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Wednesday, December 1, 2010

The Thomas Kinkade Census

Posted by on Wed, Dec 1, 2010 at 1:23 PM

"It's estimated that his work appears in 1 in every 20 U.S. homes," NPR reports.

Estimated by who? Can this possibly be true? Look to the 19 people around you. Which of them has a Kinkade in the hallway?

 

Comments (43) RSS

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1
That doesn't surprise me. What does surprise me is that an art professor wrote her master's thesis on Kinkade!
Posted by Sheryl on December 1, 2010 at 1:29 PM
2
And if it's none of those 19 people, please do the honorable thing and shoot yourself.
Posted by DavidDavid on December 1, 2010 at 1:29 PM
Max Solomon 3
my mom fucking loved him. so do all my GOP relatives. to them, that's what art should be. comforting & nostalgic.
Posted by Max Solomon on December 1, 2010 at 1:31 PM
blip 4
experts are usually the ones who estimate. they also tend to worry, question, and agree.
Posted by blip on December 1, 2010 at 1:31 PM
5
Are there more households with a Thomas Kinkade than there are households with an out LGBT person?
Posted by carlkid07 on December 1, 2010 at 1:32 PM
Keister Button 6
what I find astonishing is how many people in Seattle I know who have a framed vintage photograph reprint of the Flatiron building.
Posted by Keister Button on December 1, 2010 at 1:33 PM
Canuck 7
I'd imagine he has a big following in the "people who buy art that matches the sofa" set.
Posted by Canuck on December 1, 2010 at 1:34 PM
8
Someone at my work bragged about her patriotically themed Kinkade a while ago. She was very proud of it. I think she has several. And yes, she is Republican.
Posted by en on December 1, 2010 at 1:37 PM
9
We live in the country that invented the Limited Edition Collector's Plate. Of course millions of people have Kinkade paintings in their homes.
Posted by Proteus on December 1, 2010 at 1:40 PM
10
I'm guessing they arrived at this number based on his sales figures and a rough idea of how many paintings a single household would own. There are artists who are just as schmaltzy and literal in the "real" art world, they just aren't rich.
Posted by 311_TruthMovement on December 1, 2010 at 1:41 PM
Merlin D. Bear 11
I am proud to say that I have more art than wall space.
And in that collection there ain't a single Kinkade.
Nor will there ever be.
However, I do proudly display a Velvet Elvis.
Posted by Merlin D. Bear on December 1, 2010 at 1:42 PM
heywhatsit!? 12
My 82 year old Mom has one. Other than that, she's quite normal.
Posted by heywhatsit!? on December 1, 2010 at 1:42 PM
13
@11 - If you'll hang a Velvet Elvis ironically, why not a Kinkade?
Posted by Lumpmoose on December 1, 2010 at 1:47 PM
14
Both of my parents - both plates and those painted-upon expensive prints.
Posted by I Am Who Am on December 1, 2010 at 1:47 PM
Tracy 15
My folks have one. My mom hates it, but it's the only "art" my dad's purchased in 15 years, so she allowed him to hang it in the hallway (she's picked the art in the rest of the house)./
Posted by Tracy on December 1, 2010 at 1:47 PM
gloomy gus 16
I read somewhere, maybe here, that he's to oughties decor what Nagel was to the 80s.
Posted by gloomy gus on December 1, 2010 at 1:51 PM
17
More of a Christian thing than a Republican thing but I understand many in this crowd don't differentiate those two groups.
Posted by cliche on December 1, 2010 at 1:54 PM
18
My sister sent me a Thomas Kinkade Christmas card last year. She had to add extra glitter to make it really look good, though. Does that still count as one out of twenty?
Posted by LuisitaPhD on December 1, 2010 at 2:00 PM
Fifty-Two-Eighty 19
Don't look at me. I don't even know who the guy is.
Posted by Fifty-Two-Eighty http://www.nra.org on December 1, 2010 at 2:08 PM
20
My family knew Kinkade before he was famous (my father was an art dealer before the market collapsed in the 1990s), back when he was just another Sonoma County artist trying to get by. His one ambition in life was to be rich and famous, no matter what the cost. Oh, and he wasn't remotely Christian then.

After he was famous he supposedly got an ATV stuck in the middle of an Alaska river trying to sneak a prostitute, under the cover of night, back to the camp he was staying at during a hunting trip with a friend. I'm sure he just wanted her to sign his canvases for him.
Posted by Lilting Missive on December 1, 2010 at 2:14 PM
21
Sadly, my in-laws like Kinkade. My mother's ex-bf referred to him as 'Painter Lite'.
Posted by Sex and rockets on December 1, 2010 at 2:14 PM
22
My grandmother has at least five, including one with a special lighting display.
Posted by tiktok on December 1, 2010 at 2:18 PM
kim in portland 23
Guitars, antique maps, chalcasoma atlas beetles, and nudes. And, some of the maps and all of the nudes where gifts from my family members. We're not a Kinkade crowd here.

But, my 90 year-old grandmother has a few in her living-room. She's the only one that I'm aware of, though.

.
Posted by kim in portland http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2010/11/fast-paced_video_provides_a_fu.html on December 1, 2010 at 2:28 PM
24
There's a guy in my MBA classes who always tries to ass-kiss all of our professors - even the visibly liberal ones - with Ronald Reagan quotes. When he goes to the bathroom, he undoes his pants completely, and pulls the down to his ankles, even when he's using a urinal. Out of the people in this room, he gets my vote.
Posted by chaotoroboto on December 1, 2010 at 2:30 PM
25
with a census-estimated 114 million households, that would mean that 5.7 million households would have some form of Kincaide work. The article includes "calendars, coffee mugs and more" in that number. For some perspective, 2006's 4th place American Idol finisher, Chris Daughtry, has sold 5.7 million albums.
Posted by Lark Hawk on December 1, 2010 at 2:38 PM
wingedkat 26
Since calendars and coffee mugs are included in the count, I suppose I have to include the package of blank note cards someone gave me for Christmas a few years back.

I had to GIS his art to realize that, though... and my cards could be imitations. I'm too lazy to go check.
Posted by wingedkat on December 1, 2010 at 2:45 PM
lizdini 27
Well I know one (christian and gay) couple who have a Kincaid. But it was a present from their realtor and they hung it so when the door is open you can't see it. So I don't know if that counts?
Posted by lizdini on December 1, 2010 at 2:49 PM
28
I find that very easy to believe. I'm not sure how many of my relatives necessarily own Kinkade's work, but many of them have tons of hideous "inspirational" posters and artwork that go along with that theme. Like it or not, that's what's popular in this country, just not necessarily in liberal, cynical Seattle.
Posted by keshmeshi on December 1, 2010 at 2:53 PM
Cory 29
See responses that I thought I'd see.... Yep, the old republican relatives love the sickeningly sweet nostalgic art. Including mine.
Posted by Cory on December 1, 2010 at 3:10 PM
Reverse Polarity 30
"It's estimated that his work appears in 1 in every 20 U.S. homes."

We are doomed.
Posted by Reverse Polarity on December 1, 2010 at 3:23 PM
mr. herriman 31
painter of light, my ass. painter of crap.
Posted by mr. herriman on December 1, 2010 at 3:33 PM
motofly 32
I prefer Reuben Kinkade.
Posted by motofly on December 1, 2010 at 4:04 PM
Geni 33
I have a Van Gogh print, a couple of Monet prints, and several originals and numbered prints by local artists I favor. No Painter Of Blight in my house. No paint-by-numbers Jesus either.
Posted by Geni on December 1, 2010 at 4:21 PM
Fifty-Two-Eighty 34
Does my black velvet Elvis painting count? I don't hink it's a Kinkade, though.
Posted by Fifty-Two-Eighty http://www.nra.org on December 1, 2010 at 4:34 PM
Merlin D. Bear 35
@13
Ironically? Who said anything about ironically?

@34
Which one do you have? I have "Elvis: Blue Hawaii"
Posted by Merlin D. Bear on December 1, 2010 at 4:59 PM
gloomy gus 36
@32, his side part made me wet.
Posted by gloomy gus on December 1, 2010 at 5:24 PM
RNBSN 37
My mother-in-law has one over the couch. Naturally, she's a malicious, ugly, stupid shithead, too.
Posted by RNBSN on December 1, 2010 at 5:49 PM
Badger 38
Kinkade is an ass. His art is what one would expect to come out of an ass.
Posted by Badger on December 1, 2010 at 8:58 PM
Knat 39
I always thought Kinkade was about the same level of quality as those "precious moments" things. That said, I'd still put Kinkade above Jon McNaughton. (Link - make sure to read his rebuttals at the bottom)
Posted by Knat on December 1, 2010 at 10:11 PM
40
We can't be sure all of the Kinkade works are in residential settings, though. I've seen 'em in mall bathrooms and cheap hotels. Also, you gotta know that there are a handful of little old ladies with a couple hundred Kinkade prints apiece, plus stationery, throw rugs and cats' water dishes. I feel safer knowing that the 1-in-20 estimate is a vast overstatement.
Posted by TeratoMarty on December 2, 2010 at 9:51 AM
41
What is wrong with people loving what makes them happy and evokes good memories (real or imagined)? My very Christian, very Republican, very lower-middle class mother has two Thomas Kincade prints. She's just excited she can own "art."
Posted by cwilson on December 2, 2010 at 2:39 PM
42
All my relatives are visual artists themselves (including the grandparents when they were alive) who wouldn't be caught dead near a Kincade or even in a mall. But my family is weird that way!
Posted by Sarah in Olympia on December 4, 2010 at 12:13 AM
Claypatch 43
Technically speaking Kinkade's art is quite accomplished. But that is absolutely all you can say about it, as it completely lacks any artistic soul or integrity. Its all shiny surface gloss, peel that back and there is nothing underneath. Its the exact same thing with that other assjack of the artistic world Jeff Koons. How either can be taken seriously, by anyone, as artists is utterly beyond me.
Posted by Claypatch on December 4, 2010 at 3:54 PM

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