The Most Hated Artist You Probably Recognize

Small error at 3:09, Kinkade was born in '58, must've got that switched around. Just a heads-up

"Thomas kinkade is the most hated artist!" Hitler: 👁️👄👁️

As someone who attended college for art, my classmates and teachers almost always hate things that the average person thinks is nice or wholesome. I don't get it, it seems pretentious to hate a man's art just cause it has a charm and coziness to it. I like just liking something without having to demand it be nihilistic.

I’m an art student. A week ago, my contemporary drawing professor had us research and discuss Kinkade. The discussion turned out to be a heated argument that split the class in two. By the end of the discussion (which was four hours), everyone who previously decided they hated Kinkade had conceded their argument in one way or another. Regardless if his art speaks to YOU, his art speaks to millions of Americans who find comfort in nostalgia and idealized landscapes. Kinkade might be painting for the masses, but god damn it, he is an artist who found his niche in a society that rarely values artists. He is an artist whose work speaks to HIM and there is nothing wrong with that. It doesn’t make him any less of an artist and neither do his “sell out” collaborations. Everyone admitted that if they had the opportunity to collaborate with major brands that they would do it in a heartbeat. Every artist wants that kind of attention regardless if they flat out deny it. Millions of artists already try to get their art out to as many people as possible by printing it on marketable merchandise. Kinkade’s presence in the art world is not one of laziness or corporatism, but pure necessity. Kinkade’s paintings don’t speak to me as an artist, and I can be fine with that while at the same time coming to terms with my envy and respect of his ability to make a living off making the art true to his heart. If anybody is still reading this, I’d encourage you to check our Kinkade’s urban landscapes, which don’t have nearly as much attention as his cottages. It’s fascinating to see him apply his signature idealized style with soft colors and bright values to the urban scene. Thanks for reading!

Art doesn’t always have to be challenging. I see Kinkade’s work as like a mental palate cleanser, something serene and peaceful that can help bring you back down to earth if you look at it for long enough. The man had real talent for sure, and it’s hard to ignore thoughts that people hated him because of copium - that he had such a skill but he chose to paint simple beauty instead of something more complex and heavy.

This made me respect Bob Ross's humility even more. He said openly he'd never be in a museum. His paintings are now in the Smithsonian.

The George W Bush of art is such an oddly specific insult

The concept of kitsch is interesting. The idea being that all art needs to have some sort of hidden theme or underlying message that requires the scrutiny of an intelligent person to understand. I think there are 2 main problems with this. First these paintings are meant to be wall art, they are like elevator music. They are supposed to hang on the wall and look pleasent, basicly visual background noise. They are ment to convey a cozy wholesome vibe to the room, not be the centerpiece themselves. The second issue is that modern art is often the opposite of "kitsch" to the extreme. Alot of modern art is so covoluded and requires so many leaps of logic and context to understand the theme or message that the message and theme loose all meaning and impact in the process of trying to undertand it. Most of the time people just disregard it as pretentious bullshit that makes no sense.

Kinkade’s paintings evoke a sense of nostalgia and comfort by combining aspects of both realism and Impressionism, strongly rooted in the rich landscape painting traditions of the past. They represent a lost time that most of us never experienced, and probably never existed. There. I just assigned academic meaning to his paintings.

Imagine being one of the most controversial artists that only paint cottages.

"Thomas Kinkade is the most hated artist" Kinkade: *wipes tears with hundred dollar bills*

Being a background painter for animation explains why he’s so prolific! He had to get really good at painting fast

His paintings represent a wish, a yearning, an aspiration to serenity and tranquility. There’s room for that, along with everything else.

Looking at the paintings, thinking to myself: I did all those puzzles.

I grew up in a broken home and was abused as a child. Pretty bad childhood with little love. I remember seeing these paintings in a local shop and felt an instant warmth I couldn’t understand. I was so in love with these paintings and bought a miniature print for my desk. It always brought me so much joy - imagining myself living there with a family who loved me and having a different reality. I’m forever thankful for having found these paintings and I’m glad to finally know the name of the artist. I don’t care what other artists say - his art has helped me and Im sure many others to escape their reality. And that’s something we all need sometimes. And that’s art in action.

My parents were photographers, and after the industry shifted to digital they used "Kinkading" as a verb to talk about photoshopping lights into windows

I love the peaceful, homey, nostalgic feeling his art invokes. Better than staring at a red dot on a canvas and pretending there’s so much depth and feeling in it! To each his own

They aren't even bad paintings. They just feel... generic? At this point we've seen so many reproductions so often they're no longer unique. Honestly what's most impressive is the fact this guy managed to make such detailed paintings feel so basic and bare bones(?) at the same time

People who were brought joy from a mans death that they didn’t even know and understand is borderline pathetic.

upon watching this again, the juxtaposition between Kinkades personal life and his idealist paintings is an artistic expression and meaning in itself. His inner turmoil manifested into something simple and comforting, almost as though it brough himself some comfort. You can hate the guy who painted these things, but the artwork is competent and pretty.