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Artist Thomas Kinkade dies at the age of 54
Debra Jadick
Joplin Doll Collecting Examiner
The Art world lost an iconic Artist on Friday when Thomas
Kinkade passed away at the age of 54 in Los Gatos, CA of natural causes.
Mr. Kinkade was one of the most widely collected and beloved Artists of our day. His artwork can be found in an estimated 1 out of every 20 homes in America.
Thomas Kinkade was born in 1958 and grew up in the foothills of the Sierra Mountains in the small town of Placerville, California. From the age of 4 years old his calling as an Artist was evident. A year later at the age of 5 years old his parents divorced. In the early 1960s single family homes were a rarity and carried a stigma. Mr. Kinkade states “I recall it as being a time of embarrassment, shame and poverty.” Kinkade turned to his art during this difficult time, saying “Art gave me some dignity in the midst of my personal environment.” By the tender age of 16 years old he had become an accomplished oil painter and was under the apprenticeship of Artist Glen Wessels.
Kinkade studied at the University of California at Berkeley and the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California. The summer after graduating Kinkade, with a longtime friend and fellow Artist James Gurney, traveled the rails in a boxcar from California to New York sketching the beauty of the American landscape. These two Artists filled with the inspiration of their journey and the boldness of youth walked into Norman Rockwell’s publisher, Waton Guptil, and brashly pitched their idea for a book on sketching for Artists. In 1982 “The Artists Guide to Sketching” was published. The popularity of the book led to employment with Ralph Bakshi Studios, creating background art for the animated film Fire and Ice. This was the beginning of Kinkade’s mastery of pictorial lighting effects.
What often goes unnoticed in Kinkade’s paintings, except for the very observant, is the Artist’s playful side. Kinkade slips in tiny details here and there. In the piece entitled Homestead House the initials on the tree stand for Rhett Butler and Scarlett O’Hara. In his Paris, City of Lights, Kinkade is having a showing at the Louvre in Paris, something that in reality had not happened, with a banner saying “Sold Out”. In other work you will find Norman Rockwell, peeping out of the windshield of a car, or hurrying up a walkway.
Kinkade a Christian and dedicated family man showed his love for both in his work. Some of his paintings are actually visual depictions of Bible verses such as A Light in the Storm taken from John 8:12 “I am the light of the world.” To pay tribute to his wife and daughters he would hide their names or initials within his paintings. His Golden Gate Bridge painting reportedly contains 156 Ns for his wife Nanette whom he married in 1982 after being childhood sweethearts.
Though Thomas Kinkade was one of the most well-known Artists of our time he remained humble and generous, using his art to raise tens of thousands of dollars for charitable causes. In 1990 he received the Humanitarian of the Year Award.
Thomas Kinkade provided us with warm nostalgia in a complex often stressful world. He succeeded taking us back to the way things were, a simpler time. Mr. Kinkade will be sorely missed in the Art World.
Mr. Kinkade was one of the most widely collected and beloved Artists of our day. His artwork can be found in an estimated 1 out of every 20 homes in America.
Thomas Kinkade was born in 1958 and grew up in the foothills of the Sierra Mountains in the small town of Placerville, California. From the age of 4 years old his calling as an Artist was evident. A year later at the age of 5 years old his parents divorced. In the early 1960s single family homes were a rarity and carried a stigma. Mr. Kinkade states “I recall it as being a time of embarrassment, shame and poverty.” Kinkade turned to his art during this difficult time, saying “Art gave me some dignity in the midst of my personal environment.” By the tender age of 16 years old he had become an accomplished oil painter and was under the apprenticeship of Artist Glen Wessels.
Kinkade studied at the University of California at Berkeley and the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California. The summer after graduating Kinkade, with a longtime friend and fellow Artist James Gurney, traveled the rails in a boxcar from California to New York sketching the beauty of the American landscape. These two Artists filled with the inspiration of their journey and the boldness of youth walked into Norman Rockwell’s publisher, Waton Guptil, and brashly pitched their idea for a book on sketching for Artists. In 1982 “The Artists Guide to Sketching” was published. The popularity of the book led to employment with Ralph Bakshi Studios, creating background art for the animated film Fire and Ice. This was the beginning of Kinkade’s mastery of pictorial lighting effects.
What often goes unnoticed in Kinkade’s paintings, except for the very observant, is the Artist’s playful side. Kinkade slips in tiny details here and there. In the piece entitled Homestead House the initials on the tree stand for Rhett Butler and Scarlett O’Hara. In his Paris, City of Lights, Kinkade is having a showing at the Louvre in Paris, something that in reality had not happened, with a banner saying “Sold Out”. In other work you will find Norman Rockwell, peeping out of the windshield of a car, or hurrying up a walkway.
Kinkade a Christian and dedicated family man showed his love for both in his work. Some of his paintings are actually visual depictions of Bible verses such as A Light in the Storm taken from John 8:12 “I am the light of the world.” To pay tribute to his wife and daughters he would hide their names or initials within his paintings. His Golden Gate Bridge painting reportedly contains 156 Ns for his wife Nanette whom he married in 1982 after being childhood sweethearts.
Though Thomas Kinkade was one of the most well-known Artists of our time he remained humble and generous, using his art to raise tens of thousands of dollars for charitable causes. In 1990 he received the Humanitarian of the Year Award.
Thomas Kinkade provided us with warm nostalgia in a complex often stressful world. He succeeded taking us back to the way things were, a simpler time. Mr. Kinkade will be sorely missed in the Art World.
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