themselves start to get strange. They may be powerfully thematic, but then
they start to impress only scholars and lose touch with the common man. I’ve seen paintings the critics seem to love,
such as Les Demoiselles d’Avignon by
Pablo Picasso, The Two Fridas by
Frida Kahlo, and Soft Construction with
Boiled Beans by Salvador Dali, and paintings like this may impress art
critics, but yeach!
This is the very
reason these art critics may have a problem with artists like Rockwell and Kinkade,
and the reason art movements like expressionism and cubism aren’t wholly
embraced by the general public. It’s a
struggle that occurs in all the arts, from fashion and performance art to
photography, music to television, books and poetry to plays and film. Each of these art forms has their less
popular but serious works the learned critics tend to like, and each of them
also has the pulpy popular stuff that pleases the masses. I sometimes can appreciate the less accessible
art that doesn’t generally appeal to the masses (such as the expressionist
painting The Scream by Edvard Munch), but more often than not, I go along with the popular crowd,
especially with something like paintings.
I’d much rather have something – anything – by Norman Rockwell and
Thomas Kinkade, hanging in my living room than some strange looking piece of
art from a movement like expressionism or cubism.
With
that said, let me also just say that I love the paintings of Thomas Kinkade,
and I really admire the man himself!
After watching the biographical movie The Christmas Cottage, a movie I would like to own now, I’ve come
to see this gentle Painter of Light as a fellow compassionate, kind, and
sympathetic spirit. I admire him for the
same reasons I said I admired the fictional character of Michael Sullivan from
those Star Trek: Voyager episodes
“Fair Haven” and “Spirit Folk” that I wrote about before. Thomas Kinkade has achieved the kind of life
I would like to have, doing what he loves and (seemingly) having an
uncomplicated life full of the love of Christ.
He doesn’t seem to care what the critics say, but paints the kinds of
pictures he loves and that speak to the common man, especially the
Christian, and there’s nothing wrong with that as long as pride doesn’t get in
the way. And talent? Boy, does he have talent! I love his inviting, colorful paintings. His art may not be critically thematic, but it
presents an inviting and romanticized world that speaks to the Christian heart
about the way things could be without sin in the world, and illustrate,
perhaps, a little bit of what Heaven may one day feel like.
But
more than just his beautiful paintings and his gentle, loving spirit, the man,
by all outward appearances I have seen, has a deep love for God.
I’m not saying he’s perfect, because none of us are perfect, and in
fact, if you Google “Thomas Kinkade Christian,” you are likely to find articles
about some of his possible failings as such.
True or not, by the same token, if you were to investigate anyone,
you’d likely come across someone who didn’t like them and had some negative
things to say. I love Dinesh D’Souza,
but the internet is brimming over with people who can’t stand him. I’d hate to see what others might have to say
about me! I realize the kinds of things that might
happen to a man, even a Christian man, once he becomes a business, and his name
alone is a selling point, but I can still applaud the image of himself he is selling to the masses, whether or not it’s true (and I choose to believe it is true). There are many who have achieved his level of
fame who don’t project the positive and loving Christian image he does. He is leading others to God. I’ve always maintained that the people I admire
are most likely idealized versions, sort of like Kinkade’s paintings themselves. You can hope, but you’re not likely to find
something in the real world quite as enchanted as Kinkade’s perfect landscapes
full of delightful cabins with blissful light shining from them any more than
you’re likely to find people who won’t ultimately let you down in one way or
another. My admiration of Thomas Kinkade
is for the qualities I can see and would like to see more of in myself. At the very least, I can wish for the ideal,
and I for one would rather give him the benefit of the doubt, because that’s
what loving Christians do. At any rate,
I’d like to one day meet the man and judge for myself. Other than these few internet complainers
(and who knows if you can really trust them either, because, after all, who are
they anyway), I’ve liked what I’ve seen and heard about the man! I strive to find that same passion in my
writing.
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