Writer of Light
- At January 27, 2005
- By Bob Howe
- In Blog Posts
19
I was surfing my friends list, and I came upon
You might want to read
Here’s my response:
Well, I was impressed by god’s 18-wheeler; I previously thought of Kincade as just a painter of treacly cottage scenes.
But you know, I understand his appeal. As a teenager and young man I immersed myself in Lord of the Rings and other fantastic fiction, at least in part to spend time in those idealized worlds. Kincade’s work is the visual expression of that impulse, I think.
I worked at an art college for six years, and I saw a lot of mediocre art in that period. You have to say this for Kincade: he had good technical skills; his works are representational and comprehensible; and his works evoke emotion.
Of course most of his stuff is saccharine, and he’s not breaking any new artistic ground (die-cast truck decoration notwithstanding). He does one thing, and he does it competently. I would say he’s a cottage industry (pun most definitely intended), but he’s more like a global conglomerate now, and it’s easy to dismiss his mass-produced kitsch on those grounds. But I have at least as much respect for him as I do for the Billyburg hipsters who are scrounging street trash for found-object art in willfully obscure, self-referential gallery shows that six people will see (four of whom are relatives and lovers of the artist).
P.S.—Henceforth you shall refer to me as Bob Howe, Writer of Light.
copperwise
The first time I saw a Kincade painting, I wondered where the unicorn was.
Mia — Writer of Slightly Smudgy
childofasphalt
he’s a suburban family sitting room artist. sort of like a norman rockwell, but without the spark. something that makes a room with cream-white walls, dusty mauve curtains and overstuffed sofas homey and complete. he’s been marketed into our lifestyles. if waterhouse had been equally as commercialized, we might be finding more calenders of ophelia and the flower-picker on contemporary kitchen walls instead. ole!
c3fyn
Tee hee
My way of celebrating the birthday of Lewis Carroll!
http://www-groups.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~history/Mathematicians/Dodgson.html
pixelfish
Thomas Kinkade doesn’t put all the finishing touches on his paintings anymore. He has workshops that add “finishing touches”. He has really strange lighting issues–the glow-in-the-dark, nuclear-winter trees with orange and pink leaves that show up even in the gloaming. (I did like his San Francisco in the rain paintings, but even they got old after a while.)
Oh well, if it makes people happy (and if I get to have fun, ranting insanely about it) then by all means, let Thomas paint away.
I like Bob Ross better. Technically, a short notch down the scale from TK, but at least he encouraged other people to learn the basics.
the_monkey_king
I’ve always thought of Kincaide as Republican art: dreadfully earnest and deeply misguided.
Sort of the Socialist Realism of the Right.
ksp24
I agree with you, indeed it is so treacly that it’s a bit hard to bear.
admin
Ha! Yep, that’s the feeling they have. And nice to see you’ve staked out the Slightly Smudgy, it’s a neglected niche market.
admin
he’s a suburban family sitting room artist.
Nice description of him. I don’t hold the marketing against him: the marketing of all visual art is ferocious. Artists are bought as much—if not more—for their cachet among hip gallery owners as anything else. The seam where art ends and hype begins is increasingly difficult to detect.
admin
Re: Tee hee
My way of celebrating the birthday of Lewis Carroll!
Ah, yes, of the Hudson River School of mathematicians.
admin
I loved Bob Ross. I have no idea where he stands as an artist, but watching him was like going to Art Church: soothing, reassuring and ecumenical.
admin
Republican Art is a good name for it: it captures their reactionary yearning for a time and place that never existed. And I think it’s the same yearning that shapes their worldview on non-artistic matters.
mckitterick
My response to such art would be Lee Adam Herold’s art:
http://www.choppingblock.org/
That is all,
Chris
admin
<Laughing> Man, you are just wrong!
Yes, Chopping Block. I guess that’s what you get when you cross Edward Gorey and Thomas Kincade.
mckitterick
Wrong? No no – go back to one of the very first ones and you’ll see this is right, very right, when Butch and the Backstreet Boys have a little get-together….
Nice analysis!
Chris
c3fyn
It is my firm and unshakeable conviction that Bob Ross was/will be an Ascended Master. He taught “painting” the way that Fritjof Capra wrote about “physics”.
In fact, he’s an official saint in my church(tm). In fact, I can imagine Kinkade as the Anti-Bob.
Fnord!
c3fyn
Waaaaaaaaaaaaaugh!
Anonymous
Hail, oh Writer of Light.
(that’s all, I just wanted to call you Writer of Light)
Bill
admin
Yeah, that’s going to enhance my literary reputation.
Anonymous
Pander of Light
Gorzilla here.
It’s strange that I have no problems with the Hindi religious prints I have in my house, which are actually equally saccharine. Example: Krishna (with a sweet secret smirk) and his milkmaids, no problem. I’m not talking about masterpieces from the past, I’m talking about the Asian equivalents of Jesus suffering the little children to come unto him.
Geoff and I used to go to a coffee house that sold Kinkade prints. We actually enjoyed them, although we also thought they were quite tacky. Is that possible? Can you enjoy something while at the same time realizing it’s bad taste?
True, Geoff wanted to graffiti them in various evil ways —
Precious Moments, on the other hand, makes me wish I were very very wealthy so I could buy lots of them and use them to throw at passing nuclear waste trucks when I’m feeling out of sorts.