Park West’s “Painter of Light” artist
Thomas Kinkade is often one of the focus points for Park West auctions.
On the "cruise activity" list, you will often see seminars dedicated to Thomas Kinkade. Color, Composition, Technique and Creativity are the pillars used by Albert Scaglione, founder of Park West Gallery, to select the artists Park West represents.
According to Scaglione, Kinkade’s artwork is the model of embodying all four of these elements. Even if you are not a fan of his work, it is hard not to notice the artistic talent of Kinkade.
Kinkade is one of Park West’s most popular artists, known as the “The Painter of Light." He protected this phrase by trademark. His artwork uses pastel colors. The luminosity of his work is marked by the hand embellishments that surround the pieces of his artwork and depict various shades of light.
Aligning with his moniker, “Painter of Light,” Kinkade often incorporated houses in his paintings where the lights are always turned on. He even painted streetlights from different eras in his artwork. Numerous artwork scenes were intended to elicit inspirational messages and were designed to represent idyllic settings.
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Faith, freedom and family
Kinkade’s artwork idealizes American scenery: stone cottages, lighthouses and other fixtures incorporate elements in nature such as streams and gardens. When Park West hosts seminars on Kinkade, crew members often ask what emotions come up when looking at the painter’s work.
People often respond: with “energy,” “peace,” “freedom,” and “adventure.” He also included religious influences of his Christian faith in his paintings, representing moral messages.
Related: The golden gavel: Life as a Park West auctioneer
He is known as a family man and his love for his family is reflected in his paintings by hiding the letter “N” representing his wife, Nannette. The number of N’s are indicated next to his signature. Using the themes of faith, freedom and family in his work makes it easy to imagine why his artwork attracts the diversity which America represents.
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Walt Disney was one of his biggest idols
Kinkade's themes, faith, freedom and family were directly influenced by Disney. It is one of the reasons why artwork depicting Disney characters has been a feature of Kinkade and Kinkade studios.
As was the case with hiding N’s for his wife’s name, he hid different Disney characters that do not normally belong in the pictured scene, referred to as “Easter Eggs” in his paintings. For example, in The Lion King, looking closely, Tinker Bell and Bambi appear as other characters from different films that do not belong in the cast.
Finding those characters can be a fun game, but it is not as easy as you think.
Among his many honors, Kinkade was selected to commemorate the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics and the 2002 World Series. He was also asked to commemorate Disney World Resort’s 35th anniversary and Disneyland’s 50th anniversary. His artwork has been very popular through the years, and through his partnership with Hallmark, he has created greeting cards and jigsaw puzzles.
Thomas Kinkade tragically passed away at the young age of 54. He created so much artwork that a DNA matrix signature was created to authenticate his work as his. This matrix was developed because of the many paintings he produced. The number of works was so grand it rendered his signature highly subject to forgery.
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Kinkade trained artists in how to paint using his signature designs. Kinkade Studios continues to produce works of art that are unique to Kinkade’s style. He also created a vast collection of limited editions of his works. Park West Gallery offers the full breadth of Kinkade’s work, from prints to embellished works to one-of-one’s. Happily, the full gamut of this renowned artist's work is available at Park West Gallery.
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