Still not accepted by the art-elite though
Thomas Kinkade’s girlfriend said on Monday the world famous self proclaimed artist known as the “painter of light,” “died in his sleep, very happy, in the house he built, with the paintings he loved, and the woman he loved.”
Thomas Kinkade received much criticism for his asking price of many of his paintings, but since his death the pricy pics are getting scooped up left and right. One painting that sat dormant with an asking price of $100 thousand sold for $150 thousand.
If you are planning on buying one, try and get an original. According to the Religion News Service, the Kinkade factory would produce over 500 works a day. Some of these reproductions would receive a touch-up from a “Master highlighter,” or an artist who enhances the light in the pictures by hand. The highlights were not done by Thomas Kinkade himself but were under his supervision.
Many in the art world argue that those planning to buy the works aren’t expected to receive a later pay day. The Kinkade factory produced so many of the works and Kinkade didn’t receive the critical acclaim and institutional acceptance necessary to drive the prices up. The Street put Kinkade’s works on its list of “Completely Worthless Collectibles.”
“He has gorgeous stuff, but they QVCed it to death,” said Lou Kahn, head of the Bakerstown Collectibles appraisal service for The Street. “They sell beautiful Kinkade prints in galleries and on cruise ships, but the frames are worth more than the prints.”
The fine art world is having trouble accepting Thomas Kinkade as one of their own but nonetheless his memory lives on through his brush strokes everywhere.
