Reflections on the Painter of Light

A light has gone out, writes Peter Rhodes. Thomas Kinkade has died.

From the soft, sentimental paintings he produced, I assumed he was at least 80. Turns out Kinkade, known as "the Painter of Light," was just 54 and had a troubled life.

His work is scorned by progressive artists and highbrow critics but you can't argue with his popularity. He sold millions of prints of rustic bridges, peaceful gazebos and lakeside log cabins twinkling with lights.

People bought Thomas Kinkade's work because they could gaze at his cheerful, homespun scenes and think: "That's where I'd like to be, right now."

Art is, or should be, about giving pleasure.

The glitterati may rave about Damien Hirst's preserved animals or Tracey Emin's unmade beds but there is more genuine pleasure in one Thomas Kinkade print than in a whole shoal of pickled sharks.