On the one hand, he was extremely successful. On the other, he was one of the poster children for commercialization. Hence my conflict.
--Patrick
#2
LittleKagsin
I'm pretty sure my mum is going to flip a table whens she hears this.
#3
drifter
I think of him as basically being Lisa Frank for the middle-aged. No fucks are given (mostly because of the shady business practices).
#4
Espy
Well, I feel for his family like I would for anyone who had a relative die, but his "art" was bland and tailored for middle age church ladies. I've already had several folks on my FB feed lament his passing and talk about how they treasure the paintings they have by him. Which makes this a perfect opportunity to use this as a litmus test for who I will be deleting from my friend list.
I've heard most of the paintings by him weren't even really... by him. I can't find a source for it right now, but I remember hearing that most of the stuff he churned out was done by artists working for him, and he just slapped his signature on.
#7
makare
His stuff is the kind of thing most likely to be seen in a hotel room. I am not a fan.
On a side note I love lisa frank so nyah.
#8
Bowielee
I'd never heard of the guy, but his work is at best mediocre, hardly seems like a reason to hate the guy.
#9
Just Me
Never heard of him before. I still truly miss Bob Ross though.
#10
Null
Meh.
#11
fade
Well, his subjects were bland, but he certainly had an undeniable technical talent for making light appear real and warm. Not sure that qualifies as art or craft, but it's true.
#12
phil
I'd always wondered who kept making all those jigsaw puzzles.
It's not really so much his lack of talent that draws the ire... it's more his talent-to-success ratio. He's the painting equivalent of Hallmark Hall of Fame movies, yet he's pretty much the most financially successful American painter in all existence.
#14
figmentPez
Just gonna leave this here. Feel free to print it out and hang it on your wall:
