Thomas Kinkade
Thomas Kinkade | |
|---|---|
Kinkade in 2005 | |
| Born | William Thomas Kinkade III January 19, 1958 Sacramento, California, U.S. |
| Died | April 6, 2012 (aged 54) Monte Sereno, California, U.S. |
| Education | ArtCenter College of Design, Pasadena |
| Known for | Painting |
| Spouse |
Nanette Willey (m. 1982) |
| Children | 4 |
William Thomas Kinkade III (January 19, 1958 – April 6, 2012) was an American painter of popular realistic, pastoral, and idyllic subjects. He is notable for achieving success during his lifetime with the mass marketing of his work as printed reproductions and other licensed products by means of the Thomas Kinkade Company. According to Kinkade's company, one in every twenty American homes owned a copy of one of his paintings.
Kinkade described himself as a "Painter of Light", a phrase he protected by trademark.
Kinkade was criticized for some of his behavior and business practices; art critics faulted his work for being "kitsch". Kinkade died as a result of acute intoxication from alcohol and the drug diazepam at the age of 54. Reportedly, about 600 of his 6,000 unpublished works have been published posthumously. His unpublished work "experiments with forms and styles and frequently depict[ed] the darkness that lurked inside of him. In several images, dark brooding figures rendered in charcoal seem haunted[.]"