I honestly just find this whole thing to be very sad. It's as you said towards the end, it seems like he has always been a very troubled person, and with how he struggled with addiction etc, I'm betting he didn't have much self confidence. These paintings were most likely his escape, a world without anything bad, that comforted him and other people, a world where he didn't need addiction. A safe space for him, maybe even a mask because when initially looked at, you would think that a very kind person painted them. I don't think marketing this feeling was a bad thing, in fact it was probably his only source of self confidence, and he capitalized on the feeling of being wanted, of his art being wanted, and thus got dragged into that toxic spiral of attaching his worth to only one thing, and took to lashing out when that was threatened. I'm not trying to say he was a good person or anything, just that it's kinda heartbreaking to see his paintings vs his own life, and how much he held himself back from happiness.
It almost seems like the paintings literally sucked the happiness out of him and replaced it with envy, greed, and sorrow while it made others comfortable and happy.
@@caroline6218 kitch is the worst term ive ever heard as an artist, art is communication, every single piece of art has meaning because meaning can be prescribed by the viewer and the artist, and its just so fucking weird to me, these are the same people who would be upset when people go why is a line a piece of art, so why is it okay to say it for simple art, pick a lane, art is art, all art is art, we can argue about techinical objective mastery and stuff , wich is valid but the concept of art is fucked up to try to gatekeep, specially since despite how vain and arrogant the quote might have sounded there IS relevance to 10 million people being moved.
They aren't even bad paintings. They just feel... generic? At this point we've seen so many reproductions so often they're no longer unique. Honestly what's most impressive is the fact this guy managed to make such detailed paintings feel so basic and bare bones(?) at the same time
@@dvstrr yeah that makes sense. Plus the lack of any movement or interesting strokes/techniques makes the paintings feel really lifeless. Like sure, you can somewhat feel the cozy mood he was going for but its diluted by the lack of anything to really cement and attach that feeling to, like as you said, a person
At first they were probably original and cool, but then all the copy cats came in, so you can’t really blame him. And they’re still pretty nice paintings
I guess the paintings aren't interesting they are pretty but there are tons of paintings I've seen before of landscapes similar to his I guess, but I don't hate them. That being said those people who do hate his art partially due to it being generic kinda reminds me of my hate for the MCU for the same reason of being generic.
Yeah, I agree. They all feel kinda same-y to me; like an "if you've seen one, you've seen them all" kind of thing. Although, my mom has tons of his paintings hanging around the house, so maybe that's why they all kinda look the same to me :/
Edit: I replace the reply to extend it and talk more about it. I see them as “background Disney 2D animated movies” which isn’t bad but it means for me that in the first seconds (even minutes) it looks very pretty, you feel happiness with a bit of sadness because you know you will stop liking it as much as you did five seconds ago, then that joy ends and you just have the vague memory of those feelings. They look very optimistic, I wouldn’t say too much because i don’t get what is something too optimistic (I get it means to “everything is rainbows and unicorns” but for me that is something else which is innocence in a child, but that’s a different thing). It’s like a candy, you like the taste it gives when it’s in your mouth, once it’s gone you can’t simply recreate that taste that easily, when you see another candy you want to buy it but too much candy isn’t very healthy. The taste is complex yet very simple to notice, there are a lot of them but you don’t want to not eat them, at least one per day. And of course there always are old and tasteless candy that you don’t want to see them again. I should call it “candy art” or something like that but I like the first nickname a gave. However I’m not going to say anything about the artist because I really don’t care about him.
@@ZBBBlL Sorry if I wasn't very clear with what I meant, I meant as in their popularity. Though, I didn't know they were infamous beforehand. Thank you for correcting me and I hope you have a good life :)
"Kinkade never had an original thought" Every Kinkade painting is unmistakably a Kinkade painting though. There must have been something unique he was doing if it's instantly recognizable as his own.
Just as the video says, some of Kinkade's work is wonderful, some atrocious. Congratulations, everybody, we've discovered he was like every artist who has ever lived. Find me an artist who never misses, who is 100% original within their paintings. Kinkade was making art that appealed to the average person, not to the pretentious art world. That will make the art "average" in concept. There's nothing wrong with that. Some art is meant to push boundaries, some art is meant to be decorative, some is meant to go on cereal boxes. It's ALL art. Also, people who think any artist as prolific as Kinkade was not putting feeling or thought or originality into his paintings is just letting their bias blind them.
I grew up in a broken home and was abused as a child. Pretty bad childhood with little love. I remember seeing these paintings in a local shop and felt an instant warmth I couldn’t understand. I was so in love with these paintings and bought a miniature print for my desk. It always brought me so much joy - imagining myself living there with a family who loved me and having a different reality. I’m forever thankful for having found these paintings and I’m glad to finally know the name of the artist. I don’t care what other artists say - his art has helped me and Im sure many others to escape their reality. And that’s something we all need sometimes. And that’s art in action.
I actually have a similar story! I might not have agreed with the dude on much but, in my opinion, what makes art worth seeing is an extremely fluid and subjective thing. In that way, it doesn't make much sense to me to call any artwork "bad". The worth of a piece of art lies not within the art itself but within the mind of the viewer. And to me, the glowing cottage in a snow-covered countryside could be the starting point for a daydream with a better Christmas. One where you or I felt warm and safe.
@@superdupersketchy4524 That’s crazy but you could’ve unliked my comment or kept your trashy, negative, attention seeking and venomous comments to yourself. No one needs to know. You just want gratification from internet points. So please keep it to yourself next time.
@@superdupersketchy4524 The fact that you have to make strangers talking about their lives and perspectives sound like a negative and toxic thing is a sign that you, in fact, are negative and toxic. And apparently so starved for attention that someone sharing their perspective on their abusive childhood makes you insecure somehow.
As someone who attended college for art, my classmates and teachers almost always hate things that the average person thinks is nice or wholesome. I don't get it, it seems pretentious to hate a man's art just cause it has a charm and coziness to it. I like just liking something without having to demand it be nihilistic.
I think a lot of artsy people try to find meaning and expression in art and that’s how they justify it being such a big deal to them. There’s not much more meaning to kinkade’s art other than “it’s cute and is meant to look nice on a living room wall” and because it’s so prolific it’s become representative of art that serves as a practical boring wall filler. So its existence is basically an insult to those who think very highly of art, and they clearly take it personally lol
@@Hanapetals They feel corporate to me. Like this painting sold to old people at ludicrous prices just because it looks "Pretty". @Edit: Can people stop replying to me after three years? Look for my other response lower down, christ.
@@lucas1309 I don't understand how its bad to like his art and wanting to have it up on a wall? If someone likes it and wants to buy it, its their taste and their money. Its purpose is to be decorative lol
I was watching this in my grandparents guest room and when you said “it’s probably somewhere in your grandmothers house” I looked around and there was literally a Thomas Kinkade puzzle in the room lol
I’m an art student. A week ago, my contemporary drawing professor had us research and discuss Kinkade. The discussion turned out to be a heated argument that split the class in two. By the end of the discussion (which was four hours), everyone who previously decided they hated Kinkade had conceded their argument in one way or another. Regardless if his art speaks to YOU, his art speaks to millions of Americans who find comfort in nostalgia and idealized landscapes. Kinkade might be painting for the masses, but god damn it, he is an artist who found his niche in a society that rarely values artists. He is an artist whose work speaks to HIM and there is nothing wrong with that. It doesn’t make him any less of an artist and neither do his “sell out” collaborations. Everyone admitted that if they had the opportunity to collaborate with major brands that they would do it in a heartbeat. Every artist wants that kind of attention regardless if they flat out deny it. Millions of artists already try to get their art out to as many people as possible by printing it on marketable merchandise. Kinkade’s presence in the art world is not one of laziness or corporatism, but pure necessity. Kinkade’s paintings don’t speak to me as an artist, and I can be fine with that while at the same time coming to terms with my envy and respect of his ability to make a living off making the art true to his heart. If anybody is still reading this, I’d encourage you to check our Kinkade’s urban landscapes, which don’t have nearly as much attention as his cottages. It’s fascinating to see him apply his signature idealized style with soft colors and bright values to the urban scene. Thanks for reading!
I appreciate your insight in this comment. I grew up seeing his art on calendars and puzzles or whatever and remember researching the artist as an adult out of curiosity. Sometimes his art illicits an eyeroll from me just because of attached associations. His story is a bit sad seeing as he had a lot of personal struggles, so I think that softened my outlook of cynicism I initially had. I looked up the cityscapes you mentioned and I actually find them pleasantly nostalgic and quite pretty! Haha I didn't expect that reaction and am pleased to have seen something new.
I’ve always quite liked Kinkade’s work, I remember my grandmother had a painting of his in her house and I always thought it was beautiful. Until this video I knew nothing about the man, however I don’t believe he is all that wrong about his view of the highbrow art world. Idk that’s just my take. Thanks for sharing your take!
@@TadRaunch Maybe only because Bob Ross seemed like he wouldn't hate anyone. I haven't watched this video yet, but Kinkade was a notoriously shameless self-promoter, among other things that make him drastically different from Bob Ross. That said, I like Kinkade paintings, even if he is the Phil Collins of art. Actually, I like them _because_ he's the Phil Collins of art.
@@VanguardSupreme That's why I said it. I wholly agree that Kinkade is drastically different to Bob Ross, but that doesn't make them enemies. Bob Ross really didn't hate anyone or anything; the guy was just pure love. To think of a guy making money from painting? OK, I'm not Bob Ross, and I shouldn't presume to know what he would think. But he loved painting & encouraged it. I really think he would be happy that someone could make a living from painting, even if they were a cutthroat. I could even see Bob Ross praising Kinkade's paintings-I'm not saying whether he would, just that I could see it. And by the way, Phil Collins is cool.
The concept of kitsch is interesting. The idea being that all art needs to have some sort of hidden theme or underlying message that requires the scrutiny of an intelligent person to understand. I think there are 2 main problems with this. First these paintings are meant to be wall art, they are like elevator music. They are supposed to hang on the wall and look pleasent, basicly visual background noise. They are ment to convey a cozy wholesome vibe to the room, not be the centerpiece themselves. The second issue is that modern art is often the opposite of "kitsch" to the extreme. Alot of modern art is so covoluded and requires so many leaps of logic and context to understand the theme or message that the message and theme loose all meaning and impact in the process of trying to undertand it. Most of the time people just disregard it as pretentious bullshit that makes no sense.
As with many other things in our modern society, the overly intellectual will write off and deny the value of anything that doesn't contain enough "intellectualist" shibboleths. If something is simple and actively denies overintellectualization, it's useless to the intellectualist because it cannot be a vehicle for their own ego masturbation.
@@sauronthemighty3985Appreciation needs to come first, THEN analysis. Why would I bother thinking hard about something I didn't find interesting to begin with? You need a hook, even if you want to be subtle.
So from a filmmakers perspective myself, University loves showing "real" films and having students produce film that is "serious". Usually at 19 someones is going to absolutely bungle a think-piece movie on race relations which is a symptom of the film world's obsession with really serious post-modern pieces. Similar to the fine art world. If 2020 has shown me anything. Sometimes you need a break. Yeah I am fine watching a tragedy of the commons type of movie but I turn off the tv and see the same shit. I need a break, Kitsch art or movies, like a lifetime movie or hell even a Marvel movie can be that. comforting pieces to enjoy. I really had a nice chuckle at the Bush comment because I had a professor call the marvel movies fascist garbage or something. It's hilarious. The art world has like this weird fetish with being miserable myself included but it's nice to not be buried in that all the time because it takes a toll. I could never hate those paintings, they just aren't offensive most don't know who the guy is and don't notice anything about them. They remind me of going to cracker barrel with the family which is literally a place built on the idea of feel-good kitsch. I think it's really just awful to call people who like the paintings dumb. McNaughton like I could disagree with his art but there is something really just interesting about it. Just the concept of it. It feels not of this earth in a way like it stepped out of an alternate history show. Or Bioshock Infinite.
I personally enjoy combining both. While some may say it is idealization, I have always loved being able to bring beauty to the worst situations. Why write a poem about how much I want my aunt to leave this world, If I am not gonna use a colorful vocabulary and metaphors.
Some people see art as an escape from reality, and when you bring reality back into art (depending on how exactly you do it) it is met with its criticism. When I say "(depending on how exactly you do it)" I mean in the sense that realism of idealised worlds, such as Kinkaide's, are condemned, while abstract works representing the artist's mentality at the time is heralded as the next Picasso (basically, realism of something that doesn't exist = bad, non-realism of something that exists = good)
Yeah, I don't get why the critics, the people that are supposedly the ones who know what's good, what's "real art" have such a fucking hate boner for things that make you feel nice. I mean obviously not everyone has the same definition for art, mine just so happens to be something that can ewoke some sort of feeling or thought in me, and if that feeling happens to be hapiness then so fucking be it! Is hapiness considered less valuable than other feelings? Hapiness can teach us, just like misery, it can inspire is, it can do so much good shit, so excuse me but some fucking stuck-up "art critic" says we're not allowed to express hapiness in our artworks doesn't quite matter to me, as I often dismiss the opinions of people so high up in their own ass that you are shocked they can see the artworks they're critiquing from the shadows of their fat dirty asscheeks. Now of course, many pieces of art are completely artificial, or just way overdone and they provoke fake feelings, but this is not exclusive to pieces expressing positive feelings. And believe it or fucking not, simple artworks of some nice beautiful landscapes can come from a genuine fucking place. You know what, I don't need your fucking belief anyways so you can fuck off right back to some completely non-artificial contemporary gallery where you can find all the "real meaning" in an assymetric blue square to help the billionares behind the backs of some talentless hack artificially inflate their price by giving it some "deep" fake message you complete fucking troglodytes, you absolute fucking disgraces to the art world as a whole.
"I had a professor call the marvel movies fascist garbage or something" This is the perfect example of academic political zealotry. "If you are not with us, you are against us, and there is nothing between".
I get you, it's nice to just unwind now and then and be entertained by something fun that doesn't ask much of you. But these people weren't taking a break from fine art, they were buying nothing but cheap, unfulfilling crap. If you're chugging wine from a box all day it's no longer about slumming it now and then, it's a lifestyle choice. :P
I didn’t like “kitschy” art until I got severely ill, now it’s something that brings me joy. My life can get so overwhelming that sometimes a simple painting of a cottage that doesn’t have any “deeper meaning” is what I need to get through the day. I think when we discount paintings, or music, or any other form of art, just because we perceive it to be shallow, we’re often forgetting why people love them in the first place.
if i was asked, as a fan of more surreal or for lack of a better word, more engaging art, i would nevertheless pick a house in the woods paining by Kinkade as the painting i would like to live in. now, if i were to own a kinkade, i've thought about this, and i would like it to be touched up and added to. piling kitch on top of kitch. i think i would love a satanic black mass, with revelers walking up a stone path to the house in the woods. sort of like making a kosher meal extra unkosher with the addition of some bacon.
i completely agree. i normally like more obscure niche music. but during some mental health struggles, i realized that country music was actually really comforting. i had pushed it away because i thought i couldn’t relate to it. in the end, music that wasn’t my original taste helped me see my life in a different, lighthearted way. same can be said about paintings.
I'm German, so this is a perspective on the German word "kitsch", and I don't know if the english word has different spin to it. I'd describe kitsch as something tacky or cheesy in an attempt to be beautiful. This is subjective to the viewer, but some examples I can think of, that are just a little "too much": Two swans on a lake in front of a sunset, forming a heart with their necks. Garden gnomes Statuettes of putti, specifically if not in a church. A white wolf with blue eyes howling to a huge bluish-white full moon in a sparkling sky. In this video, the painting of Santa putting presents under the tree is what I would consider the most kitschy. Kitsch is widely subjective, if it weren't, kitschy things wouldn't sell as well as they do. Kitsch for me feels generic, with an overuse of stylistic devices and, as Solar Sands said, not intellectually challenging. Feel free to disagree though, it's hard to put my finger on it :D Merry Christmas and happy holidays to everyone
I guess a kisched art is more valorized as a practice concept than as a seeling piece of art, everyone has already seen a drawing of batman standing as a ninja with a full moon behind him, but if you're able to create a decent drawing of that you can secure that you can challenge yourself with some more original concepts and hard techniques And thanks for the explanation and happy christimas!
You know what. Santa probably IS the most kitschy one because it's not borderline accidental satire. It's too much but not all the way. Like the bambi n friends n deer in background and rainbow mountains American eagle thunder waterfalls one
Art doesn’t always have to be challenging. I see Kinkade’s work as like a mental palate cleanser, something serene and peaceful that can help bring you back down to earth if you look at it for long enough. The man had real talent for sure, and it’s hard to ignore thoughts that people hated him because of copium - that he had such a skill but he chose to paint simple beauty instead of something more complex and heavy.
Amazing take. All of the discourse makes you forget that kinkade actually put the effort, and though its the most unoriginal thing i can imagine, maybe the point is for him to print posters of these generically beautiful scenes with his hands. It can exist in reaction to the art that does the opposite, art that is strong, vocal and not too aesthetically beautiful but thought provoking. Those art pieces can sometimes drown you in thoughts that kinkade might be able to tone down with his desktop wallpaper paintings that dont ask for your brains space instead might balance the chaos in the head
Never knew Thomas Kinkade of all people could be so interesting. His paintings aren't my cup of tea, but he obviously had a lot of technical skill. I'm glad little old grandmas appreciate his fairy tale cabins.
@@Evan-od7em wtf does that even mean? All I know is it's been repeated as nauseum throughout this entire comment section, but yet it isn't even making any real point about anything.
Having known a little bit abt his childhood, I feel it may have influenced his art. As has been mentioned before, he grew up,with a single mom who worked hard to support her family. As a kid, he came home to an empty house. In his paintings, the light is always on, the hearth is warm and inviting inside, which implies mom is home. The abundance of flowers and beautiful home, is a place of plenty, where those inside have everything they need. Who knows?
upon watching this again, the juxtaposition between Kinkades personal life and his idealist paintings is an artistic expression and meaning in itself. His inner turmoil manifested into something simple and comforting, almost as though it brough himself some comfort. You can hate the guy who painted these things, but the artwork is competent and pretty.
Yeah, had it not been for his own statements on his paintings and the commercialization of them, critics would have looked at the contrast between the themes of his work and the reality of his life and considered Kinkade avant garde purely for that. He was obsessed with idyllic themes while being such a severe alcoholic and drug abuser that it literally killed him, there's definitely something psychological going on there.
it reminds me of Hayao Miyazaki alot, dude is like somewhat of a vain prick in every interview of him I read, he hates basically everything in the real world, yet if you look at his works, they're all serenely beautiful, it's just probably how he wants to see the world and it bitter at how the real world isn't as beautiful, serene and idylic as his art.
Most of my childhood, my Dad worked for Tom. I met him plenty of times. He would always throw big Christmas parties and give all the kids toys. He even painted my mom as a character in a painting. His early days were awesome and he had some great works. He always struck me as someone whose art got corrupted. He was suited by art dealers early on, who propped up Toms ego, and commercialized him. When they opened the Morgan Hill office, it was too late, Tom couldn't push back because of the bills he had to pay. It killed his soul. Then we saw things like Tom throw pillows and nightlights. He even had the flocked series, wher he used photoshop to change summer scenes to snow covered winter. Then Disney, and MLB, and carnival cruise ships came in. Tom hated it, and didn't even paint for awhile. It really hurt Tom that he was rejected by the art world, so he leaned into a "silent majority" mentality. Then the booze and pills took over. I feel for the guy, and for his wife, Nanette, and their daughters.
Thankyou for sharing your personal story about him. I was shocked to hear that I am older than him. He was definitely "a tortured soul," but he sounds lovely. I'm an Aussie so am not familiar with his artwork but I find it very pretty. Like I'd like to walk into some of those scenes 💓
That's what I always thought they were when I did puzzles with these images. I didn't know the guy behind it, but I still think they're cute lol the only ones I don't really care for are the ones with the US flag and with crosses. The straight up cottages and landscapes are very cute.
@@xoz6744 i really don't hate them. The paintings are pretty much OK for me. People hate it because it's repetitive and he didn't made something new. But if don't hate them. Some are really good and I would really like to make some puzzles with them.
Guys, from art perspective they are so awful that it's funny. The problem is that flat brains like you don't understand art and actually these paintings "educats" little kids to bad taste of art which is catastrophic. The taste of art and not only art, can be directly connected with the meaning of good and bad and our world's esthetics.
My parents were photographers, and after the industry shifted to digital they used "Kinkading" as a verb to talk about photoshopping lights into windows
Whenever I see one of his paintings, my first feeling is "aaw, how beautiful", my second feeling is "ugh, way too sweet, I get cavities just looking at it" and my third feeling is "hm, somehow this is boring, I don't know why" and then I start back at "but it looks so beautiful" and then I can't decide what I actually feel about it. That is what makes these kind of paintings by various artists very weird for me. I think I like them, but then I don't, but then I like them but then I don't. All I can say is, I don't hate them.
one could say that his art is the equivalent of a store bought vanilla cupcake (with yeast-made vanillin), excessively sweet and artificial to some extent, very much made for the masses and made to be well received. There are no complex flavours, but there’s nothing wrong with liking a store bought, sugar filled vanilla cupcake
I like your analogy. And yeah, there’s nothing terrible about that cupcake, but don’t try and tell me it’s a master crafted artisanal dessert. And sometimes I’m in the mood for a shitty, cheap cupcake rather than something more complicated, but I understand that they are not the same
European point of view, writing only a few minutes into the video: My grandmother loved doing the jigsaw puzzles with Kinkade's cottage paintings, she always seemed at peace while laying them out. Seeing how she had to flee her home country during WWII and the trauma she must have experienced, how she always clung onto her purse for the rest of her life to make sure she won't lose her papers (/her identity) if she has to get up and run again... I'm glad that guy painted what he did and marketed it so well. A human can be comforted a little by nostalgic, idyllic "kitsch", like a hug for your heart. Art (or kitsch) likes this has its place in the world. Not everything needs to be innovative, progressive, provocative, made for art critics to be studied in depth. Just how not every plate needs to be made of the finest porcelain, not every painting has to be painted to be hung in an important museum. Kinkade's paintings are useful, just like a normal, kinda nice looking dinner plate, that might put a little smile on your face when you use it because it reminds you of your grandmother's plates. And that's fine (unless you hate your grandma).
I always liked his Christmas paintings, IDC if people say they are generic or not. I find them cheery, like the holiday is supposed to be. Too many people are full of hate to go on basically cheering his death, wtf is wrong with people?
He definitely has some good paintings in there. I'd agree the Christmas ones are probably the best. The themes he utilizes (hope, faith, etc.) fits with the holiday.
His personality and ego is the one thing i wouldnt be fond of. For his art? I dont mind it, not my taste but its alright. The details are nice and i appreciate the cheerful atmosphere of his Christmas paintings. Would i buy any of his paintings? No but i appreciate it. His style is pretty recognizable though it can be a bit nauseating at times if you look too long. I dont appreciate the people saying this nasty stuff, cheering about his death. Its very low class and distasteful no matter the shadiness of a single man. Kingkade’s death is not something that should be celebrated. Its very disgusting
I think I like his art. Maybe not the artist, but definitely the art. Some Kinkaid paintings are hung up in my great aunt's house, and so whenever I see one of Kinkaid's paintings, I'm reminded of all of those times visiting my great aunt's house when I was very young. Kinkaid was a bit narcissistic though, and I don't blame people for not liking him because of that. However saying that it is "stupid art for stupid people" is annoying and just flat out rude.
IMHO those people who say "stupid art for stupid people" forget the intentions of the buyers of Kinkaid's pieces: They don't want art on the wall. No, they want a nice painting. And Kinkaid fits the bill perfectly.
Thing is, his work _was_ beloved. One thing DA and your grandma's house have in common is that neither are affiliated with the avant-garde art scene. I'm all for popular art, but you need to keep enough separation between your head and your ass to know that your extreme skill at drawing cozy cottages or anime OCs isn't going to count for much in the MoMA.
Pretty tragic story tbh. Sounds like there was a lot of darkness within Kinkade, a darkness he attempted to fight through escapist fantasies and alcohol. Those cozy little warm paintings, full of light and hope. A sense of comfort. A sense of comfort he desperately tried to find within himself, only to be called a talentless hack by pretentious hipsters. When he couldn't find the simplicity and comfort he captured in his paintings he choose to numb himself with alcohol and drugs. I get the sense that Thomas wanted to live in those paintings. To just be happy and cozy and free of this horrible world's problems
The whole story seems a shame, wish more people were open minded about art. To separate whatever bs u "believe" about the artist from the thing he created. They are all beautiful in their own right, makes me sad humans tend to complicate absolutely everything around them.
I love the peaceful, homey, nostalgic feeling his art invokes. Better than staring at a red dot on a canvas and pretending there’s so much depth and feeling in it! To each his own
Thomas Kinkade is like the Nickelback of art. They both produce technically competent, mostly benign and inoffensive work, and yet drive large swaths of passionate haters, the majority of whom can't explain the precise reason for their hatred.
It’s just vapid to a degree that shouldn’t be popular. Its popularity is a reflection of mental debasement. I don’t hate it, but I do feel better when it’s not around.
I honestly really like his paintings, their soothing and I'm usaully more of a cartoon/horror/fantast type of artist but i also have soft spot for old paintings and landscapes, so i think his art is neat.
I always enjoyed seeing his pieces. They are pretty, and fantasy esque. If the person enjoys creating it, then how is it fake and emotionless? I can understand hating the artist, he wasn't exactly a great person, but to say his art is trash, and it's ugly and heartless is a bit much.
@@AureliaKai everyone says art is suggestive until it doesn’t fit their style 🙄 like yeah he wasn’t a great person but if you’re able to separate art from the artist then take a moment to appreciate it, it’s Leagues above anything I could do!
@@zoybeei4699 The amount of famous artists that were absolute shit. If art quality always equaled artist, damn near every renowned artist in every field would be declared “the Hitler of their craft”.
for me his paintings always given me the sense of being in the story of hansel and grettle and im seeing the gingerbread and the icing and the jubjubes and it should look nice and appealing and it does,, but everything just feels off and i cant place why edit: oh but he absolutely gains a few points back for the winnie the pooh thing. thats literally the funniest thing ever
Hahahahah my parents used to collect Kincaid paintings - like even the fancy signed ones by him. All salespeople at the Kincaid store in our local mall knew our family. Can’t imagine how much they must’ve spent on them.
Would a nice cup of tea be mundane? Maybe. But drinking it when its raining outside still feels wholesome. If you can't enjoy the small things in life then you're not going to have a good time.
His paintings allow people to escape, just as movies about hobbits and elves do. People have always loved idyllic imagery, not because it represents reality,but because it *doesn't.* His paintings were validated by so many people because it is warm and fuzzy in a world many feel is cold and harsh. It has no depth beyond that IMHO, but it was enough for him to make a fortune.
TY Tess W for putting this into words. Perhaps I like late Victorian holiday greeting cards for the same reason. His paintings do something or touch them in some way, as with all visual art...so far you are the one who observed the need to imagine, even if only for a few minutes, a world that is clean, peaceful, and content. As you said, idyllic.
I don't like the guy, but some of his paintings are really cozy and nostalgic. Nothing really special but also not worth hating to this large degree imo. I don't think all art needs to have some complex, deep, or cynical meaning. Some art can just be pleasant to look at or have as decoration
I agree. Maybe the guy behind it isnt a good one, but his art are really good. Using his works as a Judging material is "off-the-point". I kinda agree tho for the color kinda excessive tho, but hey, its his artstyle, cant blame him for that. Sometimes, having a laid-back, mind-less creation is refreshing. Not all thing have to be meaningful. I mean, we have meaningless songs, why we cant have meaningless paintings?
I’m so confused by the “sell-out” aspect of the hate. Are these people unaware that there is a whole swath of legitimate artists making a living as commercial artists? Isn’t the idea that you WANT to make a living as an artist and have steady work? Or do they revel in the idea of being a “starving artist”? I’m so confused.
I find this whole "kitsch" argument kind of dumb. I personally have a soft spot for a lot of the old grandma junk you can find in thrift stores. Especially if you touch it up yourself, updating the paint and so on. "Commercial art" is something unique to the capitalist society we like in, it's not any more or less valid than anything else. Besides, once that style of art stops being produced / goes out of style and it starts becoming scarce, in a few decades time they'll be in museums to commemorate the "style of the day." I don't know,.maybe I'm just too optimistic a person.
But Kitsch is not always seen in a negative light, lots of artist are passionate about it, either ironically, defiantlly or even genuinelly deffensive aboit it. In fact the whole pop art movement is partially based on the re-valorization of kitsch.
I feel the same way. In fact I find some of these paintings quite charming. Art is subjective anyway so the whole concept of judging something for being kitsch sounds kind of elitist to me
Honestly, I think the reason his work is hated is pretty simple: it's not that it's bad, it's that it's successful. Successful without merit. Like, there are people with original styles who pour their heart and soul into their work, try to portray real, honest truth, and no one ever notices. Meanwhile, who gets popular? This guy who profits off of cheap sentimentality. Oh my God, I just realized: Rupi Kaur is the Thomas Kinkade of the poetry world. If you're unfamiliar with who she is, she's a poet who got popular on Instagram, has published a couple of books which, while.... Some of her poems stand above the rest, but overall, they're not great. They are, however, accessible and popular with the general public. Personally, I guess I'm a little annoyed by her success, but not half as annoyed as I am by people complaining about her success.
The entire point of the painting is to look nice, if you he is art as a way to invoke an experience then his work isn't really doing that, its just hitting the pleasure buttons in your brain and expecting you to fill in the gaps, its like a jump scare in horror movies, like of course it makes me feel that way but like what did you expect. Its kinda cheap and I don't want to use the words easy or repeatable (cuz that's elitist) but it kinda is, I mean why did you think bob Ross taught people how to paint those types of paintings its because nature is pleasing to the eye.
And also just because a pantin might be kitsch doesnt mean you owning one is, because then the meaning would change with context, for example if you had one above your bed it would be a symbol for you when you are calm and resting, or to have one in your bathroom as a bit of pleasant irony to have a sweet joyess painting in a place that isnt alwyas so sweet or joyess.
Just looking at the cottage art, by first thought is "pretty." That's also my last thought, because I then immediately look away from the painting and forget all about it.
Maybe what the guy represents for the art world is the real substance of the art he made. (of course he didnt concieved them like that but still its a fun thought)
I mean it was made to be put on living room walls, it's only real purpose is to look better than nothing, which it achieves. Just how you're not supposed to think much about elevator music, but it's nice to have it there
Wow, man, this was really well done on every level. It was funny, subtle and nuanced. New subscriber. Personally, most of Kinkade’s art makes me wanna gouge my eyes out with rusty coat hangers. But, I think that’s largely to do with the fact the we kinda define ourselves to some extent by what we don’t like, so yeah . . . But, you know, of it makes grandma happy to have a Kinkade in her living room, then great. I would never trash talk that to anyone who likes that sort of thing, at least not their face, lol!
Very interesting, my grandma had one of his cottage paintings hanging above her fireplace at her old house. Growing up, I used to stare at it for hours imagining that I was there living in the cottage or walking on the trail by the river in the painting. Just staring at that painting would calm me down and make me feel happy. My childhood wasn't horrible, but that painting helped me distract myself from the bad stuff that was happening to me. Seeing that painting on the thumbnail of this video was pure irony and honestly pretty funny to me. Learning about Kinkade and his life was eye-opening to say the least. I loved that painting as a child and I still do now, and I'm glad I never knew anything about the artist growing up so I was completely unbiased towards his work and frankly yes it is generic but who cares. I'm sure if I would have known Kinkade personally I probably would have hated his guts, but learning about his story and lifestyle in this video made me pity him more than anything. What a sad little person he was, knowing this now gives that painting a deeper meaning to me, like a reminder to not lose sight of your morals and to monitor your own ego.
I've seen a few posts including my own talking about people using his art for escapism as children and I think that it's because there's something kind of sleepy and dream-like about them. They're generic and unassuming and I think in certain circumstances, that's a good thing. I probably also would've disliked Kinkade if I were to have known him, but, just like you I actually feel kinda bad for him and I still don't dislike his scenery artwork.
@@vaishnavnegi9640 Are they, or is it that we expect them to be better than the rest of us because we love their art or think art is some mystical, high calling for only the pure at heart? There are a ton of awful artists, but their problems are usually the same as those of similar people in their time and place who aren't artists. That said, if you walk a unique path you can end up both a better and worse human than folks alongside you.
I couldn't even imagine that these painting were from someone so broken. Really strange these cherry fluffy painting are made by someone who is really broke.
People who suffer from depression or people who suffer in general often use some form of art to escape every day life. He probably wanted to paint places he wished he was at.
Ran into the problem of art NEEDING to have a deeper, darker meaning to be accepted when I was in when I was in high school AP Art. My art teacher did not seem to like my art because it didn’t communicate anything really all that important. I just wanted to make art of mainly birds, sometimes other animals, but I loved to do birds the most. I just wanted to hone my techniques, create dynamic lighting and try to recreate a variety of textures. I did Lino-cut printing my junior year and switched to colored pencil my senior year (I took AP art twice lol). She wasn’t ever satisfied with what I was doing. She’d applaud my technique but say that my art says nothing. I didn’t want it to say anything. I already was dealing with enough horrible stuff in my life. I didn’t want that to be the focus of my art. I wanted to make something simply because I loved the process of making it. It was an escape for me. For the art community, however, that seems to never be a good enough reason to make art. I lost inspiration since and haven’t made any art since high school and I’m in my mid twenties now. The art bug never came back after that.
me too........ i loved drawing horses. my high school art teacher did not like it. one day she asked me...."why do you always draw horses?" i answered "you let that kid draw nudes and say nothing negative, you let that other kid draw people smoking pot and say nothing negative about their art Why do you criticize me drawing horses?" she thought for a moment then answered " " you are too immature" which was true as i did not want to grow up being someone who was accepted as fitting in to the culture of the day (hippies, pot, free sex, mini skirts, etc) and 50 years later i am still drawing and painting horses and other realistic subjects
I love the Thomas kinkade works.. I grew up poor, in broken homes and foster care and eventually homeless as a teen- rough life overall. The art pieces give me a true feeling of nostalgia or rather a longing for something I'll never know or possess but I really enjoy it and love its cheery holiday plight or adorable cottages or who knows. I'm also a bob Ross fan. I'd live in any of those paintings lol
ThankYou for your authentic heartfelt response, talking about real first person feelings rather than telling people what they should and shouldn't feel! These images gave you hope and escapism as a child they had real world value. The fact that people are offended by his art points to their heartlessness or bitterness. When l was a kid my Dad would bring home Xmas card sample books from the bin at work ( Printing works) to use as photo albums. l found the snow scenes on the trashed and crumpled cards an escape from a terrible reality too, at that age the glitter and the ribbons seemed really classy haha
I unironically like most of those paintings. I agree that they aren't inventive, nor are they intellectually challenging. A decorated Christmas tree also isn't inventive or intellectually challenging, but it still gives you warm fuzzy feelings when you have one in your house. I would gladly have one of his paintings hanging on a wall. They are cozy.
A debate Solar brushes up against, but doesn't seem to fully recognize surfaces in the video when he says "Greeting cards need illustrations." This touches upon a longstanding argument about the artistic legitimacy of commercial illustration vs. "high art." Mostly art that exists for its own sake, vs. works specifically created to sell products. Some would argue that uninventive but aesthetically pleasing "eye candy" like Christmas trees or greeting card illustrations can be admired for their _design_ but have no real artistic value, since they regard the sincere _attempt_ at being innovative, personally, or intellectually challenging to be the basic defining characteristic of art. I would argue that most if not all abstract or modern art should be considered design instead of art, based on this definition, but since those artistic movements surfaced specifically to challenge the status quo, we get into murky territory pretty quickly. You could even make the case that the people who hate these kinds of art ironically fuel their legitamacy by consistently questioning it. That's a bit of a feedback loop
Sure but how much money would you ever be willing to pay for any of his pieces? Looking at artist like Hans Thoma, who did naturalistic parting way before this kitsch. Look at the 1876 piece woodland meadow. I would say kitsch pieces are boring and have no artistic value but if you want to hang up his pieces go ahead but I think there are better naturalistic paintings that have movement out there that would be better wall decor.
It lacks a lot of originality, which causes it to be uninspired and emotionally dry. Imagine an author who wrote about nothing but cliches, or a musician who used 4 chords. On their own they're not bad, but when you look at all the works and their context, they become bland and monotonous.
I like his art. They're homey and makes me want to live in the worlds he painted, like you just know those world are peaceful. Who cares if its not emotionally deep? It's not supposed to be.
I know right, because by that logic Bob Ross is a “great artist” because all is art is made made emotion and paints damn near the same things. I swear I will never understand the art community
I understand what you’re talking about. Modern art is just to much but this is instant gratification and that’s not bad. Sometimes it’s better to turn off your brain and just enjoy what’s in front of you. I’ve found some modern art interesting a deep but I didn’t always feel good after sometimes I leave depressed
@@violenceisfun991 I don't think it's that critics expect too much, but that people place too much weight on critic's opinions. There's nothing wrong with liking art for its thematic and emotional depth and disregarding its aesthetics. There's also nothing wrong with liking art just because it looks pretty. What is wrong is basing your opinion on a work of art off of what someone else says about it, instead of thinking for yourself and looking at the art with your own eyes.
Beautiful art to me, makes itself clear by a single look. Renaissance, Baroque and the romantic period, those painters knew this well. A lot of 'meaningful' modern art, is dependant on the story behind it. Which to me, counts as telling and not showing.
18:48 That picture is not a Thomas Kinkade painting. It's Pierre Auguste Renoir's Luncheon Of The Boating Party which was exhibited for the first time in 1882.
I don't understand the "fake art" argument. Like, you can't feel "falsely soothed" or whatever by something because that's literally a FEELING. You FEEL it. If you feel it, it IS as real as it gets.
I'd almost go as far as to say that since this art is offending 'every artist in the world,' it absolutely is modern art. The fine art community is desperately trying to deny it as art while the artist claims it is. That drama alone is the same thing that is supposedly caused by an ink blot on a massive canvas being sold for $500 000.
@@frenchbreadstupidity7054 I think a lot of people enjoy the intellectual trip of thinking that you're smarter than everyone else, or that you have 'hidden information' that no one else has--it's the rationale behind flat-earthers and anti-vaxxers. Do they all really, wholeheartedly, believe what they say? I doubt it. But it gives them an ego boost, so they keep saying it. Same with art, film, literature, etc. You're not dumb for liking something with a simple plotline or a cushy image--that's no less 'real' than war or death or all the other depressing subjects of art (in all its forms). but people equate cynicism with intelligence too much, and it makes me sad.
I personally do understand the "kitch" argument for it since artwork like that is deeply disturbing to me. And altho I see your point in a way, I feel like it isn't art simply because the guy was making it for money rather than for the aesthetics of it or some kind of message. That, in my opinion, is the difference between the art by someone like Klimt, who's art is pretty and thus reproduced so much it has become kitch and someone like this painter who very obviously is not passionate about his art, only interested in becoming rich off of his work
i think what they mean by "falsely soothed" is that the soothing feeling is so artificial that it makes you out of the experience and they realize they're being manipulated by the painting.
Yeah, it’s not fake art. Nothing is fake art. Just as if someone might feel noise rock “isn’t music”, someone might think that blown out radio pop “isn’t music”. Everything is art, ya know? I just don’t like Kinkade because of how consumerist and boring his art is. Does that mean that everyone shouldn’t like it? No!
I regularly come back to this video as he grew up in my town and there’s a store of his paintings by where I smoke and I go in there to watch this a luh high. Thank you solar sands I enjoy your videos very much
@@Chockitkat anybody can draw. Just draw something with lots of detail. And make sure u finish it in a week add like 10% detail every day and on the last day add the remaining 40% detail and that way u will have a realistic piece of art, no matter how shit u are.
Personally I don't hate the art itself and to be fair the execution of his pieces was always very good but I will say all of them do feel rather uninspired
I kinda do hate the art. It makes me really uncomfortable, a sort of viceral feeling. I don’t think that there is anything wrong if someone likes it. Nor do I think it is necessarily bad, there are some paintings of landscapes of his that I find enjoyable. The feeling I get is similar to the one I get when I see propaganda, the overwhelming happiness of it triggers an inherent suspicion in my brain, I can’t engage meaningfully with it. Kinda reminds me of socialist realism, like the really happy and peppy stuff. Maybe it is because I already knew the political dimensions of the work, I have always looked at then with that context. And once I saw it that way, it became difficult to unsee it. I also think my hate of it comes from a personal place, I am Brazilian, and the paintings themselves harken back to a sort of an idyllic, bucolic americana that, honestly, became widespread all throughout the world. It reminds me of American cultural hegemony more than it reminds me a of mythologized, comfy past, the composition itself is peaceful but that very peacefulness to me is disturbing. There are also a lot of things about Brazilian middle class bovarism that I could spend the whole day talking about, but long story short, this sort of Americana is beloved by the rich, and it’s adoption by the Brazilian upper middle class sort of works like a distinction of cultural superiority from us, the (mostly black and poor) peasants who like samba, and you know, our culture. So that’s why I genuinely not only dislike, but have this passive sort of hatred for it.
Imagine just minding your business and then you see a drunken artist with a goatee urinating on a Winne The Pooh statue and yelling, "THIS ONE'S FOR YOU WALT!"
People didnt like it because of how simple and wonderful they are. It revealed their cold cruel intellectualism. And because of how successful they were. They were absolutely jealous. Im a guitarist and play in a rock band and I have a friend that shreds on guitar, and I play mostly power chords. And we talk all the time about how most advance guitar music only appeals to most guitars. Most people dont enjoy sitting around listening to Ygnwie shred some classical music for half an hour. But they love all the classics, the Nirvana and Green Day, etc. They love the simple music that uses pretty much all power chords. The the average listener, they dont know about all the different fancy chords and argeggiations and shredding 3 note licks on the major scale. They like the music that brings them back to the memories that all dear to them, and I feel all food, music and art is very similar in this manor. They all create memories and when youre tasting your food, or listening to something or looking at a piece of art, youre subconsciously looking, tasting, hearing, etc, those memories. Back to the paintings, I feel that thats why most artist didnt like his paintings, but most normal non-artist people liked them so much. (I always loved them, I think theyre great.) But he gave people what they wanted and appealed to their memories. Most artist today do the exact opposite, they create artiat that appeals to their own memories and what they want, and then go to their feelings to the world, and frankly, most people dont want to send money to make the artist feel better about their own memories and feelings. Most people are gonna buy want makes them feel good, thats why Mr. Kincade was so successful, just like comic books or Bob Ross, he was giving something to people and giving them something the buyer wanted, not try to sell a painting for an outrageous cost because of the brush strokes and realism and technicality in which the painting was done trying to prove your brush strokes are the "best". That's why movies all suck today, for all the same reasons.
An artist who is flawed, succumbed to addiction, and thinks highly of himself. Isn’t that a description of many renowned artists throughout history? Even the contrast of outwardly moral and Christian art vs an alcoholic behind the curtain is something interesting about Kinkade as an artist. There is struggle in the artist’s life that is not shown in his art.
Completely disregarding the artist himself and just looking at the paintings, I honestly don’t see how horrible they are. Sure, they don’t have a meaning. Sure, they’re made almost entirely as superficial money makers. But they’re pretty and skillful. Those things would get lots of praise anywhere on the internet if a digital artist did them nowadays. I think they’re pretty, relaxing, and really skillful. Y’know?
I want a house that looks like one of his cottages. I look at the characterless brickpiles I drive past in town, all copying half a dozen patterns, all square and boxy... and I want to live in something like he painted. And I don't give a poop if people think poorly of me for it.
You can say this about any modern art masterpiece, and most modern art looks like absolute shit yet sells for millions. I like this art because it doeant look like trash just made for a rich man's tax write off.
I mean, wasn't that the entire point of Kinkade's shenanigans? By provoking critics who already didn't like him and making frequent vocal appeals to evangelicals, he was creating the exact motivations he needed to sell his prints at high prices
As soon as someone says they don't like something, its value increases to those who wish to spite them. Let's say liberals openly hate the art, which encourages conservatives to buy more and display it to spite them; this drives the price up, even if the majority opinion is negative.
@Moku Joker definitely sold better because of all the media crying out how the movie will cause fall of Western Society into incel fascism or something On the other side lots of modern woke commercials are being produced so right wingers will become outraged and make the product popular by crying about how multimilion corporations want to spread communism Outrage culture is pretty profitable
He didn’t seem like the greatest person, but so are a lot of great artists. I’m not religious at all, but his art is nice and comforting. That should be fine, people can make whatever kind of art they want.
Hey, I am technically evangelical Christian, and for my part, I think that everything said in the video was very valid criticism of the pandering to my sector which I too find nauseating. It's totally okay to find his kind of garbage practices nauseating. And it really appreciate your objectivism about this. You have a very kind and generous attitude here, and I want to recognize that real quick. Good show.
I just learned about Kinkade a week ago. Didn't know he was hated. I'm pretty sure they hate Kinkade because they got too stressed out trying to find the hidden N's in the painting lol-
"I'm pretty sure they hate Kinkade because they got too stressed out trying to find the hidden N's in the painting" The image of high art critics losing their minds over trying to find hidden N's like where's Waldo is so funny to me. Genuinely chuckled.
Could someone explain to what it is that makes people just despise the paintings? They may be generic, but they're just pretty scenes of cottages and small towns and gardens, I don't see what's so controversial about that. I get he himself wasn't the greatest person, but to be fair, a lot of famous artists were terrible and messed up people.. I'm definitely no art connoisseur or anything, but I've seen art people in the comment section also expressing their hatred for these paintings, and I don't know why? Is it just because of the artist himself or is there something I'm not seeing in the paintings?
People involved in the art world see and study hundreds of paintings. Hundreds. After a while it takes effort to move you, and after the first hundred you'll feel pretty annoyed by little cottage #37
@@jellyfish0311 I get that, but what makes them so terrible? Not just that they're annoying, but people hating them technically. Not just them being generic.
@@모모-k1x6t I can't answer you that, sadly, I only know a little about art myself. Maybe they're slightly off, like the perspective being a little too flat or out of scale, things like that.
Kinkade's art is generic and sentimental, yes, and "greeting card illustration" is a perfect way to describe the style, but they're not *bad*. He goes for realism layered under otherworldly colour saturation and light, and he nails it. His work shows the technical skill of someone who has committed to just a couple mediums and dedicated an almost immeasurable amount of time to perfecting them. On one hand, you've seen one Kinkade painting you've seen them all, there's very little remarkable about any one particular painting. On the other hand, they're beautifully executed and immediately recognizable, and that in and of itself is a sign of success as an artist. Be careful with your choice of paintings used to represent Kinkade's work, though. The Disney infusion stood out to me right away but I'm sure others fall into this category too: Thomas Kinkade STUDIOS artworks and prints. Anyone curious how the company is churning out new artwork 8 years after his death? The Disney classics series was 1 year after his death. I have the calendar, they're all marked 2013 and include the word "Studios" in the signature. His company has a team of artists trained in his style making more work and/or screen printing new elements into old paintings.
Well, that's not really realism though. The paintings are highly detailed, but not prescise and no attempt is made to truthfully represent any aspect of reality. It's mostly just highly detailed romantiscism, which is fine, but for many people art is *bad* not by the standards of technical execution but by what it represents and does, and the argument can be easily made that Kinkade's art represents blissful ignorance and complacency, which the people then take issue with.
@@kleshnekrab To sum it all up, his work in just boring. I grew up seeing similar illustrations on Jig saw puzzles and greeting cards and this type of art for me I wouldn't bother seeking this out. Yes, technically it's well excruciated, but there's really nothing challenging to any of his images as compared to a Van Gogh or Picasso. For a lot of people who dismiss Modern art and prefer his work as "SAFE" and acceptable, where I find his work to be dull and unchallenging.
My parents grew up in New England. My grandparents lived in New Hampshire and Vermont. We spent every summer up in Vermont for several weeks. I’ve been to every small town, crossed every covered bridge there was back in the 70s and 80s, went to antique stores, saw such beauty that Thomas Kincaid absolutely captured I am grateful for his paintings. They help me relive my childhood. They help me imagine my parents” childhood. They are amazing pictures of a simpler time when kids would just go outside and play all day and beautiful Victorian houses had a single lit candle in each window and a big Christmas trees in large picture window. I’ve been to places that look just like that. I feel bad for those who haven’t ever experienced the beauty of a summer, winter, fall or spring in beautiful Vermont. Skipping rocks along the side of the road, picking beautiful sweet spicy-smelling wildflowers, swimming in lakes, walking down country roads, buying penny candy from little wooden-floored five and dime stores. Amazing times I’ll never forget. And at one point I lived over in England and traveled to North Wales on many occasions. I thoroughly enjoyed sitting on the stone bridge, listening to the babbling, Brooke below, looking at the thatched roof houses, and the ivy-covered stone houses. Each one had a small but colorful garden in the front . Beautiful wildflowers.dotted the land. Straight from a Kincaid painting. It was a little piece of heaven on earth.
I think duality is such an interesting thing to utilise within art. As FPS Diesel’s comment said, I find it draining to see somber depictions of the human condition only to turn around and see the same thing in real life. It’s monotonous and somewhat expected in the modern art scene. The sugary sweet, whimsical art of Kinkade is pretty. unremarkable but pretty. This provides a fascinating contrast with the man behind the work. Sometimes it’s important to separate the art from the artist but in instances like this, seeing the two side by side makes for a far more entertaining experience.
I think I see where you're coming from, but I don't know that the "contrast" is really applicable with Kinkade. In his case it only became apparent when his businesses started failing because that's when his life took a downward turn. Prior to that, he was attending school, getting more famous, and richer by the day. To me that duality isn't evident here because for years he was just as sugary, delusional, and superficial as the art he was making until his wallet started taking a hit. He fell into a depression and substance abuse cycle because his popularity was waning, and people didn't want to buy his art anymore. Is that really comparable to the same duality present in say a Durer piece? Durer was also very religious, concerned with light and was immensely popular. He spent almost the entirety his life tortured by the big questions and intellectual ideas in his head, but his depictions are not always sad and hellish. His work is technically speaking, jaw dropping. Much of the time he's commenting on his mental state in the work without explicitly stating it and that's the difference with Kinkade. Kinkade is was always overly optimistic, all about god, joy, family values so he made a cabin scene with the sun shining where everything is all happy and there's a deer etc. It's just derivative at this point. When other artists work it's not so on the nose, they use the brush stroke, the forms, the setting, perspective, and every element of a piece to inform and reinforce that duality if it's present. When I see Kinkade, I don't see him saying anything at all. Every piece is basically the same set of corny and uncanny elements collaged together in a hideous palette to give you a sense that things are all good and happy. It might be the nihilism talking, but the world is shitty and when I see art like this is doesn't feel authentic, it feels like someone trying to force a smile. Art is depressing because it's scope is large, and it's often a measure in communicating the collective issues we face. So yeah, it's hard to see depressing art all the time, but at least that's a conversation worth having, to me there's nothing to unpack and there's no conversation to be had with the Kinkade cabin on my Christmas card. I don't intend for this to sound pretentious, or shut you down, it's just what was going through my head as I read your comment! :)
@@colethornton6626 I think your definition of art suggests there must me meaning to the work. That's fine. I disagree with the notion that good work has to provoke thought and conversation but I strongly believe that it makes things more interesting ;) There certainly is still a duality with Kinkade's work. His cosy cottage paintings are like a sugar-coated version of the thatched roofs, pristine flower beds and peaceful country lanes I am surrounded by irl. There's the trope where these villages are full of scandal and murder but covered by a whimsical veneer. Isn't that the same with Kinkade's true intentions behind his work? He was a salesman who exploited the innocent, cheery appearance of his paintings for financial gain and worldwide fame. I highly doubt his personality matched the surface intentions of his work even before his decline. All this being said, isn't it funny that we're talking about Kinkade's work right now and how different his paintings are to the real world? I can say with almost 100% certainty that he wasn't trying to create this contrast but it's more fun that way. Art critics pick apart work and hunt for meaning like english literature teachers do but who's here to say if we're right or wrong? :D
I am a simple man. I love beautiful things. I would hate to live in world where enjoying an art *always* requires a deep thinking and (probably) art degrees.
Snobbism is why most art has to have meaning. Most art does not have meaning.including some of the most famous works which are often famous not cuase of their meaning but cuase of their backstory.the Mona Lisa is a painting that was used to teach a student there's nothing deep about it.but cuase it was stolen it became famous and cuase it is famous poeple tried to justify it's popularity with made up meaning.
“What are these? Pictures of babies eating each other? The scatological scribblings of a madman?” Me: Probably not, Francisco Goya actually seems to be well respected.
So, I'm from the UK, so even though I can guarantee I've seen a Kinkade, I'd never heard of him. So, when you bigged up his art at the beginning and then I actually saw it, I was left sat there thinking, "Do you know what? That's really nice! That's actually really nice!" like that meme of that British guy reacting to a drink. I dabble a little bit in photoraphy and enjoy going on walks in the country to unwind and Kinkades art is like what a dream photo in my minds eye would be on one of those walks. I think your assessment of his art was fairly accurate and fair. So, seperating the man from the art, some of the ones you showed were a bit much, but the majority were just... nice. What's wrong with art just being nice? He's hardly become my favourite artist, nor can I remember a particular piece, because none really stand out. The hatred is just extreme, because his art is just nice. I think it's one of those things where the truth or reality lies somewhere in the middle.
@Crimdoesstuff Outside of the classroom, with no actual artistic input & only the passé right-brained exercise, _Yes._ It's not wrong to study in that manner, and is encouraged to hone technique of in this case, 2D medium, but it's an exercise none the less that can be used to be applied later in actual art.. Like how musicians practice scales/chords/rhythms.
I’m a classical musician and I’ve played so much Mozart that I find his works boring and redundant, but they are still some of the greatest pieces of music ever written.
@@mikey1305 I think Mozart suffers from the same phenomenon that for example the Beatles suffer from that his music is so famous and influential that it ends up sounding basic and uninteresting to some people because of how many elements of it are now well known elements of the genre.
@@mikey1305 very true. The reason it’s boring is because you’ve heard it so many times, and everyone saw “wow this is popular” so they all made similer stuff.
Wish he would've done illustrations for fantasy books or fairy tales. They would've been amazing--might actually give kids good memories of going to the library at school. His take on Middle Earth would be interesting. RIP Kinkade.
Interestingly enough, that's actually James Gurney does, former partner of Kinkade. Should definitely check out some of his work and his channel too! Very relaxing and down to earth. which was why I was surprise to learn he was a former partner of Kinkade :o definitely wasn't expecting that.
I was thinking this too. I bet he could paint some good psychedelic- alice in wonderland- happy faeries and smiling mushrooms type stuff- his style captures a single comforting playful feeling- bet he could also do cute non-threatening Halloween stuff too- or even real gritty menacing demonic and creepy scenes well if he tried, but I guess he mostly just did these "shire" scenes. Shame he was so limited in his subject matter- I'd like to have seen his take on acid or goth feeling captures. Doesn't bother me that the intention was so transparent- most art is all feelings anyway. I don't see why one man's complex pain is a more legitimate subject than another man's simple comfort. I don't see the inherent nobility in being anti-social or anti-Western or anti-modernity. I mean, go ahead, but his art is only "political" in that these artists think that good art is supposed to be uncomfortable or a protest and he obviously didn't. He was considered political trash precisely because he wasn't political at all and that is understood as an endorsement of the status quo by people with an agenda that insist everyone is either with them or against them. Ironically similar to something Bush junior once said. His stuff was commercial and simple and wasn't trying to make any profound statements about the human condition, so what? I like it more than obsessing over the use of light on a bowl of fruit. Don't be a hater.
As an Evangelical Christian thank you for your even handed, thoughtful, and composed assessment of this man and his work. Such a good biography. I laughed out loud starting at minute 15:24. I think, as so often is the case with art, the art is informed by the life of the artist and the time in which they live. Your final conclusion on his life starting at 19:00 was a thing of poetic beauty. Thank you for such a powerful life lesson through story telling. Bravo!
His Christmas paintings look like the drawings that you'd see in those cookie cans, ya'know, the ones that 9 out of 10 times have thread and needles...
Maybe this is why people hate him. We're reminded of sweet snacks at grandma's house, only for our plans to be seized by the existence of sewing accessories and no cookies! Curse this blatant trickery!
The art community sounds elitist as hell. That being said, I am a professional musician, and have certainly seen some of the same criticism thrown around at famous musicians today. However, the more I’ve surrounded myself around with musicians the more I’ve found those that love all the super popular music. It’s not original or groundbreaking music, but it serves its purpose well. In music we understand that stealing is the sincerest form of flattery, it doesn’t have to be original to have meaning.
Dang, I know. Eddy and Brett are doing one hell of a job educating peeps in a fun and entertaining way (regardless if they're even into classical music). Is there perhaps some sort of "twoset violin" in type art community?
When i heard the critics of the art community saying "his work is unoriginal", my only thought was "but is it good though?", cause those are two very different things. And as a Physics University grad, (and I am not claiming to be some genius or anything though), I am pretty certain I am not "to stupid to understand" your contemporary modern "original art", I just think it sucks.
Elitist and that elitism was created by the idea all art needs to have feeling or meaning.when some art simply doesn't have that meaning or feeling. Some of the most famous paintings have no meaning just a story unusual story.
I actually love his art. It reminds me of happy childhood memories, putting together puzzles during Christmas time or at my grandma’s house. I get a little glow of joy whenever I find his work. And this is from someone who spent most of their life in art schools haha
"Childhood memories" is a good way to put it. Whenever I see his paintings I feel like a child looking out at the world with hope again, before it all blurred into drab nonsense and tedium.
I remember seeing his paintings in a dr’s office and thinking the colors were very nice and it was calming to look at which is a nice thing to have in a place that gives a lot of people anxiety. Landscape paintings in general are never considered significant by the art community. That being said I would rather see a calming cottage in that setting than a distorted image of someone screaming.
When Bob Ross was compared to TK, a remark by Mr. Rogers came to mind. “You don’t set out to be rich or famous, what you set out to do is be helpful.” Long live Bob Ross!!
They're decent paintings. Nothing original or special, but if someone finds it soothing, what even is the issue? "Stupid paintings for stupid people" and "fake art." Imagine actually saying that. These art critics need to stop smelling their own farts so much. Makes artists as a whole look like assholes, far more than Kinkade might have done.
Yep the people who usually critics average art as dogshit want a sense of superiority its really dumb nice pfp of lenessia hime lmao cant wait for season 4 lmao
I think that's the sentimentality that makes people hate him seems strange to hate someone for evoking that type of feeling in people. It's like the people that dislike his art don't like being happy or don't Mike art that makes them feel this way he's probably the same people that hate Christmas.
I bought a painting by Thomas Kinkade’s teacher, Glenn Wessels. The painting was an abstract expressionist painting, the polar opposite of Kinkade. But Wessels early work was WPA social realism. And Wessels teacher was Hans Hoffman, also an abstractionist. It was a bit surprising to see this lineage of influences.
Honestly, hating this guy's art is like hating a slice of life show for "lacking emotional complexity". Like yeah, no sh*t, it's not supposed to be emotionally complex, and not everything needs to be emotionally complex. Fun things are allowed to be fun.
I don’t think people actually hate on his art all that much, it’s more common that art snobs and critics tease fans of Thomas Kinkade for treating his paintings as though they’re fine art. I agree that Kinkade’s work is enjoyable in a kitschy way
here's a fun little word for that: puristism. art has to be both extremely complex in meaning and technique, otherwise it's not art. it has to have reinassance-like features in light and composition while having deep grim meanings. if its simple it's not art (cough cough modern art snobs)if it's happy it's not art(aka what you said). I'm not defending puristism just defying it
"Somewhere in your grandmother's living room." Sands, you have no idea. My grandmother's house is INFESTED with Kinkade. He's everywhere in that house. She even has Kinkade angel Christmas ornaments.
I agree. I can't see anything inherently wrong with them, and some of them are pretty good, but I dot think I'd personally buy any of them for my house
@@luz1959 I feel like theres much better artwork you could put in your home. If you want a lovely picture of some, idk, outside spaces, I'd recommend somebody like John Avon. Practically unknown outside of his community, but hundreds of thousands of people know him as a premier landscape artist. Or go to a local art gallery, see what they have to offer. You may be surprised about talent in your area
I love these painting particularly the ones with lots of nature and a cottage or two. They make me feel calm and I would love to live in a cottage like one in the paintings.
Same here! I love how his paintings are welcoming and familiar while simultaneously being ethereal and otherworldly. And the soft, warm lighting he uses makes me wanna take a nap in a flowery field.
Literally have one of those Jigsaw puzzles on my wall I didnt even know it was from this guy before this video I got one of a forest, a steampunk city and northern lights too though probably by different people
Small error at 3:09, Kinkade was born in '58, must've got that switched around.
Just a heads-up
Oh my god I've watched this video 10 times over and I've never caught that until now, well whoops yes I guess I switched the numbers.
@@SolarSands Hahaha happens to the best of mate, still a solid video so far.
@@SolarSands hi
@@SolarSands are you a mayonnaise musketeer
@@Used_Towel It made me pretty confused but ok
I honestly just find this whole thing to be very sad. It's as you said towards the end, it seems like he has always been a very troubled person, and with how he struggled with addiction etc, I'm betting he didn't have much self confidence. These paintings were most likely his escape, a world without anything bad, that comforted him and other people, a world where he didn't need addiction. A safe space for him, maybe even a mask because when initially looked at, you would think that a very kind person painted them. I don't think marketing this feeling was a bad thing, in fact it was probably his only source of self confidence, and he capitalized on the feeling of being wanted, of his art being wanted, and thus got dragged into that toxic spiral of attaching his worth to only one thing, and took to lashing out when that was threatened. I'm not trying to say he was a good person or anything, just that it's kinda heartbreaking to see his paintings vs his own life, and how much he held himself back from happiness.
It almost seems like the paintings literally sucked the happiness out of him and replaced it with envy, greed, and sorrow while it made others comfortable and happy.
it’s funny that all these art critics called his art kitch when you just made a full paragraph talking about it.
Agreed
@@caroline6218 kitch is the worst term ive ever heard as an artist, art is communication, every single piece of art has meaning because meaning can be prescribed by the viewer and the artist, and its just so fucking weird to me, these are the same people who would be upset when people go why is a line a piece of art, so why is it okay to say it for simple art, pick a lane, art is art, all art is art, we can argue about techinical objective mastery and stuff , wich is valid but the concept of art is fucked up to try to gatekeep, specially since despite how vain and arrogant the quote might have sounded there IS relevance to 10 million people being moved.
@@caroline6218 The paragraph isn't about the art. It's about the person.
They aren't even bad paintings. They just feel... generic? At this point we've seen so many reproductions so often they're no longer unique. Honestly what's most impressive is the fact this guy managed to make such detailed paintings feel so basic and bare bones(?) at the same time
@@dvstrr yeah that makes sense. Plus the lack of any movement or interesting strokes/techniques makes the paintings feel really lifeless. Like sure, you can somewhat feel the cozy mood he was going for but its diluted by the lack of anything to really cement and attach that feeling to, like as you said, a person
At first they were probably original and cool, but then all the copy cats came in, so you can’t really blame him. And they’re still pretty nice paintings
I guess the paintings aren't interesting they are pretty but there are tons of paintings I've seen before of landscapes similar to his I guess, but I don't hate them. That being said those people who do hate his art partially due to it being generic kinda reminds me of my hate for the MCU for the same reason of being generic.
Yeah, I agree. They all feel kinda same-y to me; like an "if you've seen one, you've seen them all" kind of thing. Although, my mom has tons of his paintings hanging around the house, so maybe that's why they all kinda look the same to me :/
Edit: I replace the reply to extend it and talk more about it.
I see them as “background Disney 2D animated movies” which isn’t bad but it means for me that in the first seconds (even minutes) it looks very pretty, you feel happiness with a bit of sadness because you know you will stop liking it as much as you did five seconds ago, then that joy ends and you just have the vague memory of those feelings. They look very optimistic, I wouldn’t say too much because i don’t get what is something too optimistic (I get it means to “everything is rainbows and unicorns” but for me that is something else which is innocence in a child, but that’s a different thing). It’s like a candy, you like the taste it gives when it’s in your mouth, once it’s gone you can’t simply recreate that taste that easily, when you see another candy you want to buy it but too much candy isn’t very healthy. The taste is complex yet very simple to notice, there are a lot of them but you don’t want to not eat them, at least one per day. And of course there always are old and tasteless candy that you don’t want to see them again. I should call it “candy art” or something like that but I like the first nickname a gave.
However I’m not going to say anything about the artist because I really don’t care about him.
I guess he's like the Comic Sans / Papyrus of the Art World, these fonts are often mocked and hated yet we see them everywhere?
Yeah popular bad taste
@@karlaj.4056 Comic Sans is beautiful
Blame Undertale for that one
@@iexist6392 it was that way long before undertale...in fact, those 2 fonts were put into undertale because they're so infamous.
@@ZBBBlL Sorry if I wasn't very clear with what I meant, I meant as in their popularity. Though, I didn't know they were infamous beforehand. Thank you for correcting me and I hope you have a good life :)
"Kinkade never had an original thought"
Every Kinkade painting is unmistakably a Kinkade painting though. There must have been something unique he was doing if it's instantly recognizable as his own.
He’s a 21st century artist? Well, nothing original nowadays, like the people who say that aren’t coming up with an original insult.
@kimmorris9664 It is cute how wrong you are.
Just as the video says, some of Kinkade's work is wonderful, some atrocious. Congratulations, everybody, we've discovered he was like every artist who has ever lived. Find me an artist who never misses, who is 100% original within their paintings. Kinkade was making art that appealed to the average person, not to the pretentious art world. That will make the art "average" in concept. There's nothing wrong with that. Some art is meant to push boundaries, some art is meant to be decorative, some is meant to go on cereal boxes. It's ALL art.
Also, people who think any artist as prolific as Kinkade was not putting feeling or thought or originality into his paintings is just letting their bias blind them.
I grew up in a broken home and was abused as a child. Pretty bad childhood with little love. I remember seeing these paintings in a local shop and felt an instant warmth I couldn’t understand. I was so in love with these paintings and bought a miniature print for my desk. It always brought me so much joy - imagining myself living there with a family who loved me and having a different reality. I’m forever thankful for having found these paintings and I’m glad to finally know the name of the artist. I don’t care what other artists say - his art has helped me and Im sure many others to escape their reality. And that’s something we all need sometimes. And that’s art in action.
Thats rough. But if you find the light in something during conflict, then thats something to believe in, regardless of who or what it is.
I actually have a similar story! I might not have agreed with the dude on much but, in my opinion, what makes art worth seeing is an extremely fluid and subjective thing. In that way, it doesn't make much sense to me to call any artwork "bad". The worth of a piece of art lies not within the art itself but within the mind of the viewer.
And to me, the glowing cottage in a snow-covered countryside could be the starting point for a daydream with a better Christmas. One where you or I felt warm and safe.
😭 sending you my love from Houston ❤⚘🌹 Praying that you have happiness in your life now or in the near future
@@superdupersketchy4524 That’s crazy but you could’ve unliked my comment or kept your trashy, negative, attention seeking and venomous comments to yourself. No one needs to know. You just want gratification from internet points. So please keep it to yourself next time.
@@superdupersketchy4524 The fact that you have to make strangers talking about their lives and perspectives sound like a negative and toxic thing is a sign that you, in fact, are negative and toxic. And apparently so starved for attention that someone sharing their perspective on their abusive childhood makes you insecure somehow.
As someone who attended college for art, my classmates and teachers almost always hate things that the average person thinks is nice or wholesome. I don't get it, it seems pretentious to hate a man's art just cause it has a charm and coziness to it. I like just liking something without having to demand it be nihilistic.
I think a lot of artsy people try to find meaning and expression in art and that’s how they justify it being such a big deal to them. There’s not much more meaning to kinkade’s art other than “it’s cute and is meant to look nice on a living room wall” and because it’s so prolific it’s become representative of art that serves as a practical boring wall filler. So its existence is basically an insult to those who think very highly of art, and they clearly take it personally lol
@@Hanapetals They feel corporate to me. Like this painting sold to old people at ludicrous prices just because it looks "Pretty". @Edit: Can people stop replying to me after three years? Look for my other response lower down, christ.
@@lucas1309 Still better than a splash of paint on a canvas, at least Kinkade didn't pretend his art had a greater meaning.
World War I set a hell of a trend...
@@lucas1309 I don't understand how its bad to like his art and wanting to have it up on a wall? If someone likes it and wants to buy it, its their taste and their money. Its purpose is to be decorative lol
I was watching this in my grandparents guest room and when you said “it’s probably somewhere in your grandmothers house” I looked around and there was literally a Thomas Kinkade puzzle in the room lol
Lmao same
He have a gods art, why they hate his art?
Lol I recognised a painting in the video from a puzzle in my granny's house
🤣🤣🤣🤣
Aye it's basketball wassup
I’m an art student. A week ago, my contemporary drawing professor had us research and discuss Kinkade. The discussion turned out to be a heated argument that split the class in two. By the end of the discussion (which was four hours), everyone who previously decided they hated Kinkade had conceded their argument in one way or another. Regardless if his art speaks to YOU, his art speaks to millions of Americans who find comfort in nostalgia and idealized landscapes. Kinkade might be painting for the masses, but god damn it, he is an artist who found his niche in a society that rarely values artists. He is an artist whose work speaks to HIM and there is nothing wrong with that. It doesn’t make him any less of an artist and neither do his “sell out” collaborations. Everyone admitted that if they had the opportunity to collaborate with major brands that they would do it in a heartbeat. Every artist wants that kind of attention regardless if they flat out deny it. Millions of artists already try to get their art out to as many people as possible by printing it on marketable merchandise. Kinkade’s presence in the art world is not one of laziness or corporatism, but pure necessity. Kinkade’s paintings don’t speak to me as an artist, and I can be fine with that while at the same time coming to terms with my envy and respect of his ability to make a living off making the art true to his heart. If anybody is still reading this, I’d encourage you to check our Kinkade’s urban landscapes, which don’t have nearly as much attention as his cottages. It’s fascinating to see him apply his signature idealized style with soft colors and bright values to the urban scene. Thanks for reading!
I appreciate your insight in this comment. I grew up seeing his art on calendars and puzzles or whatever and remember researching the artist as an adult out of curiosity. Sometimes his art illicits an eyeroll from me just because of attached associations. His story is a bit sad seeing as he had a lot of personal struggles, so I think that softened my outlook of cynicism I initially had. I looked up the cityscapes you mentioned and I actually find them pleasantly nostalgic and quite pretty! Haha I didn't expect that reaction and am pleased to have seen something new.
I appreciate your book about your class discussion
I’ve always quite liked Kinkade’s work, I remember my grandmother had a painting of his in her house and I always thought it was beautiful. Until this video I knew nothing about the man, however I don’t believe he is all that wrong about his view of the highbrow art world. Idk that’s just my take. Thanks for sharing your take!
I disagree about every artist wanting attention. Some people make art purely for themselves.
@@Bone237 yeah the idea of my art getting attention before I'm dead fills me with dread
Looking at the paintings, thinking to myself: I did all those puzzles.
Same. My parents also glued them to a board and put them on the wall
@@daskampffredchen i just bought one at Disneyland LMAO
I'm just sitting here like "I just think they're neat."
@@dermathze700 me too
Well, that was win...
"Thomas kinkade is the most hated artist!"
Hitler: 👁️👄👁️
👁👄👁
KCNCHDJD LMAOOOOOOOOOOO
If I'm not wrong Hitler wanted to get into the University of fine arts but he wasn't accepted... twice
@@borednatsu300 pog x2
That's what I thought of as well
This made me respect Bob Ross's humility even more. He said openly he'd never be in a museum. His paintings are now in the Smithsonian.
I feel like Bob Ross wouldn't hate Thomas Kinkade though.
Bob's Ross got so big that I did a one eighty flip and landed smack *Dab* in a bag of Fucking Chips
@@carlrygwelski586 like you took a fat dab of some wax??
@@TadRaunch Maybe only because Bob Ross seemed like he wouldn't hate anyone. I haven't watched this video yet, but Kinkade was a notoriously shameless self-promoter, among other things that make him drastically different from Bob Ross. That said, I like Kinkade paintings, even if he is the Phil Collins of art. Actually, I like them _because_ he's the Phil Collins of art.
@@VanguardSupreme That's why I said it. I wholly agree that Kinkade is drastically different to Bob Ross, but that doesn't make them enemies. Bob Ross really didn't hate anyone or anything; the guy was just pure love. To think of a guy making money from painting? OK, I'm not Bob Ross, and I shouldn't presume to know what he would think. But he loved painting & encouraged it. I really think he would be happy that someone could make a living from painting, even if they were a cutthroat. I could even see Bob Ross praising Kinkade's paintings-I'm not saying whether he would, just that I could see it.
And by the way, Phil Collins is cool.
The concept of kitsch is interesting. The idea being that all art needs to have some sort of hidden theme or underlying message that requires the scrutiny of an intelligent person to understand. I think there are 2 main problems with this. First these paintings are meant to be wall art, they are like elevator music. They are supposed to hang on the wall and look pleasent, basicly visual background noise. They are ment to convey a cozy wholesome vibe to the room, not be the centerpiece themselves. The second issue is that modern art is often the opposite of "kitsch" to the extreme. Alot of modern art is so covoluded and requires so many leaps of logic and context to understand the theme or message that the message and theme loose all meaning and impact in the process of trying to undertand it. Most of the time people just disregard it as pretentious bullshit that makes no sense.
Because that's what it is.
you can't be serious...
Art should not require all kinds mental gymnastics to appreciate.
As with many other things in our modern society, the overly intellectual will write off and deny the value of anything that doesn't contain enough "intellectualist" shibboleths. If something is simple and actively denies overintellectualization, it's useless to the intellectualist because it cannot be a vehicle for their own ego masturbation.
@@sauronthemighty3985Appreciation needs to come first, THEN analysis. Why would I bother thinking hard about something I didn't find interesting to begin with? You need a hook, even if you want to be subtle.
So from a filmmakers perspective myself, University loves showing "real" films and having students produce film that is "serious". Usually at 19 someones is going to absolutely bungle a think-piece movie on race relations which is a symptom of the film world's obsession with really serious post-modern pieces. Similar to the fine art world. If 2020 has shown me anything. Sometimes you need a break. Yeah I am fine watching a tragedy of the commons type of movie but I turn off the tv and see the same shit. I need a break, Kitsch art or movies, like a lifetime movie or hell even a Marvel movie can be that. comforting pieces to enjoy. I really had a nice chuckle at the Bush comment because I had a professor call the marvel movies fascist garbage or something. It's hilarious. The art world has like this weird fetish with being miserable myself included but it's nice to not be buried in that all the time because it takes a toll. I could never hate those paintings, they just aren't offensive most don't know who the guy is and don't notice anything about them. They remind me of going to cracker barrel with the family which is literally a place built on the idea of feel-good kitsch. I think it's really just awful to call people who like the paintings dumb.
McNaughton like I could disagree with his art but there is something really just interesting about it. Just the concept of it. It feels not of this earth in a way like it stepped out of an alternate history show. Or Bioshock Infinite.
I personally enjoy combining both. While some may say it is idealization, I have always loved being able to bring beauty to the worst situations. Why write a poem about how much I want my aunt to leave this world, If I am not gonna use a colorful vocabulary and metaphors.
Some people see art as an escape from reality, and when you bring reality back into art (depending on how exactly you do it) it is met with its criticism.
When I say "(depending on how exactly you do it)" I mean in the sense that realism of idealised worlds, such as Kinkaide's, are condemned, while abstract works representing the artist's mentality at the time is heralded as the next Picasso (basically, realism of something that doesn't exist = bad, non-realism of something that exists = good)
Yeah, I don't get why the critics, the people that are supposedly the ones who know what's good, what's "real art" have such a fucking hate boner for things that make you feel nice. I mean obviously not everyone has the same definition for art, mine just so happens to be something that can ewoke some sort of feeling or thought in me, and if that feeling happens to be hapiness then so fucking be it! Is hapiness considered less valuable than other feelings? Hapiness can teach us, just like misery, it can inspire is, it can do so much good shit, so excuse me but some fucking stuck-up "art critic" says we're not allowed to express hapiness in our artworks doesn't quite matter to me, as I often dismiss the opinions of people so high up in their own ass that you are shocked they can see the artworks they're critiquing from the shadows of their fat dirty asscheeks. Now of course, many pieces of art are completely artificial, or just way overdone and they provoke fake feelings, but this is not exclusive to pieces expressing positive feelings. And believe it or fucking not, simple artworks of some nice beautiful landscapes can come from a genuine fucking place. You know what, I don't need your fucking belief anyways so you can fuck off right back to some completely non-artificial contemporary gallery where you can find all the "real meaning" in an assymetric blue square to help the billionares behind the backs of some talentless hack artificially inflate their price by giving it some "deep" fake message you complete fucking troglodytes, you absolute fucking disgraces to the art world as a whole.
"I had a professor call the marvel movies fascist garbage or something"
This is the perfect example of academic political zealotry. "If you are not with us, you are against us, and there is nothing between".
I get you, it's nice to just unwind now and then and be entertained by something fun that doesn't ask much of you. But these people weren't taking a break from fine art, they were buying nothing but cheap, unfulfilling crap. If you're chugging wine from a box all day it's no longer about slumming it now and then, it's a lifestyle choice. :P
I didn’t like “kitschy” art until I got severely ill, now it’s something that brings me joy. My life can get so overwhelming that sometimes a simple painting of a cottage that doesn’t have any “deeper meaning” is what I need to get through the day. I think when we discount paintings, or music, or any other form of art, just because we perceive it to be shallow, we’re often forgetting why people love them in the first place.
if i was asked, as a fan of more surreal or for lack of a better word, more engaging art, i would nevertheless pick a house in the woods paining by Kinkade as the painting i would like to live in.
now, if i were to own a kinkade, i've thought about this, and i would like it to be touched up and added to. piling kitch on top of kitch. i think i would love a satanic black mass, with revelers walking up a stone path to the house in the woods. sort of like making a kosher meal extra unkosher with the addition of some bacon.
Your beautiful ❤️
i completely agree. i normally like more obscure niche music. but during some mental health struggles, i realized that country music was actually really comforting. i had pushed it away because i thought i couldn’t relate to it. in the end, music that wasn’t my original taste helped me see my life in a different, lighthearted way. same can be said about paintings.
I wish the best for your health 💝
Exactly
I'm German, so this is a perspective on the German word "kitsch", and I don't know if the english word has different spin to it.
I'd describe kitsch as something tacky or cheesy in an attempt to be beautiful.
This is subjective to the viewer, but some examples I can think of, that are just a little "too much":
Two swans on a lake in front of a sunset, forming a heart with their necks.
Garden gnomes
Statuettes of putti, specifically if not in a church.
A white wolf with blue eyes howling to a huge bluish-white full moon in a sparkling sky.
In this video, the painting of Santa putting presents under the tree is what I would consider the most kitschy.
Kitsch is widely subjective, if it weren't, kitschy things wouldn't sell as well as they do.
Kitsch for me feels generic, with an overuse of stylistic devices and, as Solar Sands said, not intellectually challenging.
Feel free to disagree though, it's hard to put my finger on it :D
Merry Christmas and happy holidays to everyone
I'm American and I think you described it very well! That's the impression I've always had of kitsch.
I guess a kisched art is more valorized as a practice concept than as a seeling piece of art, everyone has already seen a drawing of batman standing as a ninja with a full moon behind him, but if you're able to create a decent drawing of that you can secure that you can challenge yourself with some more original concepts and hard techniques
And thanks for the explanation and happy christimas!
You know what. Santa probably IS the most kitschy one because it's not borderline accidental satire. It's too much but not all the way. Like the bambi n friends n deer in background and rainbow mountains American eagle thunder waterfalls one
I agree but I love garden gnomes
:(((
So kitsch is like... Generic normie cringe?
Art doesn’t always have to be challenging. I see Kinkade’s work as like a mental palate cleanser, something serene and peaceful that can help bring you back down to earth if you look at it for long enough. The man had real talent for sure, and it’s hard to ignore thoughts that people hated him because of copium - that he had such a skill but he chose to paint simple beauty instead of something more complex and heavy.
@karaqakkzlChallenging to the observer, not challenging in terms of artistic skill
Amazing take. All of the discourse makes you forget that kinkade actually put the effort, and though its the most unoriginal thing i can imagine, maybe the point is for him to print posters of these generically beautiful scenes with his hands. It can exist in reaction to the art that does the opposite, art that is strong, vocal and not too aesthetically beautiful but thought provoking. Those art pieces can sometimes drown you in thoughts that kinkade might be able to tone down with his desktop wallpaper paintings that dont ask for your brains space instead might balance the chaos in the head
@@dannydanny2789 How so? Clearly not everyone could paint like him?
@@edmarcamy frankly, I don't remember the deleted comment I was replying to, but it made sense, I swear.
Never knew Thomas Kinkade of all people could be so interesting.
His paintings aren't my cup of tea, but he obviously had a lot of technical skill.
I'm glad little old grandmas appreciate his fairy tale cabins.
Yep
He was a very... conflicted fellow.
When you compare his tranquil paintings with his personality that's anything but, it kinda makes sense.
Imagine being one of the most controversial artists that only paint cottages.
All comments are so seriously trying to explain how they feel about art. Yours made me laugh, thank you.
cottages go brrrrr
But he wasn't hated only bc he painted cottages
@@Evan-od7em wtf does that even mean? All I know is it's been repeated as nauseum throughout this entire comment section, but yet it isn't even making any real point about anything.
@@ninja_tony It's the "money printer goes brrr" meme. It means that those cottages make a lot of money.
Having known a little bit abt his childhood, I feel it may have influenced his art. As has been mentioned before, he grew up,with a single mom who worked hard to support her family. As a kid, he came home to an empty house. In his paintings, the light is always on, the hearth is warm and inviting inside, which implies mom is home. The abundance of flowers and beautiful home, is a place of plenty, where those inside have everything they need. Who knows?
That is a very beatiful theory
And yet no one to be seen... A paradox
The houses look like they are boiling babies inside.
So this is why I love his art. It's fundamentally working class
@@nerdnam How Morbid.
upon watching this again, the juxtaposition between Kinkades personal life and his idealist paintings is an artistic expression and meaning in itself. His inner turmoil manifested into something simple and comforting, almost as though it brough himself some comfort. You can hate the guy who painted these things, but the artwork is competent and pretty.
Yeah, had it not been for his own statements on his paintings and the commercialization of them, critics would have looked at the contrast between the themes of his work and the reality of his life and considered Kinkade avant garde purely for that. He was obsessed with idyllic themes while being such a severe alcoholic and drug abuser that it literally killed him, there's definitely something psychological going on there.
it reminds me of Hayao Miyazaki alot, dude is like somewhat of a vain prick in every interview of him I read, he hates basically everything in the real world, yet if you look at his works, they're all serenely beautiful, it's just probably how he wants to see the world and it bitter at how the real world isn't as beautiful, serene and idylic as his art.
Most of my childhood, my Dad worked for Tom. I met him plenty of times. He would always throw big Christmas parties and give all the kids toys. He even painted my mom as a character in a painting. His early days were awesome and he had some great works.
He always struck me as someone whose art got corrupted. He was suited by art dealers early on, who propped up Toms ego, and commercialized him. When they opened the Morgan Hill office, it was too late, Tom couldn't push back because of the bills he had to pay. It killed his soul. Then we saw things like Tom throw pillows and nightlights. He even had the flocked series, wher he used photoshop to change summer scenes to snow covered winter. Then Disney, and MLB, and carnival cruise ships came in. Tom hated it, and didn't even paint for awhile.
It really hurt Tom that he was rejected by the art world, so he leaned into a "silent majority" mentality. Then the booze and pills took over. I feel for the guy, and for his wife, Nanette, and their daughters.
Thanks for sharing this insight.
Comparable to musicians & their craft.
Nice of you to give your perspective of him.
Thankyou for sharing your personal story about him. I was shocked to hear that I am older than him. He was definitely "a tortured soul," but he sounds lovely. I'm an Aussie so am not familiar with his artwork but I find it very pretty. Like I'd like to walk into some of those scenes 💓
Wow you actually knew him thats pretty cool
Okay but imagine a cute fairy tale story book with these as illustrations... They give the exact vibe of cosy cute fairy tales and I really like that
That's what I always thought they were when I did puzzles with these images. I didn't know the guy behind it, but I still think they're cute lol the only ones I don't really care for are the ones with the US flag and with crosses. The straight up cottages and landscapes are very cute.
@@xoz6744 i really don't hate them. The paintings are pretty much OK for me. People hate it because it's repetitive and he didn't made something new. But if don't hate them. Some are really good and I would really like to make some puzzles with them.
Guys, from art perspective they are so awful that it's funny. The problem is that flat brains like you don't understand art and actually these paintings "educats" little kids to bad taste of art which is catastrophic. The taste of art and not only art, can be directly connected with the meaning of good and bad and our world's esthetics.
@@albuch520 I am actually in my final year of college studying art... Art is subjective. If we like it.. We are allowed to
@@charnevandermerwe3641 Anyway you are allowed to, but ist not OK.
"Thomas Kinkade is the most hated artist"
Kinkade: **wipes tears with hundred dollar bills**
@Grant Worman THE HEAVY IS DEAD?
Accurate.
*wipes tears with the eternal fire of hell*
@Grant Worman nooo??? Really!!!!
Hated and rich vs. Loved and poor
My parents were photographers, and after the industry shifted to digital they used "Kinkading" as a verb to talk about photoshopping lights into windows
Whenever I see one of his paintings, my first feeling is "aaw, how beautiful", my second feeling is "ugh, way too sweet, I get cavities just looking at it" and my third feeling is "hm, somehow this is boring, I don't know why" and then I start back at "but it looks so beautiful" and then I can't decide what I actually feel about it.
That is what makes these kind of paintings by various artists very weird for me. I think I like them, but then I don't, but then I like them but then I don't. All I can say is, I don't hate them.
Same feeling
I feel like I would see this in a restaurant or someone's grandparents' home.
you’ve put it into words !
The fact your feeling this at all meams they are at least good imo
These are my exact thoughts lol.
Me sitting at home with 5 jigsaw puzzles by Thomas Kinkade without having known any on this: 👁👄👁
Same
I have a painting from him I think and I just noticed that ;-;
Me too
BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA YEAH
one could say that his art is the equivalent of a store bought vanilla cupcake (with yeast-made vanillin), excessively sweet and artificial to some extent, very much made for the masses and made to be well received. There are no complex flavours, but there’s nothing wrong with liking a store bought, sugar filled vanilla cupcake
There is if that’s all you consume.
I like your analogy. And yeah, there’s nothing terrible about that cupcake, but don’t try and tell me it’s a master crafted artisanal dessert.
And sometimes I’m in the mood for a shitty, cheap cupcake rather than something more complicated, but I understand that they are not the same
Very well said
Yes and the cupcakes are mass produced just like the paintings
@@maelstromBoon Diamond Dogs by Beck is a frequently mentioned example. Beck in general, I think.
European point of view, writing only a few minutes into the video: My grandmother loved doing the jigsaw puzzles with Kinkade's cottage paintings, she always seemed at peace while laying them out. Seeing how she had to flee her home country during WWII and the trauma she must have experienced, how she always clung onto her purse for the rest of her life to make sure she won't lose her papers (/her identity) if she has to get up and run again... I'm glad that guy painted what he did and marketed it so well. A human can be comforted a little by nostalgic, idyllic "kitsch", like a hug for your heart.
Art (or kitsch) likes this has its place in the world. Not everything needs to be innovative, progressive, provocative, made for art critics to be studied in depth. Just how not every plate needs to be made of the finest porcelain, not every painting has to be painted to be hung in an important museum. Kinkade's paintings are useful, just like a normal, kinda nice looking dinner plate, that might put a little smile on your face when you use it because it reminds you of your grandmother's plates. And that's fine (unless you hate your grandma).
Some person said something like “I wonder what Thomas Kinkade would have been able to make if he were allowed to express his pain”
much more memorable and relatable paintings
@@irgendwer3610 yeesssss
I always liked his Christmas paintings, IDC if people say they are generic or not. I find them cheery, like the holiday is supposed to be. Too many people are full of hate to go on basically cheering his death, wtf is wrong with people?
A lot is wrong with people.
They have a lot of problems in their head and a lot of hate in ther hearths.
To be honest I really like a lot of his paintings, but to each their own
He definitely has some good paintings in there. I'd agree the Christmas ones are probably the best. The themes he utilizes (hope, faith, etc.) fits with the holiday.
His personality and ego is the one thing i wouldnt be fond of. For his art? I dont mind it, not my taste but its alright. The details are nice and i appreciate the cheerful atmosphere of his Christmas paintings. Would i buy any of his paintings? No but i appreciate it. His style is pretty recognizable though it can be a bit nauseating at times if you look too long.
I dont appreciate the people saying this nasty stuff, cheering about his death. Its very low class and distasteful no matter the shadiness of a single man. Kingkade’s death is not something that should be celebrated. Its very disgusting
The George W Bush of art is such an oddly specific insult
It's the trump of insults
I know why now.
And uh, yikes. We went down a rabbit hole real fast. Real heccing fast
@@AxxLAfriku Jesus Christ that channel still exists. Would be a shame if the report button would actually fucking work.
The "Barack Obama of art" would be much more fitting. As in boring, typical, hollow and uninteresting to look at.
dammit @@AxxLAfriku just go away already
15:24 Lmao that is the funniest thing ever. Imagine getting a sick card in the hospital and it’s one of Picassos paintings on the front cover LMAO
I think I like his art. Maybe not the artist, but definitely the art. Some Kinkaid paintings are hung up in my great aunt's house, and so whenever I see one of Kinkaid's paintings, I'm reminded of all of those times visiting my great aunt's house when I was very young. Kinkaid was a bit narcissistic though, and I don't blame people for not liking him because of that. However saying that it is "stupid art for stupid people" is annoying and just flat out rude.
My grandma has a few paintings around the house that are in the same style so the ones in this video definitely felt familiar to me
I'm a fan of the art. Even if it looks weird and garish, it gives me a childish vibe. Childish in a good way.
@Darling Vexa Art May I know why? I don't intend this to be an offensive question, I just want to know why because I don't know much about him
@Darling Vexa Art Oh! Thanks for the info, I'll see if I can look into this more so I can have a better picture of things
IMHO those people who say "stupid art for stupid people" forget the intentions of the buyers of Kinkaid's pieces: They don't want art on the wall. No, they want a nice painting. And Kinkaid fits the bill perfectly.
If Thomas was an artist on deviantART, his work would be beloved.
Imagine. A conservative christian alcoholic with the name KINKade on a site like deviantart. But yeah you're completely correct
I like the way you kept true to the stylization of that websites name
Thing is, his work _was_ beloved. One thing DA and your grandma's house have in common is that neither are affiliated with the avant-garde art scene. I'm all for popular art, but you need to keep enough separation between your head and your ass to know that your extreme skill at drawing cozy cottages or anime OCs isn't going to count for much in the MoMA.
@@RedGreenandBlue speech to text
@@andrew_cunningham I don't value the opinions of the avant-garde art World myself, and I don't think Thomas Kinkade should have either.
Pretty tragic story tbh. Sounds like there was a lot of darkness within Kinkade, a darkness he attempted to fight through escapist fantasies and alcohol. Those cozy little warm paintings, full of light and hope. A sense of comfort. A sense of comfort he desperately tried to find within himself, only to be called a talentless hack by pretentious hipsters. When he couldn't find the simplicity and comfort he captured in his paintings he choose to numb himself with alcohol and drugs. I get the sense that Thomas wanted to live in those paintings. To just be happy and cozy and free of this horrible world's problems
Yeah thats what i thought too
(in the voice of the Charlie Brown cartoon..)
Oh, brother
The whole story seems a shame, wish more people were open minded about art. To separate whatever bs u "believe" about the artist from the thing he created. They are all beautiful in their own right, makes me sad humans tend to complicate absolutely everything around them.
Yeah you get it thank you.
Success breeds jealousy
I love the peaceful, homey, nostalgic feeling his art invokes. Better than staring at a red dot on a canvas and pretending there’s so much depth and feeling in it! To each his own
The goober who wrote this video has apparently never heard of nativity art.
Thomas Kinkade is like the Nickelback of art. They both produce technically competent, mostly benign and inoffensive work, and yet drive large swaths of passionate haters, the majority of whom can't explain the precise reason for their hatred.
Yes! great comparison
People who want to succeed sometimes just hate anyone who has.
I've heard (read?) however that Nickelback are incredibly chill and nice dudes, can't confirm though.
It’s just vapid to a degree that shouldn’t be popular.
Its popularity is a reflection of mental debasement.
I don’t hate it, but I do feel better when it’s not around.
Nickleback objectifies women. Period
I honestly really like his paintings, their soothing and I'm usaully more of a cartoon/horror/fantast type of artist but i also have soft spot for old paintings and landscapes, so i think his art is neat.
Glad to see someone else who likes it! I think it’s comforting maybe I just like cottages but it makes me feel homey :((
I always enjoyed seeing his pieces. They are pretty, and fantasy esque. If the person enjoys creating it, then how is it fake and emotionless? I can understand hating the artist, he wasn't exactly a great person, but to say his art is trash, and it's ugly and heartless is a bit much.
@@AureliaKai everyone says art is suggestive until it doesn’t fit their style 🙄 like yeah he wasn’t a great person but if you’re able to separate art from the artist then take a moment to appreciate it, it’s Leagues above anything I could do!
Same here
@@zoybeei4699 The amount of famous artists that were absolute shit. If art quality always equaled artist, damn near every renowned artist in every field would be declared “the Hitler of their craft”.
for me his paintings always given me the sense of being in the story of hansel and grettle and im seeing the gingerbread and the icing and the jubjubes and it should look nice and appealing and it does,, but everything just feels off and i cant place why
edit: oh but he absolutely gains a few points back for the winnie the pooh thing. thats literally the funniest thing ever
Hahahahah my parents used to collect Kincaid paintings - like even the fancy signed ones by him. All salespeople at the Kincaid store in our local mall knew our family. Can’t imagine how much they must’ve spent on them.
that’s cringe
@@kazimierzmalewicz3604 commenting cringe under wholesome comments is a next level of cringe, in fact I would say you're pathetic for doing so
@@dividale2821 it’s kind of pathetic that you find something so mundane to be that wholesome
Would a nice cup of tea be mundane? Maybe. But drinking it when its raining outside still feels wholesome. If you can't enjoy the small things in life then you're not going to have a good time.
@@kazimierzmalewicz3604 I'm with you Satan
His paintings allow people to escape, just as movies about hobbits and elves do. People have always loved idyllic imagery, not because it represents reality,but because it *doesn't.*
His paintings were validated by so many people because it is warm and fuzzy in a world many feel is cold and harsh.
It has no depth beyond that IMHO, but it was enough for him to make a fortune.
Thank you for this comment.
TY Tess W for putting this into words. Perhaps I like late Victorian holiday greeting cards for the same reason. His paintings do something or touch them in some way, as with all visual art...so far you are the one who observed the need to imagine, even if only for a few minutes, a world that is clean, peaceful, and content. As you said, idyllic.
I mean, art doesn't have to be deep.
@ProgM Am I missing the joke or do you not know the video isn’t about Bush
@ProgM you probably jumped close to the end of the video and missed that the video is talking about two different artists?
I don't like the guy, but some of his paintings are really cozy and nostalgic. Nothing really special but also not worth hating to this large degree imo. I don't think all art needs to have some complex, deep, or cynical meaning. Some art can just be pleasant to look at or have as decoration
yeah! i think the paintings are actually nice. Even if he wasnt a nice person :(
i had a puzzle with his art on it and i really liked that puzzle 😂
I agree. Maybe the guy behind it isnt a good one, but his art are really good. Using his works as a Judging material is "off-the-point". I kinda agree tho for the color kinda excessive tho, but hey, its his artstyle, cant blame him for that.
Sometimes, having a laid-back, mind-less creation is refreshing. Not all thing have to be meaningful. I mean, we have meaningless songs, why we cant have meaningless paintings?
But, hey, Picasso isnt a good guy either.
I’m so confused by the “sell-out” aspect of the hate. Are these people unaware that there is a whole swath of legitimate artists making a living as commercial artists? Isn’t the idea that you WANT to make a living as an artist and have steady work? Or do they revel in the idea of being a “starving artist”? I’m so confused.
I find this whole "kitsch" argument kind of dumb. I personally have a soft spot for a lot of the old grandma junk you can find in thrift stores. Especially if you touch it up yourself, updating the paint and so on. "Commercial art" is something unique to the capitalist society we like in, it's not any more or less valid than anything else. Besides, once that style of art stops being produced / goes out of style and it starts becoming scarce, in a few decades time they'll be in museums to commemorate the "style of the day." I don't know,.maybe I'm just too optimistic a person.
But Kitsch is not always seen in a negative light, lots of artist are passionate about it, either ironically, defiantlly or even genuinelly deffensive aboit it. In fact the whole pop art movement is partially based on the re-valorization of kitsch.
I feel the same way. In fact I find some of these paintings quite charming. Art is subjective anyway so the whole concept of judging something for being kitsch sounds kind of elitist to me
Honestly, I think the reason his work is hated is pretty simple: it's not that it's bad, it's that it's successful. Successful without merit. Like, there are people with original styles who pour their heart and soul into their work, try to portray real, honest truth, and no one ever notices. Meanwhile, who gets popular? This guy who profits off of cheap sentimentality. Oh my God, I just realized: Rupi Kaur is the Thomas Kinkade of the poetry world. If you're unfamiliar with who she is, she's a poet who got popular on Instagram, has published a couple of books which, while.... Some of her poems stand above the rest, but overall, they're not great. They are, however, accessible and popular with the general public. Personally, I guess I'm a little annoyed by her success, but not half as annoyed as I am by people complaining about her success.
The entire point of the painting is to look nice, if you he is art as a way to invoke an experience then his work isn't really doing that, its just hitting the pleasure buttons in your brain and expecting you to fill in the gaps, its like a jump scare in horror movies, like of course it makes me feel that way but like what did you expect. Its kinda cheap and I don't want to use the words easy or repeatable (cuz that's elitist) but it kinda is, I mean why did you think bob Ross taught people how to paint those types of paintings its because nature is pleasing to the eye.
And also just because a pantin might be kitsch doesnt mean you owning one is, because then the meaning would change with context, for example if you had one above your bed it would be a symbol for you when you are calm and resting, or to have one in your bathroom as a bit of pleasant irony to have a sweet joyess painting in a place that isnt alwyas so sweet or joyess.
Just looking at the cottage art, by first thought is "pretty."
That's also my last thought, because I then immediately look away from the painting and forget all about it.
Maybe what the guy represents for the art world is the real substance of the art he made. (of course he didnt concieved them like that but still its a fun thought)
@Stix N' Stones but people put a lot of effort in the art though
@Stix N' Stones | I'm impressed you've managed to lump all modern art into a single word. Don't think you're generalizing just a tad?
@Stix N' Stones i doubt you've had your last thought about it yet. You still have a lifetime to go.
I mean it was made to be put on living room walls, it's only real purpose is to look better than nothing, which it achieves. Just how you're not supposed to think much about elevator music, but it's nice to have it there
Bob Ross didn't even sell his paintings. He wanted people to paint their own instead.
Yeah, he made all his money from his paints. He was literally selling the tools to create more art.
@@EzioAuditoreDaFirenze99 teach a man to fish...
@@720MotorWorks ...and he can paint with fish oils!
@@terrypussypower 🤣
of course it is about great art! and technically marvellous. so sad they both died so young.
Wow, man, this was really well done on every level. It was funny, subtle and nuanced. New subscriber.
Personally, most of Kinkade’s art makes me wanna gouge my eyes out with rusty coat hangers. But, I think that’s largely to do with the fact the we kinda define ourselves to some extent by what we don’t like, so yeah . . .
But, you know, of it makes grandma happy to have a Kinkade in her living room, then great. I would never trash talk that to anyone who likes that sort of thing, at least not their face, lol!
Very interesting, my grandma had one of his cottage paintings hanging above her fireplace at her old house. Growing up, I used to stare at it for hours imagining that I was there living in the cottage or walking on the trail by the river in the painting. Just staring at that painting would calm me down and make me feel happy. My childhood wasn't horrible, but that painting helped me distract myself from the bad stuff that was happening to me. Seeing that painting on the thumbnail of this video was pure irony and honestly pretty funny to me. Learning about Kinkade and his life was eye-opening to say the least. I loved that painting as a child and I still do now, and I'm glad I never knew anything about the artist growing up so I was completely unbiased towards his work and frankly yes it is generic but who cares. I'm sure if I would have known Kinkade personally I probably would have hated his guts, but learning about his story and lifestyle in this video made me pity him more than anything. What a sad little person he was, knowing this now gives that painting a deeper meaning to me, like a reminder to not lose sight of your morals and to monitor your own ego.
I know right. Those paintings were such a comfort to look at. Especially growing up in the cold concrete jungles of a big city
Most artists are flawed to the core......I think this is the bane of artistic talent.
I think I had a puzzle with his painting once
I've seen a few posts including my own talking about people using his art for escapism as children and I think that it's because there's something kind of sleepy and dream-like about them. They're generic and unassuming and I think in certain circumstances, that's a good thing. I probably also would've disliked Kinkade if I were to have known him, but, just like you I actually feel kinda bad for him and I still don't dislike his scenery artwork.
@@vaishnavnegi9640 Are they, or is it that we expect them to be better than the rest of us because we love their art or think art is some mystical, high calling for only the pure at heart? There are a ton of awful artists, but their problems are usually the same as those of similar people in their time and place who aren't artists. That said, if you walk a unique path you can end up both a better and worse human than folks alongside you.
I couldn't even imagine that these painting were from someone so broken. Really strange these cherry fluffy painting are made by someone who is really broke.
People who suffer from depression or people who suffer in general often use some form of art to escape every day life. He probably wanted to paint places he wished he was at.
He probably was an average guy until the fame and fortune took hold of him.
The promise of hope from his religion could have caused him to obsess over it?
@@jambothejoyful2966 yeah that too.
“Take it easy, it’s just a drawing”
- Patrick Star
"i call it bold and brash"
"more like belongs in the trash"
Kinda random, but I really like your pfp! Who's the artist?
@@magnificloud Jamie Hewlett. It’s from a band called Gorillaz.
Yo Patrick didn't say that, it was Squidward
@@mesotolioma5089 no? He said it in Frankendoodle
Ran into the problem of art NEEDING to have a deeper, darker meaning to be accepted when I was in when I was in high school AP Art. My art teacher did not seem to like my art because it didn’t communicate anything really all that important. I just wanted to make art of mainly birds, sometimes other animals, but I loved to do birds the most. I just wanted to hone my techniques, create dynamic lighting and try to recreate a variety of textures. I did Lino-cut printing my junior year and switched to colored pencil my senior year (I took AP art twice lol). She wasn’t ever satisfied with what I was doing. She’d applaud my technique but say that my art says nothing. I didn’t want it to say anything. I already was dealing with enough horrible stuff in my life. I didn’t want that to be the focus of my art. I wanted to make something simply because I loved the process of making it. It was an escape for me. For the art community, however, that seems to never be a good enough reason to make art. I lost inspiration since and haven’t made any art since high school and I’m in my mid twenties now. The art bug never came back after that.
me too........ i loved drawing horses.
my high school art teacher did not like it.
one day she asked me...."why do you always draw horses?"
i answered "you let that kid draw nudes and say nothing negative, you let that other kid draw people smoking pot and say nothing negative about their art Why do you criticize me drawing horses?"
she thought for a moment then answered " " you are too immature" which was true as i did not want to grow up being someone who was accepted as fitting in to the culture of the day (hippies, pot, free sex, mini skirts, etc)
and 50 years later i am still drawing and painting horses and other realistic subjects
I love the Thomas kinkade works.. I grew up poor, in broken homes and foster care and eventually homeless as a teen- rough life overall. The art pieces give me a true feeling of nostalgia or rather a longing for something I'll never know or possess but I really enjoy it and love its cheery holiday plight or adorable cottages or who knows. I'm also a bob Ross fan. I'd live in any of those paintings lol
ThankYou for your authentic heartfelt response, talking about real first person feelings rather than telling people what they should and shouldn't feel!
These images gave you hope and escapism as a child they had real world value. The fact that people are offended by his art points to their heartlessness or bitterness.
When l was a kid my Dad would bring home Xmas card sample books from the bin at work ( Printing works) to use as photo albums. l found the snow scenes on the trashed and crumpled cards an escape from a terrible reality too, at that age the glitter and the ribbons seemed really classy haha
THIS! Thank you! This is exactly what felt.
@@thekatvita bruh how cottages will make you "Happy" its utterly generic. Compared to modern art masterpiece
@@antianimeclan6078 One does not need to look at masterpieces to feel emotions. Something generic is good enough for most people.
@@thekatvita "Cottage are the best thing ever" BRO YOU WATCH TOO MUCH SLICE AND LIFE. GO TAKE YOUR MEDS
I unironically like most of those paintings. I agree that they aren't inventive, nor are they intellectually challenging. A decorated Christmas tree also isn't inventive or intellectually challenging, but it still gives you warm fuzzy feelings when you have one in your house. I would gladly have one of his paintings hanging on a wall. They are cozy.
A debate Solar brushes up against, but doesn't seem to fully recognize surfaces in the video when he says "Greeting cards need illustrations." This touches upon a longstanding argument about the artistic legitimacy of commercial illustration vs. "high art." Mostly art that exists for its own sake, vs. works specifically created to sell products. Some would argue that uninventive but aesthetically pleasing "eye candy" like Christmas trees or greeting card illustrations can be admired for their _design_ but have no real artistic value, since they regard the sincere _attempt_ at being innovative, personally, or intellectually challenging to be the basic defining characteristic of art.
I would argue that most if not all abstract or modern art should be considered design instead of art, based on this definition, but since those artistic movements surfaced specifically to challenge the status quo, we get into murky territory pretty quickly. You could even make the case that the people who hate these kinds of art ironically fuel their legitamacy by consistently questioning it. That's a bit of a feedback loop
Sure but how much money would you ever be willing to pay for any of his pieces? Looking at artist like Hans Thoma, who did naturalistic parting way before this kitsch. Look at the 1876 piece woodland meadow. I would say kitsch pieces are boring and have no artistic value but if you want to hang up his pieces go ahead but I think there are better naturalistic paintings that have movement out there that would be better wall decor.
Cozy is the same word that came to my mind when i saw the paintings, they are nice to me.
It lacks a lot of originality, which causes it to be uninspired and emotionally dry. Imagine an author who wrote about nothing but cliches, or a musician who used 4 chords. On their own they're not bad, but when you look at all the works and their context, they become bland and monotonous.
While cozy for me it's too bright, sometimes feeling a bit insincere. Bob Ross's art feels very relaxing by itself but art is always subjective.
I like his art. They're homey and makes me want to live in the worlds he painted, like you just know those world are peaceful. Who cares if its not emotionally deep? It's not supposed to be.
Innit. Its just a nice painting, all has to do is sit there looking pretty. Critics expect too much
I know right, because by that logic Bob Ross is a “great artist” because all is art is made made emotion and paints damn near the same things. I swear I will never understand the art community
I understand what you’re talking about. Modern art is just to much but this is instant gratification and that’s not bad. Sometimes it’s better to turn off your brain and just enjoy what’s in front of you. I’ve found some modern art interesting a deep but I didn’t always feel good after sometimes I leave depressed
@@violenceisfun991 I don't think it's that critics expect too much, but that people place too much weight on critic's opinions. There's nothing wrong with liking art for its thematic and emotional depth and disregarding its aesthetics. There's also nothing wrong with liking art just because it looks pretty.
What is wrong is basing your opinion on a work of art off of what someone else says about it, instead of thinking for yourself and looking at the art with your own eyes.
Beautiful art to me, makes itself clear by a single look. Renaissance, Baroque and the romantic period, those painters knew this well. A lot of 'meaningful' modern art, is dependant on the story behind it. Which to me, counts as telling and not showing.
18:48
That picture is not a Thomas Kinkade painting. It's Pierre Auguste Renoir's Luncheon Of The Boating Party which was exhibited for the first time in 1882.
I don't understand the "fake art" argument. Like, you can't feel "falsely soothed" or whatever by something because that's literally a FEELING. You FEEL it. If you feel it, it IS as real as it gets.
I'd almost go as far as to say that since this art is offending 'every artist in the world,' it absolutely is modern art. The fine art community is desperately trying to deny it as art while the artist claims it is. That drama alone is the same thing that is supposedly caused by an ink blot on a massive canvas being sold for $500 000.
@@frenchbreadstupidity7054 I think a lot of people enjoy the intellectual trip of thinking that you're smarter than everyone else, or that you have 'hidden information' that no one else has--it's the rationale behind flat-earthers and anti-vaxxers. Do they all really, wholeheartedly, believe what they say? I doubt it. But it gives them an ego boost, so they keep saying it. Same with art, film, literature, etc. You're not dumb for liking something with a simple plotline or a cushy image--that's no less 'real' than war or death or all the other depressing subjects of art (in all its forms). but people equate cynicism with intelligence too much, and it makes me sad.
I personally do understand the "kitch" argument for it since artwork like that is deeply disturbing to me. And altho I see your point in a way, I feel like it isn't art simply because the guy was making it for money rather than for the aesthetics of it or some kind of message. That, in my opinion, is the difference between the art by someone like Klimt, who's art is pretty and thus reproduced so much it has become kitch and someone like this painter who very obviously is not passionate about his art, only interested in becoming rich off of his work
i think what they mean by "falsely soothed" is that the soothing feeling is so artificial that it makes you out of the experience and they realize they're being manipulated by the painting.
Yeah, it’s not fake art. Nothing is fake art. Just as if someone might feel noise rock “isn’t music”, someone might think that blown out radio pop “isn’t music”. Everything is art, ya know? I just don’t like Kinkade because of how consumerist and boring his art is. Does that mean that everyone shouldn’t like it? No!
This man is incredible for being able to make these videos and sound so dead inside at the same time, I absolutely love him.
The only thing worse you can do than nothing is youtube videos. So that's pretty much the best way to be dead inside.
I don’t think it’s that noticeable
he don't sound dead inside at all
i like your username, and i don’t really know why
I hate your pfp so much.
I regularly come back to this video as he grew up in my town and there’s a store of his paintings by where I smoke and I go in there to watch this a luh high. Thank you solar sands I enjoy your videos very much
Not all art has to portray realism. Sometimes we have enough suffering in our lives that an escape into the ideal is preferred.
I like realism, I wanna learn realism. But I feel like a loser because I can't draw realistically
@@Chockitkat anybody can draw. Just draw something with lots of detail. And make sure u finish it in a week add like 10% detail every day and on the last day add the remaining 40% detail and that way u will have a realistic piece of art, no matter how shit u are.
Also, saying that realism is just suffering is the opinion of a moron, cause it is all bittersweet/balanced
Enter 19th century romance art
@@Chockitkat ok cool good for you. Idk how that’s relevant to the original comment but ok.
i feel like people hate his art because they hate kinkade himself, they aren't seperating the artist and the art
i could understand disliking it because its overly generic, but hating the art is kinda weird
Personally I don't hate the art itself and to be fair the execution of his pieces was always very good but I will say all of them do feel rather uninspired
Just as they should!
Kind of like they do with wagner
I kinda do hate the art. It makes me really uncomfortable, a sort of viceral feeling. I don’t think that there is anything wrong if someone likes it. Nor do I think it is necessarily bad, there are some paintings of landscapes of his that I find enjoyable. The feeling I get is similar to the one I get when I see propaganda, the overwhelming happiness of it triggers an inherent suspicion in my brain, I can’t engage meaningfully with it. Kinda reminds me of socialist realism, like the really happy and peppy stuff. Maybe it is because I already knew the political dimensions of the work, I have always looked at then with that context. And once I saw it that way, it became difficult to unsee it. I also think my hate of it comes from a personal place, I am Brazilian, and the paintings themselves harken back to a sort of an idyllic, bucolic americana that, honestly, became widespread all throughout the world. It reminds me of American cultural hegemony more than it reminds me a of mythologized, comfy past, the composition itself is peaceful but that very peacefulness to me is disturbing. There are also a lot of things about Brazilian middle class bovarism that I could spend the whole day talking about, but long story short, this sort of Americana is beloved by the rich, and it’s adoption by the Brazilian upper middle class sort of works like a distinction of cultural superiority from us, the (mostly black and poor) peasants who like samba, and you know, our culture. So that’s why I genuinely not only dislike, but have this passive sort of hatred for it.
Imagine just minding your business and then you see a drunken artist with a goatee urinating on a Winne The Pooh statue and yelling, "THIS ONE'S FOR YOU WALT!"
I would film it
Love the man or hate him, that was absolutely based.
"Winnie the Pooh implies the existence of Losie the Pee"
You join him and then take him inside and buy him another round.
That´s real art, would buy it.
People didnt like it because of how simple and wonderful they are. It revealed their cold cruel intellectualism. And because of how successful they were. They were absolutely jealous.
Im a guitarist and play in a rock band and I have a friend that shreds on guitar, and I play mostly power chords. And we talk all the time about how most advance guitar music only appeals to most guitars. Most people dont enjoy sitting around listening to Ygnwie shred some classical music for half an hour. But they love all the classics, the Nirvana and Green Day, etc. They love the simple music that uses pretty much all power chords. The the average listener, they dont know about all the different fancy chords and argeggiations and shredding 3 note licks on the major scale. They like the music that brings them back to the memories that all dear to them, and I feel all food, music and art is very similar in this manor. They all create memories and when youre tasting your food, or listening to something or looking at a piece of art, youre subconsciously looking, tasting, hearing, etc, those memories.
Back to the paintings, I feel that thats why most artist didnt like his paintings, but most normal non-artist people liked them so much. (I always loved them, I think theyre great.) But he gave people what they wanted and appealed to their memories. Most artist today do the exact opposite, they create artiat that appeals to their own memories and what they want, and then go to their feelings to the world, and frankly, most people dont want to send money to make the artist feel better about their own memories and feelings. Most people are gonna buy want makes them feel good, thats why Mr. Kincade was so successful, just like comic books or Bob Ross, he was giving something to people and giving them something the buyer wanted, not try to sell a painting for an outrageous cost because of the brush strokes and realism and technicality in which the painting was done trying to prove your brush strokes are the "best".
That's why movies all suck today, for all the same reasons.
An artist who is flawed, succumbed to addiction, and thinks highly of himself. Isn’t that a description of many renowned artists throughout history? Even the contrast of outwardly moral and Christian art vs an alcoholic behind the curtain is something interesting about Kinkade as an artist. There is struggle in the artist’s life that is not shown in his art.
Completely disregarding the artist himself and just looking at the paintings, I honestly don’t see how horrible they are. Sure, they don’t have a meaning. Sure, they’re made almost entirely as superficial money makers. But they’re pretty and skillful. Those things would get lots of praise anywhere on the internet if a digital artist did them nowadays. I think they’re pretty, relaxing, and really skillful. Y’know?
yea i totally agree. the paintings are nice but generic
@John Emmanuel or in some elderly persons home the you vaguely remember so they all look familiar lol
I want a house that looks like one of his cottages. I look at the characterless brickpiles I drive past in town, all copying half a dozen patterns, all square and boxy... and I want to live in something like he painted. And I don't give a poop if people think poorly of me for it.
You can say this about any modern art masterpiece, and most modern art looks like absolute shit yet sells for millions.
I like this art because it doeant look like trash just made for a rich man's tax write off.
It's better than the splattered blobs of mixed paint thay make it to the galleries today
Ironically, the controversy around his art has increased the art's artistic value, added meaning to the mostly meaningless
That’s ironic.
I mean, wasn't that the entire point of Kinkade's shenanigans? By provoking critics who already didn't like him and making frequent vocal appeals to evangelicals, he was creating the exact motivations he needed to sell his prints at high prices
As soon as someone says they don't like something, its value increases to those who wish to spite them. Let's say liberals openly hate the art, which encourages conservatives to buy more and display it to spite them; this drives the price up, even if the majority opinion is negative.
@Moku
Joker definitely sold better because of all the media crying out how the movie will cause fall of Western Society into incel fascism or something
On the other side lots of modern woke commercials are being produced so right wingers will become outraged and make the product popular by crying about how multimilion corporations want to spread communism
Outrage culture is pretty profitable
Bad attention is about as useful as good attention
I personally see Kinkade's art as a subconscious representation of the happy life he couldn't achieve due to his own flaws and troubles.
He didn’t seem like the greatest person, but so are a lot of great artists. I’m not religious at all, but his art is nice and comforting. That should be fine, people can make whatever kind of art they want.
Hey, I am technically evangelical Christian, and for my part, I think that everything said in the video was very valid criticism of the pandering to my sector which I too find nauseating. It's totally okay to find his kind of garbage practices nauseating. And it really appreciate your objectivism about this. You have a very kind and generous attitude here, and I want to recognize that real quick. Good show.
Yeah. Nice to look at. Doesn't have any deeper meaning though. Much like a good action movie, fun and enjoyable. But no actual meaning.
@@callummclachlan4771 Yeah not everything has to be super deep, guy. Not like you could paint anything better than him.
I just learned about Kinkade a week ago. Didn't know he was hated. I'm pretty sure they hate Kinkade because they got too stressed out trying to find the hidden N's in the painting lol-
"I'm pretty sure they hate Kinkade because they got too stressed out trying to find the hidden N's in the painting" The image of high art critics losing their minds over trying to find hidden N's like where's Waldo is so funny to me. Genuinely chuckled.
@Nagato Pain ?
@Nagato Pain Nobody, nothing, nose, nausea, nonsense etc?
@Nagato Pain Niger? I like that country too
@@lucase.crusader1196 Nigeria is also a country with a similar name
I love the video, just wanted to say I love the Tobacco groove at the end of the video!
Could someone explain to what it is that makes people just despise the paintings? They may be generic, but they're just pretty scenes of cottages and small towns and gardens, I don't see what's so controversial about that. I get he himself wasn't the greatest person, but to be fair, a lot of famous artists were terrible and messed up people..
I'm definitely no art connoisseur or anything, but I've seen art people in the comment section also expressing their hatred for these paintings, and I don't know why? Is it just because of the artist himself or is there something I'm not seeing in the paintings?
People involved in the art world see and study hundreds of paintings. Hundreds. After a while it takes effort to move you, and after the first hundred you'll feel pretty annoyed by little cottage #37
@@jellyfish0311 sounds like an art critic problem and not an artist problem.
@@jellyfish0311 I get that, but what makes them so terrible? Not just that they're annoying, but people hating them technically. Not just them being generic.
@@모모-k1x6t I can't answer you that, sadly, I only know a little about art myself. Maybe they're slightly off, like the perspective being a little too flat or out of scale, things like that.
@@infidelcastro6687 yeah. I love your username btw
Kinkade's art is generic and sentimental, yes, and "greeting card illustration" is a perfect way to describe the style, but they're not *bad*. He goes for realism layered under otherworldly colour saturation and light, and he nails it. His work shows the technical skill of someone who has committed to just a couple mediums and dedicated an almost immeasurable amount of time to perfecting them. On one hand, you've seen one Kinkade painting you've seen them all, there's very little remarkable about any one particular painting. On the other hand, they're beautifully executed and immediately recognizable, and that in and of itself is a sign of success as an artist.
Be careful with your choice of paintings used to represent Kinkade's work, though. The Disney infusion stood out to me right away but I'm sure others fall into this category too: Thomas Kinkade STUDIOS artworks and prints. Anyone curious how the company is churning out new artwork 8 years after his death? The Disney classics series was 1 year after his death. I have the calendar, they're all marked 2013 and include the word "Studios" in the signature. His company has a team of artists trained in his style making more work and/or screen printing new elements into old paintings.
Thank you for describing kinkade’s art articulately; it perfectly describes how I feel about his work. Gonna copy and paste this...
Well, that's not really realism though. The paintings are highly detailed, but not prescise and no attempt is made to truthfully represent any aspect of reality. It's mostly just highly detailed romantiscism, which is fine, but for many people art is *bad* not by the standards of technical execution but by what it represents and does, and the argument can be easily made that Kinkade's art represents blissful ignorance and complacency, which the people then take issue with.
@@kleshnekrab To sum it all up, his work in just boring. I grew up seeing similar illustrations on Jig saw puzzles and greeting cards and this type of art for me I wouldn't bother seeking this out. Yes, technically it's well excruciated, but there's really nothing challenging to any of his images as compared to a Van Gogh or Picasso. For a lot of people who dismiss Modern art and prefer his work as "SAFE" and acceptable, where I find his work to be dull and unchallenging.
Agreed.
beautifully executed? He whips them out faster than most people take a shit. He doesn't give a shit about these pieces and it shows
In a way I guess those paintings represented everything he didn't have in his life.
A form of escapade for himself, publicized for others.
My parents grew up in New England. My grandparents lived in New Hampshire and Vermont. We spent every summer up in Vermont for several weeks. I’ve been to every small town, crossed every covered bridge there was back in the 70s and 80s, went to antique stores, saw such beauty that Thomas Kincaid absolutely captured I am grateful for his paintings. They help me relive my childhood. They help me imagine my parents” childhood. They are amazing pictures of a simpler time when kids would just go outside and play all day and beautiful Victorian houses had a single lit candle in each window and a big Christmas trees in large picture window.
I’ve been to places that look just like that. I feel bad for those who haven’t ever experienced the beauty of a summer, winter, fall or spring in beautiful Vermont. Skipping rocks along the side of the road, picking beautiful sweet spicy-smelling wildflowers, swimming in lakes, walking down country roads, buying penny candy from little wooden-floored five and dime stores. Amazing times I’ll never forget.
And at one point I lived over in England and traveled to North Wales on many occasions. I thoroughly enjoyed sitting on the stone bridge, listening to the babbling, Brooke below, looking at the thatched roof houses, and the ivy-covered stone houses. Each one had a small but colorful garden in the front . Beautiful wildflowers.dotted the land. Straight from a Kincaid painting. It was a little piece of heaven on earth.
Thank you. It’s nice to know there are scenes like that in real life. I’ve always liked his paintings of homes and villages.
I think duality is such an interesting thing to utilise within art.
As FPS Diesel’s comment said, I find it draining to see somber depictions of the human condition only to turn around and see the same thing in real life. It’s monotonous and somewhat expected in the modern art scene.
The sugary sweet, whimsical art of Kinkade is pretty. unremarkable but pretty. This provides a fascinating contrast with the man behind the work. Sometimes it’s important to separate the art from the artist but in instances like this, seeing the two side by side makes for a far more entertaining experience.
hey person with verification mark
I think I see where you're coming from, but I don't know that the "contrast" is really applicable with Kinkade. In his case it only became apparent when his businesses started failing because that's when his life took a downward turn. Prior to that, he was attending school, getting more famous, and richer by the day. To me that duality isn't evident here because for years he was just as sugary, delusional, and superficial as the art he was making until his wallet started taking a hit. He fell into a depression and substance abuse cycle because his popularity was waning, and people didn't want to buy his art anymore. Is that really comparable to the same duality present in say a Durer piece? Durer was also very religious, concerned with light and was immensely popular. He spent almost the entirety his life tortured by the big questions and intellectual ideas in his head, but his depictions are not always sad and hellish. His work is technically speaking, jaw dropping. Much of the time he's commenting on his mental state in the work without explicitly stating it and that's the difference with Kinkade.
Kinkade is was always overly optimistic, all about god, joy, family values so he made a cabin scene with the sun shining where everything is all happy and there's a deer etc. It's just derivative at this point. When other artists work it's not so on the nose, they use the brush stroke, the forms, the setting, perspective, and every element of a piece to inform and reinforce that duality if it's present.
When I see Kinkade, I don't see him saying anything at all. Every piece is basically the same set of corny and uncanny elements collaged together in a hideous palette to give you a sense that things are all good and happy. It might be the nihilism talking, but the world is shitty and when I see art like this is doesn't feel authentic, it feels like someone trying to force a smile. Art is depressing because it's scope is large, and it's often a measure in communicating the collective issues we face. So yeah, it's hard to see depressing art all the time, but at least that's a conversation worth having, to me there's nothing to unpack and there's no conversation to be had with the Kinkade cabin on my Christmas card.
I don't intend for this to sound pretentious, or shut you down, it's just what was going through my head as I read your comment! :)
@@colethornton6626 I think your definition of art suggests there must me meaning to the work. That's fine. I disagree with the notion that good work has to provoke thought and conversation but I strongly believe that it makes things more interesting ;)
There certainly is still a duality with Kinkade's work. His cosy cottage paintings are like a sugar-coated version of the thatched roofs, pristine flower beds and peaceful country lanes I am surrounded by irl. There's the trope where these villages are full of scandal and murder but covered by a whimsical veneer. Isn't that the same with Kinkade's true intentions behind his work? He was a salesman who exploited the innocent, cheery appearance of his paintings for financial gain and worldwide fame. I highly doubt his personality matched the surface intentions of his work even before his decline.
All this being said, isn't it funny that we're talking about Kinkade's work right now and how different his paintings are to the real world? I can say with almost 100% certainty that he wasn't trying to create this contrast but it's more fun that way. Art critics pick apart work and hunt for meaning like english literature teachers do but who's here to say if we're right or wrong? :D
I am a simple man. I love beautiful things. I would hate to live in world where enjoying an art *always* requires a deep thinking and (probably) art degrees.
Snobbism is why most art has to have meaning.
Most art does not have meaning.including some of the most famous works which are often famous not cuase of their meaning but cuase of their backstory.the Mona Lisa is a painting that was used to teach a student there's nothing deep about it.but cuase it was stolen it became famous and cuase it is famous poeple tried to justify it's popularity with made up meaning.
“What are these? Pictures of babies eating each other? The scatological scribblings of a madman?”
Me: Probably not, Francisco Goya actually seems to be well respected.
**laughs in art**
underrated comment lmao
I like his work simply because it shows a warm fantasy world you wish you could live in. And they're very popular in NY.
This is a great video, I'm impressed with your fair critique and analysis.
"Travelled by freight train across the country, sketching with James Gurney." I'll be honest, that sounds cool as hell.
Yep, especially with the mind behind Dinotopia
James gurney is very wholesome tho
Im just sad that HE got that opportunity
Dude was traincore before traincore lol
Hell isn’t cool
But his paintinɡs are so cozy and warm... They remind me of christmas and holidays at ɡrandmaˈs 🥺
They remind me of the greeting card section in CVS
Pablo Picasso: "The purpose of art is not for decorating apartments."
Thomas Kinkade: "Yes it is."
Kinkade really should've left it at that, instead of pushing this "Painter of Light" BS.
@@Inkan1969true. He doesn't live up to his own hype. That makes him a bad artist.
Like a wise man once said "tryies to be x but fails miserably"
Yet his art looks great in living rooms!
That was in reference to Picasso comment!
Picasso shoulda shut his yap, because his art sucked outside of his Cubist period. That's right, I said it.
So, I'm from the UK, so even though I can guarantee I've seen a Kinkade, I'd never heard of him. So, when you bigged up his art at the beginning and then I actually saw it, I was left sat there thinking, "Do you know what? That's really nice! That's actually really nice!" like that meme of that British guy reacting to a drink. I dabble a little bit in photoraphy and enjoy going on walks in the country to unwind and Kinkades art is like what a dream photo in my minds eye would be on one of those walks. I think your assessment of his art was fairly accurate and fair. So, seperating the man from the art, some of the ones you showed were a bit much, but the majority were just... nice. What's wrong with art just being nice? He's hardly become my favourite artist, nor can I remember a particular piece, because none really stand out. The hatred is just extreme, because his art is just nice. I think it's one of those things where the truth or reality lies somewhere in the middle.
Imagine selling so many paintings that your art becomes generic and common.
When actually you are the only one making them
I'll take it. Lol
@@missl849 I'll take 5
It's not *just* that he sold so many that they became generic, it's that the artistic concepts he plays with weren't necessarily his to begin with.
@@jadesded So... are you a satanist for drawing(or painting) fruit and bowls?
@Crimdoesstuff Outside of the classroom, with no actual artistic input & only the passé right-brained exercise, _Yes._ It's not wrong to study in that manner, and is encouraged to hone technique of in this case, 2D medium, but it's an exercise none the less that can be used to be applied later in actual art.. Like how musicians practice scales/chords/rhythms.
I like his art. Sure it’s not the most creative or whatever but it’s pretty to look at
I’m a classical musician and I’ve played so much Mozart that I find his works boring and redundant, but they are still some of the greatest pieces of music ever written.
@@mikey1305 I think Mozart suffers from the same phenomenon that for example the Beatles suffer from that his music is so famous and influential that it ends up sounding basic and uninteresting to some people because of how many elements of it are now well known elements of the genre.
@@mikey1305 very true. The reason it’s boring is because you’ve heard it so many times, and everyone saw “wow this is popular” so they all made similer stuff.
@@greentaigo2552 oh you beat me to it
Wish he would've done illustrations for fantasy books or fairy tales. They would've been amazing--might actually give kids good memories of going to the library at school. His take on Middle Earth would be interesting. RIP Kinkade.
Interestingly enough, that's actually James Gurney does, former partner of Kinkade. Should definitely check out some of his work and his channel too! Very relaxing and down to earth.
which was why I was surprise to learn he was a former partner of Kinkade :o definitely wasn't expecting that.
I'm just gonna pretend kincade never existed and go on with my life
He was a background artist for Ralph Bakshi's studio, so he might have worked on Bakshi's animated version of Lords of the Rings.
Isn't there like a Thomas Kinkade disney princess book?
I was thinking this too. I bet he could paint some good psychedelic- alice in wonderland- happy faeries and smiling mushrooms type stuff- his style captures a single comforting playful feeling- bet he could also do cute non-threatening Halloween stuff too- or even real gritty menacing demonic and creepy scenes well if he tried, but I guess he mostly just did these "shire" scenes. Shame he was so limited in his subject matter- I'd like to have seen his take on acid or goth feeling captures. Doesn't bother me that the intention was so transparent- most art is all feelings anyway. I don't see why one man's complex pain is a more legitimate subject than another man's simple comfort. I don't see the inherent nobility in being anti-social or anti-Western or anti-modernity. I mean, go ahead, but his art is only "political" in that these artists think that good art is supposed to be uncomfortable or a protest and he obviously didn't. He was considered political trash precisely because he wasn't political at all and that is understood as an endorsement of the status quo by people with an agenda that insist everyone is either with them or against them. Ironically similar to something Bush junior once said. His stuff was commercial and simple and wasn't trying to make any profound statements about the human condition, so what? I like it more than obsessing over the use of light on a bowl of fruit. Don't be a hater.
As an Evangelical Christian thank you for your even handed, thoughtful, and composed assessment of this man and his work. Such a good biography. I laughed out loud starting at minute 15:24. I think, as so often is the case with art, the art is informed by the life of the artist and the time in which they live. Your final conclusion on his life starting at 19:00 was a thing of poetic beauty. Thank you for such a powerful life lesson through story telling. Bravo!
His Christmas paintings look like the drawings that you'd see in those cookie cans, ya'know, the ones that 9 out of 10 times have thread and needles...
Yes I have a popcorn tin with that on it
Maybe this is why people hate him. We're reminded of sweet snacks at grandma's house, only for our plans to be seized by the existence of sewing accessories and no cookies! Curse this blatant trickery!
@@strawberrysangria1474 you goddamn genius
The art community sounds elitist as hell. That being said, I am a professional musician, and have certainly seen some of the same criticism thrown around at famous musicians today. However, the more I’ve surrounded myself around with musicians the more I’ve found those that love all the super popular music. It’s not original or groundbreaking music, but it serves its purpose well. In music we understand that stealing is the sincerest form of flattery, it doesn’t have to be original to have meaning.
Dang, I know. Eddy and Brett are doing one hell of a job educating peeps in a fun and entertaining way (regardless if they're even into classical music). Is there perhaps some sort of "twoset violin" in type art community?
YAY TWOSET
ehhhh yeah okay
When i heard the critics of the art community saying "his work is unoriginal", my only thought was "but is it good though?", cause those are two very different things.
And as a Physics University grad, (and I am not claiming to be some genius or anything though), I am pretty certain I am not "to stupid to understand" your contemporary modern "original art", I just think it sucks.
Elitist and that elitism was created by the idea all art needs to have feeling or meaning.when some art simply doesn't have that meaning or feeling.
Some of the most famous paintings have no meaning just a story unusual story.
I actually love his art. It reminds me of happy childhood memories, putting together puzzles during Christmas time or at my grandma’s house. I get a little glow of joy whenever I find his work. And this is from someone who spent most of their life in art schools haha
I'm glad. Art doesn't always have to have a deeper meaning. Sometimes it can simply be art for the eye.
I don’t think art should have to be challenging, theres comfort in these paintings and an escape from a generally negative world.
"Childhood memories" is a good way to put it. Whenever I see his paintings I feel like a child looking out at the world with hope again, before it all blurred into drab nonsense and tedium.
I would say his paintings feel like some safe place that I could live in, it looks comfortable and cozy, it looks like pure safety and coziness
I remember seeing his paintings in a dr’s office and thinking the colors were very nice and it was calming to look at which is a nice thing to have in a place that gives a lot of people anxiety. Landscape paintings in general are never considered significant by the art community. That being said I would rather see a calming cottage in that setting than a distorted image of someone screaming.
“This is your fate very soon!” 😱
When Bob Ross was compared to TK, a remark by Mr. Rogers came to mind. “You don’t set out to be rich or famous, what you set out to do is be helpful.” Long live Bob Ross!!
They're decent paintings. Nothing original or special, but if someone finds it soothing, what even is the issue? "Stupid paintings for stupid people" and "fake art." Imagine actually saying that. These art critics need to stop smelling their own farts so much. Makes artists as a whole look like assholes, far more than Kinkade might have done.
Yeah like calm down
Kinda like "Real hiphop"
Yep the people who usually critics average art as dogshit want a sense of superiority its really dumb nice pfp of lenessia hime lmao cant wait for season 4 lmao
@@fefega
And “real music” in general
Makes me embarrassed to be an artist
His paintings always made me wish I could magically see inside the softly lit windows of the lovely cottages. I love his paintings.
or to live in one
@@tchrisou812 yes, that too ❤️
I think that's the sentimentality that makes people hate him seems strange to hate someone for evoking that type of feeling in people. It's like the people that dislike his art don't like being happy or don't Mike art that makes them feel this way he's probably the same people that hate Christmas.
@@c1a2t3a4p5i6l7l8a9r yes, you said it right. Miserable unhappy people is what they are, they see no beauty in life
@@c1a2t3a4p5i6l7l8a9r Sadly, inside most wealthy and beautiful looking homes you can find the most vile people.
I bought a painting by Thomas Kinkade’s teacher, Glenn Wessels. The painting was an abstract expressionist painting, the polar opposite of Kinkade. But Wessels early work was WPA social realism. And Wessels teacher was Hans Hoffman, also an abstractionist.
It was a bit surprising to see this lineage of influences.
Honestly, hating this guy's art is like hating a slice of life show for "lacking emotional complexity". Like yeah, no sh*t, it's not supposed to be emotionally complex, and not everything needs to be emotionally complex. Fun things are allowed to be fun.
Or hating bob Ross for not drawing people
Not to these arrogant high handed snobs
I don’t think people actually hate on his art all that much, it’s more common that art snobs and critics tease fans of Thomas Kinkade for treating his paintings as though they’re fine art. I agree that Kinkade’s work is enjoyable in a kitschy way
here's a fun little word for that: puristism. art has to be both extremely complex in meaning and technique, otherwise it's not art. it has to have reinassance-like features in light and composition while having deep grim meanings. if its simple it's not art (cough cough modern art snobs)if it's happy it's not art(aka what you said). I'm not defending puristism just defying it
There mad because he said he wanted to have his paintings in a museum.
"Somewhere in your grandmother's living room."
Sands, you have no idea. My grandmother's house is INFESTED with Kinkade. He's everywhere in that house. She even has Kinkade angel Christmas ornaments.
INFESTED WITH KINKADE
that is my new favorite phrase thank you Zeus
@@daniellel230 GRANDMA GET KINKADE OUT OF THE HOUSE!
@@imagoat273 oh no Grandma time to call the exterminator looks like we've got some Kinkade in here
Wishing you courage and fortitude.
@@hyacinthbucket2683 Oh good morning Hyacinth Bouquet
this man clearly had talent..he is a great artist, maybe just not a great guy, dude made alot of money, I wish I could paint like him
I agree. I can't see anything inherently wrong with them, and some of them are pretty good, but I dot think I'd personally buy any of them for my house
@@leftysheppey I certainly would, to add some sweetness to my home in these awful times of uncertainty.
@@luz1959 I feel like theres much better artwork you could put in your home. If you want a lovely picture of some, idk, outside spaces, I'd recommend somebody like John Avon. Practically unknown outside of his community, but hundreds of thousands of people know him as a premier landscape artist. Or go to a local art gallery, see what they have to offer. You may be surprised about talent in your area
Why? Because he’s Christian? If he were something else, everyone would be offended.
@@caracalcontinuum3118 what on earth are you on about? Religion has nothing to do with this.
I love these painting particularly the ones with lots of nature and a cottage or two. They make me feel calm and I would love to live in a cottage like one in the paintings.
I actually like those paintings. They're pretty. They give me a rose coloured nostalgic feel. The past not as it was but how we remember it.
That's because you're normal.
@K H and is that so bad?
@@dvffYT No its a good thing. Its literally %100 just a good positive healthy behavior. Normal is good lol.
@@HorseyWorsey haha woops, hard to read what others mean without a tone of voice ^^'
Same here! I love how his paintings are welcoming and familiar while simultaneously being ethereal and otherworldly.
And the soft, warm lighting he uses makes me wanna take a nap in a flowery field.
"These unremarkable paintings of cottages that would normally be on jigsaw puzzles"
Oh boy you better take that back about jigsaw puzzles
Literally have one of those Jigsaw puzzles on my wall
I didnt even know it was from this guy before this video
I got one of a forest, a steampunk city and northern lights too though
probably by different people
bruh what, it’s true 🤡
The vast majority of jigsaw puzzles my parents own are Thomas Kinkade paintings.
At first I thought it was all about people who hate jigsaws because that one guy always steals a couple pieces at the family gatherings.
Heh I own a jigsaw puzzle with one of his cottages, a calm snowy scene. Perfect for lonely covid puzzling