Thomas Kinkade, one of nation's most popular painters, dies in Los Gatos

[marions ghost]

160. More than deceitful

it was deceptive and criminal.

I doubt anyone could quite do the same thing today not because there are any greater protections --there are fewer than ever--but because the times have changed. I'd like to think that Kinkade's scam has taught many of his buyers that what they thought was a solid investment wasn't and maybe they'll warn their friends. In other words that people have wised up. Not sure about that.

Making Kinkade into some kind of pioneer in innovative art marketing and citing other artists doing that today (more honestly) exalts him much more than the guy deserves and is a way to try to obscure the issues, ie. trying to put lipstick on a pig. Kinkade made his fortunes by brilliant huckstering in the style of PT Barnum, not merely trying to sell his art with new strategies. He also has some things in common with Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh --a characteristic that his apologists would like to gloss over.

Many artists use branded marketing--ie. go slick and commercial--this is true, but I bet they are not making the vast fortune that Kinkade amassed by scamming. I don't fault these so-called "branded" artists for doing whatever they can to sell--they know their customer base needs this branding and it's not a crime to go that way if you're just out for the bucks. I don't care if people want to buy syrupy decorative art but they do need to know that the $800 Kinkade reproduction they bought (and that would be a cheap one) is worth about $50 max. It would make more sense to just buy the junk direct from the Chinese factory.

If Kinkade had just started out doing cards and mugs and low cost reproductions I wouldn't care, but he built his name and fortunes on a fundamental set of lies. Many people got taken in. He was a talented exploiter. But I see his apologists are working hard at the posthumous cover-up.