It's a lush garden in the full bloom of spring, a hidden bench under a tree revealed by a shaft of sunlight. It's a towering lighthouse above a rocky coast, a bright beacon of guidance and safety. More often than not, it's a rustic cottage nestled in the countryside at twilight, just across that bridge over the babbling brook. That's the world of artist Thomas Kinkade.That world exploded onto the walls of millions of American homes in the early Nineties.
follows a classic rise and fall trajectory: poverty and a broken home segueing into an unsatisfying stint as an art student at UC Berkeley, landing on his style – born of the Hudson River School artists of the 19th century – and finding overwhelming success by creating his own brand as the trademarked"Painter of Light" , a move Yousef finds incredibly prescient."Kinkade did what Andy Warhol wanted to do," she says.