By Emmett Berg
SAN FRANCISCO, April 11 (Reuters) – Thomas Kinkade made art
that was reproduced countless times and lambasted by critics,
but now galleries selling his work are reporting increased
demand after the painter’s unexpected death in Northern
California at age 54.
A surge in sales of art by Kinkade, who died on Friday,
marks a contradiction of sorts because consumers are seizing on
the perceived scarcity of works by an artist who, during his
lifetime, was all too willing to serve the mass market.
Nathan Ross, who with his grandfather owns the Original
Thomas Kinkade Gallery in the painter’s hometown of Placerville,
California, northeast of Sacramento, said his company’s website
crashed due to a spike in the number of online visits.
That occurred within 24 hours of Kinkade’s death at his home
in Los Gatos, 45 miles south of San Francisco.
“Normally we do one or two web orders a day, and since
Saturday we’ve taken 400-plus. I know this will pass, I just
have no idea when,” Ross said.
Homespun scenes with luminescent pastels drew legions of
fans to Kinkade’s paintings, but art critics largely dismissed
the work of the self-described “Painter of Light” as kitsch.
Kinkade painted cottages, churches, gardens, cityscapes and
characters from the lore of the Walt Disney Co.
Even Ross admitted he does not display any Kinkade works in
his home. But customers are clamoring for it out of a perceived
scarcity, he said.
“A lot of people, they’re just panicked,” Ross said. “They
say, ‘I’ve been wanting a Kinkade for years, and I’m afraid I’m
not going to have an opportunity unless I get one right now.'”
Wade Jenkins, 63, owns three galleries in Arizona that sell
Kinkade paintings, the largest of which is his Thomas Kinkade
and More store in Glendale.
“Our business levels have increased dramatically, and it’s
not abating at this time,” Jenkins said. “Thom is very popular,
he was always very popular, and people want to make sure that
they have some of his paintings to enjoy forever.”
Reproductions of Kinkade’s art were made in limited
quantities, and once they sell out consumers can have a
difficult time finding the same painting, Jenkins said.
A representative from the Thomas Kinkade Company, which
publishes his works, did not return calls.
Noah Lang, who owns the Electric Works gallery in San
Francisco and does not sell works by Kinkade, said despite his
personal distaste for his art, “one has to marvel at the depth
of interest he was able to awaken in the American public.”
New York magazine critic Jerry Saltz wrote on the website
Vulture.com that the art world did not look favorably on Kinkade
because “none — not one — of his ideas” as conveyed in
painting “is remotely original.”
Five days after Kinkade was found dead, the cause has yet to
be determined, but his family has said that he appeared to have
died of natural causes.
(Editing by Alex Dobuzinskis, Steve Gorman and Christopher
Wilson)
