Art in Its Own Light.

• Author: Freund, Charles Paul
• Position: Brief Article

The glowing controversy over Thomas Kinkade

Thomas Kinkade, America's self-styled "Painter of Light," is taking his work abroad. Three galleries in Britain will soon be marketing his enormously popular prints and, presumably, his Kinkade mouse pads, Kinkade wallpaper borders, Kinkade plates, Kinkade puzzles, Kinkade teddy bears, and other paraphernalia that bears his name. The controversy he has sparked about the nature of the contemporary art world will probably become another of his exports.

Who is he? Kinkade is a 43-year-Old northern Californian whom the Orlando Sentinel says is the most collected living artist in history. He is known for landscapes, garden scenes, and cityscapes marked by a characteristic haze, what his publicity material calls the "Kinkade glow." Much of this scenery is given a religious dimension through the titles that Kinkade--a born-again Christian--appends to it: He calls one recent Yosemite landscape The Mountains Declare His Glory, a scene of garden steps becomes a Stairway to Paradise, etc. The content of his work is both sentimental and undramatic; his fans might call it "tranquil." It looks like a lot of greeting card art, and in fact Kinkade has a deal with Hallmark. You can see some of his work, in the form of birthday cards, in any big drugstore display.

Kinkade is not relying on word of mouth for sales. He has trademarked the "Painter of Light" moniker and through Media Arts Group Inc., the corporation that markets him has deals with 300 "signature stores" and 4,000 authorized dealers around the country that specialize in his prints (he keeps his originals) and spin-offs. MAGI posted $138 million in sales last year, a 53 percent increase over 1998. A recent MAGI letter to investors treats Kinkade quite openly as a brand name: "Our unique business model incorporates the Thomas Kinkade lifestyle brand, branded products, controlled branded distribution and strategic partnerships with some of the most well known companies in the world. We have the people, knowledge, processes and strategies necessary to create the leading art-based lifestyle brand." Indeed, MAGI goes so far as to claim that its Kinkade lifestyle strategy has "changed the paradigm of art."

An "art-based lifestyle brand," it turns out, goes well beyond painted plates and Christmas decorations. For example, Kinkade now has a deal with La-Z-Boy, which sells furniture sets under his name.

For some, such branding sits uneasily with Kinkade's pose...