"I'll sell my Duesenberg and give the money to the poor....but first, 10000 of you have to buy my latest print..."
Posted on 02/27/2006 8:21:04 AM PST by Republicanprofessor
An arbitration panel on Thursday awarded $860,000 to two former Thomas Kinkade Signature Gallery owners who accused the self-proclaimed "Painter of Light" and his company, Media Arts Group Inc., of fraudulently inducing them to invest in the business — and then ruining them financially.
While not singling out Kinkade in its finding of fraud, the panel ruled that the Morgan Hill, Calif.-based company and one of its executives, Richard F. Barnett, "failed to disclose material information" that would have dissuaded Karen Hazlewood and Jeffrey Spinello from investing $122,000 to open the first of their two Virginia galleries in 1999.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
Art ping.
Let Sam Cree, Woofie or me know if you want on or off this ping list.
Art ping.
Not a rhetorical question...I really want to know!
My family has not bought any of his stuff since...
I've never cared for his work at all. I think it looks cheap.
There are people who go nuts over the stuff. I have a problem with anyone who prints runs of many thousands, and then divides a run into separate "editions" at varying prices. I was once told that the only difference between two editions of a TK print was a mark on the back.
They're vastly overpriced greeting cards.
LOL!!!
Dear Republicanprofessor,
My wife calls it "sofa art." It's what you expect to see hanging above the sofa in the waiting room at the doctor's office. LOL.
I kinda think it's like the Muzak of art: Inoffensive if you're not paying close attention.
sitetest
I doubt that. They may have pretended to a higher PLANE, but as should be abundantly plain, Thomas Kinkaide is no more a businessman than he is an artist.
I do like the way he incorporates light and various pale colors into some dark paintings. However, I do not like his stuff enough to buy any of it. I agree with another poster who says his work is too much like a greeting card.
I don't care for it, but there appears to be a huge market for it.
Most of his work strikes me as being trite and humorless. In addition, most of his appeal seems to be related to marketing stunts, much in the same way Beanie Babies are/were. At least they were engaging and inexpensive.
But I may be missing something.
My wife is a ceramic artist dealing mostly in large (and heavy) wall sculptures. TK is one of her pet peeves, so I call her "The Sculptor of Weight".
So overrated its not funny.
He's sold over 10 million prints so they obviously appeal to many people. I have no problem with them. Some people have a problem with the religious overtones. They are very well done for the style they are painted in, but my tastes run to other styles.
Darn right. My ex used to love his stuff - paid $400, $600 bucks for prints back in the early 1990s....about 8 years later we tried to resell a couple of extras....only to find out that there was no market for it....well *DUH*
I told his people that it looked like their boss had found a "legal way to print money"....they were not amused....6 months later his company filed for bankruptcy and they laid off a bunch of people (I guess they couldn't get marketing rights to print his stuff on toilet paper rolls)
Don't get me wrong - his art is nice - but his method of marketing it and creating this "buzz" was about as self-serving as it gets....Mr. Kincade loves his large collection of classic autos that he displayed on one of his 'sales videos'....I'm sure he doesn't think about that when he puts his "John 3:16" mark on every painting he does.....does he?
Art?!
We view his style of painting as unique. We would consider purchasing another painting.
Art is in the eye of the beholder.
Man - you gotta be careful calling her that...could bite you in the arse later on...;-)
Nope, you've pretty much nailed it. The sales pitch in the stores is just shy of calling them "investments" (which they can't do legally). They spend more time on telling you how many of them have increased in value than on anything else. In my mind, you should love a piece of art first, and look at its ability to hold value a distant second.
Surely you misspoke.
"Kincade: the painter of Kitsch." But that would give Kitsch a bad name . . .
his stuff is "art" the same way wall paper is "art".
It is just decorating.
The MARKETING is another story...
One of the big secrets in the 'art' business is the use of "Giclee" prints.
They're nothing more than inkjet prints, and many sell for hundreds of dollars.
Yep. I happen to like his stuff. Won't buy any of it because it's too expensive but I love his paintings.
Fortunately for me I live near Nashville, Indiana which has a thriving artists community. Can get some very good paintings for much, much less than anything seen in a snooty gallery and they look better too (for the most part)
You have to remember that art is defined as "something that looks good to the person buying it"
Paintings are only worth buying while the artist is alive and unknown. Once they get famous you end up paying for the fluff and not for the painting.
Agreed. And, also, one might have plenty of things around that create atmosphere and give pleasure that don't have to be "high" art.
I disagree. They aren't even well done for greeting cards. His "light" is preposterous and violates all the laws of physics. Plus he can't draw a human figure, and his horses are nightmares.
The point is that while the man presents himself as a "holier-than-though" Christian, his MASSIVE car collection (can we say "Idol-worship"?) and his deceptive hucksterism or worthless prints of his paintings, well, "paint a different picture"....
I can go along with the traditional subject matter - barely, although I know many call it trite, but the overwrought colors and the oh so fussy brushwork makes my teeth itch.
And I have a degree in painting.
He's obviously printing money in his basement though.
Amen to that.
Which pretty much explains why my most treasured art pieces were created by a couple of first rate first and second graders. ; ).
Many gifty-gifty shops, designed to part women with their money, feature both of these lines. I've always said that those kinds of stores make my teeth hurt. That said, I've found "the perfect gift" on occasion there, so I can't be too hard on them. LOL.
What you are absolutely dead-set right about is when to buy art . . .
I have gotten some outrageously beautiful work REALLY cheap by going to the students' sale at the Georgia State Univ. art department. Fabulous stuff by complete unknowns . . . some of whom are going to make very good some day, if they're lucky. My mom beat me to a beautiful porcelain vase hand painted and fired by a junior art student . . . a traditional Japanese design of white cranes against reeds and water. It is absolutely fabulous . . . maybe if I'm really, really good she'll leave it to me.
I never got him either, although alot of people really like it. I was in my lawyer's office last week, and there was a Kinkade painting and it made me look at my lawyer a little differently. How shallow is that???? Do you know there are Thomas Kinkaid communities?? weird.
May sound odd, but I've always been uncomfortable with his paintings of cottages that are located 5 feet from the bank of a roaring brook. I'm thinking "what idiot would build a home so close to a river when the first flash flood that comes through would wipe them out."
His successful marketing is really no different than say those of Walt Disney.
Oh, there's no question what I'm referring to. I constantly grouse about having to carry her stuff to shows, but she sells well, so I'm not too upset about it.
Both Wyland and Lassen have taken note. I remember when Wyland struggled to get his first mural painted on the side of the big electrical plant in Redondo Beach; I remember when Chris Lassen was a poor surfer on Maui.
Now there are Wyland galleries everywhere, and Chris Lassen is now 'Christian Riese' Lassen.
I kinda think it's like the Muzak of art: Inoffensive if you're not paying close attention.
I still find it offensive just because it's so cheap and tacky looking. I guess if people will settle for this, they will settle for anything in art. But my students tend to like it....before they finish a course with me and learn some things about how to look.
BTW: I loved the post on the female tuba player. Fascinting. Sent it to some non-freeper friends.
Guess it says something about you, don't it?
BTW, I have this DARLING watercolor by an underrated Austrian artist with the initials "A.H.".
Since you apparently wouldn't mind how he "marketed" his "art", I guess you might be interested in it?
I am an artist and I have bent over backwards to keep politics out of the "business" end of my business. I have this weird idea that even the Democrats who buy my paintings deserve a little courtesy and a smidgen of respect for their privacy.
"I'll sell my Duesenberg and give the money to the poor....but first, 10000 of you have to buy my latest print..."
It's obvious you're married to a very good woman..:-D
LOL
oh, and please do not insult the memory of a Great American (Walt Disney) by comparing him to this amateurish huckster...
Just like other famed works, it will be worth a fortune some day.
You two are killing me.
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