Thomas Kinkade
1958–2012
The life and work of Thomas Kinkade prove that the paint brush is a powerful instrument for positive good. Like Norman Rockwell and Walt Disney, two of the great storytellers of art, Kinkade was committed to spreading joy. One of his many beloved narrative paintings is even about Snow White and he was the perfect choice to be the official artist for the 50th anniversary of Disneyland Proclaimed early in his highly successful career as the “Painter of Light,” Kinkade delighted his many fans and legion of collectors, now numbering 10 million, with dreamy fairy-tale scenes of quaint cottages and idyllic landscapes imbued with the cozy sense of comfort that his own deeply spiritual beliefs offered him.
Thomas Kinkade’s stardom had humble beginnings. Born in 1958, grew up in a small town called Placerville near Sacramento. He attended both Berkeley and the prestigious Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, but left school for financial reasons and studied on his own. A turning point came in 1980 when he and a friend took a cross-country sketching tour, ending in Manhattan, that they turned into an immediately successful book, The Artist’s Guide to Sketching.
He was recruited to produce background art for an animated feature film, “Fire and Ice,” and began advancing his own ideas on the depiction of light in painting. He married his childhood sweetheart, Nanette and they launched a thriving graphic arts business that spread his name throughout California, and eventually the world. By some accounts, he has sold more canvases than any other artist in history.
Kinkade unexpectedly died on April 6, 2012, leaving a legacy of positive feeling shared by millions worldwide who look at his paintings and prints on their walls every day.
READ MORE +There is something timeless about the art of Thomas Kinkade. He is closer to the Old Masters than most other artists of our time. Like the epic canvases of the Hudson River School artists including Albert Bierstadt and Frederick Church, Kinkade’s mountainscapes are bursting with the glories of sunlight and the majesty of snow-capped peaks. His quaint cottages and country homes, their windows glowing with the gold tones of candles and firesides, share the architectural charm of Rembrandt’s paintings and etchings based on rural Dutch farmhouses and huts. Inside his gardens, the bucolic spirit of the flowers and trees is a reminder of Eden. Along a wild shoreline, a dauntless lighthouse stands vigil above the pounding waves.
As a devout Christian who referred to himself as a “warrior for light,” he unabashedly invokes the divine. “What I paint touches on foundational life values—home, family, peacefulness,” Kinkade once said. “One of the messages I try to constantly get across is, ‘Slow it down and enjoy every moment.’”
One of the secrets to the effects of light is a Renaissance technique called glazing, which uses thin layers of diluted paint to build up a golden tone over a dark ground. In his bestselling book Lightposts for Living, Kinkade wrote:
“Dark layers are what will give the work its depth; they will make the windows and the streetlights and even the sun seem to glow from within instead of being dabbed on the surface. Because of the darkness, the light I add has more impact.”
Kinkade tucked what he called “love notes” into his paintings. He hid the letter “N” as a coded tribute to his wife, Nanette, and similar signals in the compositions were addressed to his four daughters —Merritt, Winsor, Everett, and Chandler—all named after famous artists. Their names and images can be detected in the paintings.
Thomas Kinkade: Accomplishments
- Kinkade painted milestone events like Disneyland’s 50th Anniversary, Walt Disney World Resort’s 35th Anniversary, the 50th anniversary of Elvis Presley’s purchase of Graceland, the 25th anniversary of Graceland’s opening to the public, the 50th anniversary of Daytona 500, and Yankee Stadium’s farewell 85th season.
- Kinkade received numerous awards for “Artist of the Year” and “Graphic Artist of the Year” from the National Association of Limited Edition Dealers (NALED). He was also awarded “Lithograph of the Year” for nine consecutive years.
- Kinkade raised millions for charity, assisting non-profit organizations serving children, humanitarian issues, and the arts.
- Kinkade’s work with the Salvation Army, the Make-a-Wish Foundation, and the Church of Nazarene propelled him to win numerous awards for his service and painting. The NALED recognized him for his philanthropic efforts with the Eugene Freedman Humanitarian Award.
- Thomas Kinkade has been the author or subject of more than 140 books and is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author. Kinkade published “Lightposts for Living” in 1999 and “Cape Light,” a work of fiction he co-authored with Katherine Spencer, in 2002.
- Kinkade was selected to paint the National Christmas Tree in Washington, D.C. twice—the first time in 2000 and again in 2004—for the annual Pageant of Peace.
- In 2000, Kinkade visited the Vatican and had an audience with Pope John Paul II.
- In 2002, Kinkade was inducted into the California Tourism Hall of Fame for his efforts to highlight the beauty of California.
- Kinkade was selected alongside artists Simon Bull and Howard Behrens to commemorate the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics and the 2002 World Series.
- The Make-a-Wish Foundation named Kinkade a national spokesperson in 2003.
- In 2004, the NALED recognized Thomas Kinkade as the “Most Award Winning Artist in the Past 25 Years.”
- In 2005, Kinkade was named Ambassador of Lights for the Points of Light Foundation by President George H. W. Bush. The artist raised $1 million for the foundation, $600,000 of which was given to the victims of Hurricane Katrina.
- Kinkade visited Jerusalem in 2006, which was his inspiration behind the Impressions of Israel Collection.
- In 2008, Kinkade partnered with the Walt Disney Company to begin creating his celebrated Disney Dreams Collection.
- A semi-autobiographical film, “Thomas Kinkade’s Christmas Cottage,” was released in 2008. The movie, starring Jared Padalecki as a young Thomas Kinkade, focuses on how Kinkade began his career as an artist.
