Some of the reasons people dislike Kinkaid that had nothing to do with being jealous.....
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Business
Thomas Kinkade's limited edition "Cinderella Wishes Upon A Dream" framed print being sold on a shopping channel.
Kinkade received criticism for the extent to which he had commercialized his art, for example, selling his prints on various home shopping channels The file File:Thomas Kinkade print being sold on shopping channel.ogg has an uncertain copyright status and may be deleted. You can comment on its removal.
Kinkade's works are sold by mail order and in dedicated retail outlets. Some of the prints also feature light effects that are painted onto the print surface by hand by "skilled craftsmen," touches that add to the illusion of light and the resemblance to an original work of art, and which are then sold at higher prices. Licensing with Hallmark and other corporations have made it possible for Kinkade's images to be used extensively on other merchandise such as calendars, puzzles, greeting cards, and CDs. By December 2009, his images also appeared on Wal-Mart gift cards.
He has also authored or been the subject of over 120 books and is the only artist to license his trademark and artwork to multiple housing developments.[citation needed]
Kinkade is reported to have earned $53 million for his artistic work in the period 1997 to May 2005.[19]
At the height of his business, there was a national network of several hundred Thomas Kinkade Signature Galleries, however they began to falter during the Great Recession.
In June 2010, his Morgan Hill, California manufacturing operation that reproduces the art filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, listing nearly $6.2 million in creditors' claims.[7] The company, Pacific Metro, plans to reduce its costs by outsourcing much of its manufacturing.[20]
[edit] Criticism of business practices
Kinkade's company, Media Arts Group Inc., has been accused of unfair dealings with owners of Thomas Kinkade Signature Gallery franchises. In 2006, an arbitration board awarded Karen Hazlewood and Jeffrey Spinello $860,000 in damages and $1.2 million in fees and expenses due to Kinkade's company "[failing] to disclose material information" that would have discouraged them from investing in the gallery.[21][22][23] The award was later increased to $2.8 million with interest and legal fees.[24] The plaintiffs and other former gallery owners have also leveled accusations of being pressured to open additional galleries that were not financially viable, being forced to take on expensive, unsalable inventory, and being undercut by discount outlets whose prices they were not allowed to match.[25]
Kinkade denied the accusations and Media Arts Group successfully defended itself in previous suits by other former gallery owners. Kinkade himself was not singled out in the finding of fraud by the arbitration board.[22]
In August 2006, the Los Angeles Times reported that the FBI was investigating these issues, with agents from offices across the country conducting interviews.[26]
Former gallery dealers also charged that Kinkade uses Christianity as a tool to take advantage of people. "They really knew how to bait the hook," said one ex-dealer who spoke on condition of anonymity. "They certainly used the Christian hook."[27] One former dealer's lawyer stated "Most of my clients got involved with Kinkade because it was presented as a religious opportunity. Being defrauded is awful enough, but doing it in the name of God is really despicable."[28] On June 2, 2010, Pacific Metro, the artist's production company, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, one day after defaulting on a $1 million court imposed payment to the aforementioned Karen Hazlewood and Jeffrey Spinello.[24] A $500,000 payment had previously been disbursed.
During the years 1997 through 2005, court documents show at least 350 independently owned Kinkade franchises at its peak. By May 2005, that number had more than halved. Kinkade received $50 million during this period.[24] An initial cash investment of $80,000 to $150,000 is listed as a startup cost for franchisees.[29]
