Thomas Kinkade Painter Of Light

Thomas Kinkade Cause Of Death: Painter Died Of Drug And Alcohol Overdose Coroner Rules

LOS ANGELES, May 7 – “Painter of Light” Thomas Kinkade died of accidental acute intoxication from alcohol and an anti-anxiety medication, according to autopsy report made public on Monday by local NBC Bay Area TV.

The Santa Clara County Coroner’s Office reported Kinkade’s cause of death as “acute ethanol and Diazepam intoxication” and manner of death as “accident,” according to the NBC station. Diazepam is the active ingredient in Valium.

A Santa Clara County Coroner’s investigator confirmed to Reuters that the autopsy report on Kinkade had been completed but said he could not release it after business hours.

Kinkade, the self-proclaimed “Painter of Light,” whose works captivated millions of Americans despite the scorn of many art critics, died in April at his home in Northern California at the age of 54.

His brother told the San Jose Mercury News newspaper that the painter had battled alcoholism for several years and suffered a relapse before he died.

Patrick Kinkade said his brother had been burdened in recent years by a separation from his wife, financial troubles and the low opinion of his work by critics.

Thomas Kinkade was arrested for drunk driving in 2010, the same year his company filed for bankruptcy. Art galleries reported a surge in sales of Kinkade’s paintings following his death.

Thomas Kinkades Polarizing Legacy: How Will The Painter Of Light Be Remembered

In so many of Thomas Kinkades paintings, light shone through the darkness. Shine a light on the painters legacy, though, and youll see a deeply polarizing figure, both revered and reviled for his contribution to American art.

To his fans and there are many of them, so many that one estimate puts a Thomas Kinkade painting in one of every 20 houses in America Kinkade was an entry into an art world that shut many Americans out. Many people uninitiated into the language of contemporary art can find it to be a bewildering, snobbish and distasteful scene, full of My kid could do that conceptual works whose value may have been difficult for an average viewer to grasp. Kinkade knew that most Americans wanted to buy and view art that was straightforward and pretty. His bucolic scenes of cottages, landscapes and race cars made him the most-collected contemporary artist in America.

But ask most art critics, and theyll tell you that Kinkades work is saccharine, representational, sentimental and heavy-handed with Christian imagery. Kinkade has long been derided as the epitome of mediocre art. Despite his unquestionable fame, you will not find any of his works in any major museum.

Early Life And Education

William Thomas Kinkade was born on January 19, 1958, in Sacramento County, California. He grew up in the town of Placerville, graduated from El Dorado High School in 1976, and attended the University of California, Berkeley, and Art Center College of Design in Pasadena.

Some of the people who mentored and taught Kinkade prior to college were Charles Bell and Glenn Wessels. Wessels encouraged Kinkade to go to the University of California at Berkeley. Kinkade’s relationship with Wessels is the subject of a semi-autobiographical movie released during 2008, Christmas Cottage. After two years of general education at Berkeley, Kinkade transferred to the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena.

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Replies On The Mystery Of The Painter Of Light

Painter Of Light Thomas Kinkade Dies At 54

One of the most successful artists of all time, prolific painter Thomas Kinkade – the self-described “Painter of Light” – died Friday at the age of 54.

A spokesperson for the Kinkade family said the artist died at home in Los Gatos, Calif., apparently of natural causes.

Kinkade’s paintings were anything but controversial, depicting scenes of a light-filled America with a heavy emphasis on home, hearth and church. His sentimental scenes of country gardens and pastoral landscapes in dewy morning light were beloved by many but criticized by the art establishment.

The painter once said that he had something in common with Walt Disney and Norman Rockwell: He wanted to make people happy.

Those light-infused renderings are often prominently displayed in buildings, malls, and on products generally depicting tranquil scenes with lush landscaping and streams running nearby. Many contain images from Bible passages.

“I’m a warrior for light,” Kinkade, a self-described devout Christian, told the San Jose Mercury News in 2002, a reference to the medieval practice of using light to symbolize the divine. “With whatever talent and resources I have, I’m trying to bring light to penetrate the darkness many people feel.”

And he had a large following: Kinkade’s paintings and spin-off products were said to fetch some $100 million a year in sales, and to be in 10 million homes in the United States.

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Artistic Themes And Style

Recurring features of Kinkade’s paintings are their glowing colors and pastel colors. Rendered with idealistic values of American scene painting, his works often portray bucolic and idyllic settings such as gardens, streams, stone cottages, lighthouses and Main Streets. His hometown of Placerville was the inspiration for many of his street and snow scenes. He also depicted various Christian themes including the Christian cross and churches.

Kinkade said he was emphasizing the value of simple pleasures and that his intent was to communicate inspirational messages through his paintings. A self-described “devout Christian” , Kinkade believed he gained his inspiration from his religious beliefs and that his work was intended to include a moral dimension. Many pictures include specific chapter-and-verse allusions to Bible passages.

Kinkade said, “I am often asked why there are no people in my paintings,” but in 2009 he painted a portrait of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the cover of that year’sIndianapolis 500 race program that included details of the crowd, hiding among them the figures of Norman Rockwell and Dale Earnhardt. He also painted the farewell portrait for Yankee Stadium. Concerning the Indianapolis Motor Speedway painting, Kinkade said:

Artist and Guggenheim FellowJeffrey Vallance has spoken about Kinkade’s devout religious themes and their reception in the art world:

Essayist Joan Didion is a representative critic of Kinkade’s style:

Thomas Kinkade: The Secret Life And Strange Death Of Art’s King Of Twee

In death, the man who at his peak claimed to be the world’s most successful living artist perhaps achieved the sort of art-world excess he craved.

On Tuesday, the coroner’s office in Santa Clara, California, announced that the death of Thomas Kinkade, the Painter of Light, purveyor of kitsch prints to the masses, was caused by an accidental overdose of alcohol and Valium. For good measure, a legal scrap has emerged between Kinkade’s ex-wife and his girlfriend.

Who could have imagined that behind so many contented visions of peace, harmony and nauseating goodness lay just another story of deception, disappointment and depravity, fuelled by those ever-ready stooges, Valium and alcohol?

Kinkade was a self-made phenomenon, with his prints hanging in one in 20 American homes. At his height, in 2001, Kinkade generated $130m in sales. Kinkade’s twee paintings of cod-traditional cottages, lighthouses, gardens, gazebos and gates sold by the million through a network of Thomas Kinkade galleries, owned by his company, and through a parallel franchise operation. At their peak there were 350 Kinkade franchises across the US, with the bulk in his home state of California. You would see them in roadside malls in small towns, twinkly lights adorning the windows, and in bright shopping centres, sandwiched between skatewear outlets and nail bars.

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Bringing Home The Painter Of Light: Choosing A Thomas Kinkade Picture

If you’re a contemporary art enthusiast, you may well be a fan of the late Thomas Kinkade, known as “the painter of light.” This artist’s paintings have graced many homes for decades, and you can find much of his art for sale on eBay. Whether you want a signed original, a framed print, or even a poster, here’s some advice to help you find a great deal.

The types of Tomas Kinkade artwork you can purchase

While you might find an original painting, most of the time, a listing for a Thomas Kinkade painting for sale on eBay is for some type of reproduction. Here are some of the usual ones you may be able to choose from:

• Canvas reproductions: Many high-end Kinkade paintings on eBay are canvas reproductions because these are reproduced to look as much like an original as possible.
• Limited-edition prints: These are reproductions that aren’t designed to look just like an original. Limited-edition prints have shorter runs, and therefore, they are typically a bit more expensive.
• Lithographs: These are high-quality reprints of Kinkade paintings. Depending on the size of the run, they may be more affordable than the other types of reproductions.

Are there other factors affecting price?

You likely have seen that the prices for Kinkade paintings vary considerably on eBay. While some of that variation comes from the type of artwork being sold, there are a few other key factors influencing value. Look for these when evaluating which item to purchase:

Saving money on Thomas Kinkade prints

Related Projects And Partnerships

Kinkade was selected by a number of organizations to celebrate anniversaries, including Disneyland’s 50th anniversary, Walt Disney World Resort‘s 35th anniversary, Elvis Presley‘s purchase of Graceland 50 years previously and the 25th anniversary of its opening to the public, and Yankee Stadium’s farewell 85th season in 2008. Kinkade also paid tribute to Fenway Park.

Kinkade was the artist chosen to depict the historic Biltmore House he also created the commemorative portrait of the 50th running of the Daytona 500 during 2008.

During 2001, Media Arts unveiled “The Village at Hiddenbrooke,” a Kinkade-themed community of homes, built outside of Vallejo, California, in partnership with the international construction company Taylor Woodrow. Salon’s Janelle Brown visited the community and found it to be “the exact opposite of the Kinkadeian ideal. Instead of quaint cottages, there’s generic tract housing instead of lush landscapes, concrete patios instead of a cozy village, there’s a bland collection of homes with nothing- not a church, not a cafe, not even a town square- to draw them together.”

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Kinkade: The Beginnings Of An Art Career

The popularity of the book landed Kinkade and Gurney a job at Ralph Bakshi Studios, where they produced background art for the 1983 animated feature film, Fire and Ice. Around this time, Kinkade began exploring the characteristics of light in pictorial space and creating imaginative worlds. It was during this period he acquired his moniker, the Painter of Light.

In 1982, Kinkade married his childhood sweetheart, Nanette and, two years later, they began to publish his paintings as graphic works. The couple had four daughtersMerritt, Winsor, Everett, and Chandlerall named after famous artists.

Kinkade created paintings and graphic works simultaneously, offering his originals to galleries throughout California. From 1984 to 1989, he took on the pseudonym Robert Girrard in order to experiment with his style, using the techniques of French Impressionists and painted several hundred paintings under that name.

By the mid-1990s, his paintings had become wildly popular. Kinkades artwork proved to be so desired that, at the time, he sold more canvases than any other artist in world history. According to some accounts, he has sold more canvases than Claude Monet, Édouard Manet, Rembrandt van Rijn, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Vincent van Gogh, Paul Gauguin, and Pablo Picasso combined.

Video: A Lifetime Of Light

Experience this complete presentation of Thomas Kinkades prolific 30 year career as Americas Most Collected Artist. From his published works, we have prepared nearly 500 images just click on an image to advance chronologically or use the links below to skip to a particular year. Enter A Lifetime of Light An American Artist The Thomas Kinkade Life Story From his boyhood home in rural Placerville to becoming the renowned Painter of Light, Thomas Kinkade walked a focused path. An American Artist reveals the experiences and inspirations that influenced the artistFrom the memories of family, teachers, mentors, and friends, here is the life of the man behind the art.

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Thomas Kinkade: ‘painter Of Light’ Dies At 54

Gene Blythe/AP Photo

Thomas Kinkade, the self-proclaimed “Painter of Light,” whose artwork hangs in an estimated 1 of every 20 homes in the U.S. died Friday at his home in Los Gatos, Calif.

He was 54.

Family spokesman Dave Satterfield told ABC News Radio that it appears the painter died of natural causes.

“His wife Nanette said that Thom had provided a wonderful life for his family and the family was shocked and saddened by his death,” Satterfield said.

Kinkade’s artwork focused on tranquil landscapes and scenes often depicting biblical passages.

In a biography on his website, he explained how he saw himself as an artist: “I share something in common with Norman Rockwell and, for that matter, with Walt Disney, in that I really like to make people happy.”

He told the San Jose Mercury News in 2002 he was “I’m a warrior for light.”

“With whatever talent and resources I have, I’m trying to bring light to penetrate the darkness many people feel,” he told the newspaper.

Laguna Beach gallery owner Marty Brown knew Kinkade personally and started selling his art in the 1980s.

“His legacy is that he fulfilled the American Dream, that he was able come from practically nothing. He basically became just a tremendously popular figure in terms of art and also he had a lot of you know fans – just people that were very enchanted with him as a person,” Brown said.

Kinkade’s paintings and products were said to bring an estimated $100 million a year in sales.

Thomas Kinkade Painter Of Light Series

Micro-Trains is excited to announce our newest series: The Thomas Kinkade Painter of Light Series! This N scale series will feature twelve remarkable Thomas Kinkade paintings on black boxcars and will also include a locomotive and caboose. Thomas Kinkade, the Painter of Light, emphasized simple pleasures and inspirational messages through his art and the branded products created from that art. From textiles, to collectibles, to music and books, Thom believed that both the ability and the inspiration to create his paintings had been given to him as a gift. His goal as an artist was to touch people of all faiths and to bring peace and joy into their lives through the images he had created.

This series was pre-ordered in December 2018

Series starts in April 2019

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Kinkade: Style And Influences

Thomas Kinkade paintings all contain magical imagery that included nature scenes, bucolic gardens, cottages, sports, inspirational tableaus, lighthouses, powerful seascapes, impressionistic cityscapes, and American icons.

Kinkades works all share similar characteristics: whimsical and slightly surreal pastels and an ethereal sense of light. His Placerville home serves as the inspiration for many of his scenes involving streetscapes and snow.

As a self-described devout Christian, each of Kinkades works project an image of Christian values. He referred to himself as a warrior for light, using light to represent a divine presence within each of his worksa traditional painting technique from the Middle Ages. Through light, Kinkade aimed to drive away the darkness that many people feel, bringing warmth and happiness into their homes.

What I paint touches on foundational life valueshome, family, peacefulness, Kinkade said. One of the messages I try to constantly get across is, Slow it down and enjoy every moment.

If people viewed one of Kinkades half-finished paintings, they would have been surprised to find dark and gloomy elements. This is because Kinkade painted multiple layers of dark glaze across his canvases as the first step. According to his book, Lightposts for Living, Kinkade believed these dark layers were necessary.

Meet Thomas Kinkade Studios

Get to know the extrodinary group of individuals who make up Thomas Kinkade Studios.

Thomas Kinkade

1958 â 2012 In the very beginning of his artistic career, Thomas Kinkade put his entire life savings into the printing of his first lithograph. Though at the time he was already an acclaimed illustrator, Thom found that he was inspired not by fame and

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