Thomas Kinkade Biography:

Thomas Kinkade was born in January 19, 1958 in Sacramento, California. He is an famous American painter of popular and commercial realistic, bucolic, and idyllic painting subjects. He is notable for the mass marketing of his painting works as printed reproductions and other licensed products via Thomas Kinkade Company. He defines himself as "Thomas Kinkade, Painter of Light," a phrase he protects through trademark, and likes to be known as "America's most-collected living artist".  Media Arts, the publicly-traded company that licenses and sells his products, claiming that 1 in 20 homes in the U.S. possess some form of Thomas Kinkade’s painting works.

Thomas Kinkade has received criticism for the extent to which he has commercialized his art—for example, selling his prints on the QVC home shopping network. Others have written that his oil paintings are merely kitsch, without substance and have described them as chocolate box art.

Personal conduct:

The Los Angeles Times has reported that some of Thomas Kinkade's former colleagues, employees, and even collectors of his painting works say that he has a long history of cursing and heckling other artists and performers. The Times further reported that he openly groped a woman's breasts at a South Bend, Indiana, sales event, and mentioned his proclivity for ritual territory marking through urination, once relieving himself on a Winnie the Pooh figure at the Disneyland Hotel in Anaheim while saying "This one’s for you, Walt." Thomas Kinkade has denied some of these allegations, and accepted and apologized for others.

In 2006 John Dandois, Media Arts Group executive, recounted a story that on one occasion ("about six years ago") Thomas Kinkade became drunk at a Siegfried & Roy magic show in Las Vegas and began shouting "Codpiece! Codpiece!" at the performers. Eventually, he was calmed by his mother. Dandois also said of Thomas Kinkade, "Kinkade would be fine, he would be drinking, and then all of a sudden, you couldn't tell where the boundary was, and then he became very incoherent, and he would start cussing and doing a lot of weird stuff without control." On 11 June 2010, Thomas Kinkade was arrested in Carmel, CA due to driving while under the influence of alcohol. ---Thomas Kinkade Biography

Awards and recognitions:

Thomas Kinkade has received many awards for his painting works, including multiple National Association of Limited Edition Dealers (NALED) awards for Artists of the Year and Graphic Artist of the Year, and his artwork has been named Lithograph of the Year for nine times. It should be noted these awards are, for the most part, based on number of sales rather than any inherent artistic merit in the work itself.

In 2002,Thomas Kinkade was inducted into the California Tourism Hall of Fame as an individual who has influenced the public’s perception of tourism in California through his images of California sights. He was selected to commemorate the Salt Lake City 2002 Olympic Winter Games and the 2002 World Series. He was also honored with the 2002 World Children’s Center Humanitarian Award for his big contributions to improving the welfare of children and their families through his work with Kolorful Kids and Art for Children.

In 2003, Thomas Kinkade was chosen as a national spokesperson for the Make-A-Wish Foundation. And, in 2004, he was selected for a second time by the Christmas Pageant of Peace to create the National Christmas Tree in Washington, D.C. The painting, Symbols of Freedom, was the official image for the 2004 Pageant of Peace.

In 2004, Kinkade received an award from NALED recognizing him as the Most Award Winning Artist in the Past 25 Years in America. And, in 2005, he was named the NALED Graphic Artist of the Year. He was also recognized for his philanthropic efforts by NALED with the Eugene Freedman Humanitarian Award.---Thomas Kinkade Biography

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Refer to: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Kinkade

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