Kimberly Kradel posted an update in the group 
Art News 1 year, 2 months ago
Thomas Kinkade passed away today. I’m definitely not a fan of his work, actually, not a fan at all. I was surprised that he was so young – 54 years old – when he died. I thought he was much much older than me.
Here is an article by Susan Orlean about the Thomas Kinkade phenomena.
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The art snob in me wants to keep ignoring this man’s work, which feels the way looking at sugary-sweet cake frosting tastes. But his stated purpose was to make people happy, and his fans adored him. It takes a very skewed lens to see this as good art, but everyone’s lens is skewed one way or another. Chacun à son goût..
Here’s the link to the San Jose Mercury News article from last night as well. I was really surprised by all of the comments. I had no idea that he had such a following … although I suppose if he was that wealthy, someone was buying his work. I think my Mom has some. His early work (there’s a slideshow in the article) was not bad, at least by comparison.
That caught my attention as well this morning. Seeing that Death has so shortened his life made me feel like a heel for having always called him Thomas Kitschcade. The news reminds me not to begrudge people for finding refuge in these kinds of images. In the 19th Century, the French got their warm fuzzies not from the impressionists, but from the enormously popular Jean-Louis Ernest Meissonier with his romantic imagery of Napoleonic conquests. Now Meissonier is forgotten.
Ah, yes, Ross King’s The Judgment of Paris is about Meissonier – and I haven’t finished that one yet … But yes, it’s a long hard lesson in not judging a person for the things, like art, that they do. Everyone comes onto the planet to do their own thing, learn their lessons. It’s best for us not to get in the way of that, other than to get those around us to be the best people that they can be. Besides, he made a lot of people happy and there is no accounting for taste.