Kinkade's Opposition to Modernism

According to this article in Christianity Today, Thomas Kinkade describes himself as a great opponent of Modernism. And while he means that specifically in the sense of Modernism in the arts, one can see that he is anti-modern in a larger sense. His body of artwork is riddled with the nostalgia for a largely imagined past of tranquility, of slow pace, of harmony. I can't say that these are irreconciliable with modernity, but there is clearly atavism in Kinkade's work, what with their horse-and-buggies, lighthouses, and 19th century houses.

Like many anti-moderns before him, Kinkade takes full advantage of Modernity. For example, much of Kinkade's considerable fortune comes from his production of pseudo-originals- mass produced and hand highlighted prints produced to replicate the texture of real oil paintings. If I may be horribly unfair, Kinkade's use of assembly-line technology, sophisticated corporate structure, and mass marketing to undermine modernity is no less ironic than cave dwelling terrorists using satellite phones and internet communication to undermine Western modernism.

Kinkade, in some ways, is as much a Post Modern as Anti-Modern artist. For example, as this USA Today article states, Kinkade sees Warhol as a major influence. This is interesting, because Warhol's art is roughly as cool and sterile as one can get without turning to Minimalism or the sparer Process artists (like LeWitt). My guess is that Kinkade's attraction to Warhol is to his art's utter lack of complexity, its simplism, and to the way it milks the simplism of its audience. Where a more educated art market is going to require a great deal from the art, Kinkade's audience only demands prettiness and easy sentiment, just as Warhol's audience sought only coolness, pop-culture references, and a pinch of neo-dadaist brattiness.