MASTER OF LIGHT GOING THROUGH A DARK PERIOD.

Thomas Kinkade Mugshot

Thomas Kinkade DUI, Bankruptcy, Fraud – The ‘Painter of Light’ is apparently in a dark period. He has recently had to file for bankruptcy to escape retribution in relation to fraud charges in which the world-renowned painter was successfully charged with bilking galleries out of millions.

On June 2, 2010, one of Thomas Kinkade’s company,Pacific Metro LLC, filed for bankruptcy protection had to file for bankruptcy protection after art gallery owners successfully pressed fraud charges against the company. They, along with hundreds of other creditors, were said to be owed millions by the famous painter’s art empire. Kinkade is said to beone of the world’s wealthiest artist. He is certainly one of the most collectible artists in the world. He is known for homey landscapes and Christian motifs. Now, it seems, he will be known for a quick succession of legal problems.

Kinkade, 52-years-old is a native of Placerville, California. He was pulled over and arrested on DUI charges on Friday night, June 11, 2010, outside of Carmel, California, where he owns a home. This on the heels of his company’s legal troubles.

A Monterey County sheriff’s deputy stopped Kinkade for a minor traffic violation. According to the California Highway Patrol spokesperson, after an initial conversation about the violation, the deputy gave Kinkade a sobriety test, which he failed.

LA TIMES Article on his DUI. Click here.

Art in Its Own Light (Controversy) article.

The following are excerpts from eHOW on

Value of Thomas Kinkade Prints

Kinkade Prints

Kinkade stopped selling original paintings in 1997, wanting to keep his original collection together. Since 1997, Kinkade has sold lithographic reproductions of his work on canvas in an array of prices ranging from $300 to $15,000. Kinkade employs a team of painters that place highlights on each print, adding an individual touch and a texture more similar to oil on canvas paintings. Kinkade creates around 12 paintings a year as of 2010.

Warning

The mainstream art world does not hold Kinkade in high esteem. Contemporary dealers in the United States and worldwide consider Kinkade's work overly commercialized, appealing to low cultural values and poorly made. This is an opinion exemplified by Joan Didion, who wrote: "A Kinkade painting was typically rendered in slightly surreal pastels. It typically featured a cottage or a house of such insistent coziness as to seem actually sinister, suggestive of a trap designed to attract Hansel and Gretel. Every window was lit, to lurid effect, as if the interior of the structure might be on fire." Accordingly, individuals interested in selling or valuing their Kinkade prints should stay within the Kinkade market.