THE INTERPRETATION OF CHRISTIAN SYMBOLISM IN THE PAINTING OF THOMAS KINKADE Текст научной статьи по специальности «Философия, этика, религиоведение»
The work of Thomas Kinkade is the subject of a discussion about contemporary Christian art in general. The artist’s commercial success and the enduring popularity of his work have attracted the attention of both art historians and theologians. Among the issues discussed are the place of Christian art in modern mass culture, the role of religious symbolism in secular art, and its rethinking in connection with the spiritual needs of modern society. The most difficult question is the acceptability of the artist’s image of “the world without the Fall” in the context of the Christian worldview, which is the central theme in Kinkade’s landscapes. The article examines the most common points of view about these problems, analyzes possible approaches to the estimation of the artist’s creative heritage in the context of visual theology .
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Текст научной работы на тему «THE INTERPRETATION OF CHRISTIAN SYMBOLISM IN THE PAINTING OF THOMAS KINKADE»
THE INTERPRETATION OF CHRISTIAN SYMBOLISM IN THE PAINTING OF THOMAS KINKADE
Moscow City University, Russia [email protected]
The work of Thomas Kinkade is the subject of a discussion about contemporary Christian art in general. The artist’s commercial success and the enduring popularity of his work have attracted the attention of both art historians and theologians. Among the issues discussed are the place of Christian art in modern mass culture, the role of religious symbolism in secular art, and its rethinking in connection with the spiritual needs of modern society. The most difficult question is the acceptability of the artist’s image of “the world without the Fall” in the context of the Christian worldview, which is the central theme in Kinkade’s landscapes. The article examines the most common points of view about these problems, analyzes possible approaches to the estimation of the artist’s creative heritage in the context of visual theology.
Keywords: Thomas Kinkade, contemporary Christian art, visual theology, Christian symbolism in art.
ТРАКТОВКА ХРИСТИАНСКОЙ СИМВОЛИКИ В ЖИВОПИСИ ТОМАСА КИНКЕЙДА
Московский городской педагогический университет, Россия [email protected]
Творчество Томаса Кинкейда является предметом дискуссии, затрагивающей современное христианское искусство в целом. Коммерческий успех художника и непреходящая популярность его работ привлекают внимание как искусствоведов, так и теологов. Среди обсуждаемых вопросов – место христианского искусства в современной массовой культуре, роль религиозной символики в секулярном изобразительном искусстве, её переосмысление в связи с духовными потребностями современного общества. Наиболее сложным представляется вопрос о допустимости в контексте христианского мировоззрения предлагаемого художником образа «мира без грехопадения», являющегося центральной темой в пейзажах Кинкейда. В статье рассматриваются наиболее распространённые точки зрения на указанные проблемы, анализируются возможные подходы к оценке творческого наследия художника в контексте визуальной теологии.
Ключевые слова: Томас Кинкейд, современное христианское искусство, визуальная теология, христианская символика в искусстве.
Contemporary Christian art, especially its secular segment, poses a number of questions for researchers. The plots and images that have formed throughout the history of Christianity, their symbolic content and even iconography are rethought, included in the context of a completely new spiritual experience, without excluding the semantic field of Christian imagery. The situation appears when the artist “extracts from the Holy Scriptures other meanings not demanded by cult art” [Tulpe 2001, 180]. When the liturgical art continues to follow the established canon, secular Christian art, – being associated with secular space, everyday human life, – is looking for a new forms of expression of the modern spiritual ideal [Sukhorukova 2019, 59]. It demands the rejection of the established interpretation of plots, and provokes the appearance of new images that are necessary not only for creators, but also for spectators and consumers of art.
In contemporary art criticism, discussions about this phenomenon are conducted in three directions – (1) discussion of the commercialization of Christian art and related quality problems, (2) the formation of new iconographic patterns in secular art, and (3) the correctness of the interpretation of images from the point of view of the Christian canon. All three problems can be traced to the example of the work of Thomas Kinkade, one of the most popular and commercially demanded artists, who constantly turns to religious themes in his work. His paintings evoke controversial reactions from both art critics and theologians, some estimated it as an example of kitsch and “bad” theology or even heretical art, and at the same time, many critics admit that they have at least one object with a reproduction of Kinkade in their homes.
American artist William Thomas Kinkade (1958-2012) is widely known for idyllic landscapes, almost fabulous in their brightness and color palette. The main distinguishing feature of Kinkade’s landscapes is the abundance of bright, shining light that permeates the entire image and creates a feeling of fantasy, something unreal. Kinkade not only called himself a “painter of light”, but also patented this as a trademark, despite the fact that the term was previously applied to the other artists, in particular, landscape painters of the 19th century. These vibrant bucolic landscapes, magnificent in technical execution and seeming exaggeratedly decorative at first impression, have created the artist’s reputation as a “master of kitsch” and made him the best-selling master of modern religious art.
In many interviews Thomas Kinkade kept saying that he got inspiration from God. Not all of his paintings are related to religious themes, but a significant part of the landscapes and small sculptures were not only interpreted by the author from the point of view of religion, but also carried direct religious symbolism. Thus, reproductions of landscapes printed on canvas are marked with a fish symbol and/or phrases from Holy Scripture, most often with a quote from the Gospel of John: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).
At the same time, Kinkade, like many other artists working in the secular segment of Christian art, avoided depicting religious scenes or symbols, at least in traditional iconographic versions. This avoiding canonical iconography and the formation of a new iconography reflecting the spiritual experience of a secular
person can be described as the main trend of modern religious art. As an example, we can take the image of Christ saving the drowning apostle Peter: if in classical iconography we see what is happening from the point of view of an outside observer, then modern artists – Randy Friemel, Kim Yongsung (fig. 1), and others – put the observer in the place of the drowning apostle who sees from under the water column, the salvation-bearing light of Christ and his stretched hand.
Fig. 1. Kim Yongsung. His Mighty Hand https://yongsungkimart.com/products/his-mighty-hand-by-yongsung-kim?variant=40677002510501
Artists are not trying to reform the church canon, they are trying to go away from the profanation of the sacred, from the transformation of the iconic image into the sphere of decorative and applied, in fact, functional art that exists in human space in the form of a poster, a postcard, a scheme for embroidery, a magnet on a refrigerator or a print on a T-shirt, but at the same time strive to create a constant visual reminder of Christian values and ideas, above all the idea of salvation. In the work of Kinkade, there are almost no images of Christ and scenes of Holy Scripture, the idea of salvation is most often personified by the landscape itself or its individual elements – small churches in the middle of a fairy forest or the constantly occurring image of a lighthouse. As the artist said in the interview about one of the landscapes, “Conquering the Storm” (1999), a stone cliff with a lighthouse standing on it, which is the center of the picture, symbolizes the inviolability of faith, thanks to which a person receives salvation, and the landscape itself was interpreted by him as an allegory in color, an inspired affirmation of the great gift of Faith, which allows to accept the greatness of the Lord as a source of inner strength1.
The Kinkade’s interpretation of the idea of salvation caused criticism both of theologians and believers. Responding to numerous critics who accused him of the exaggerated, strained pastorality of his landscapes, Kinkade has repeatedly stated that he seeks to portray an ideal world, a world without the fall. American theologian Jerram Barrs formulated three aspects of the content of religious art which place the art object into the space of visual theology: in each image we see Paradise in its original grandeur, Paradise that was lost to humanity, and the promise of the possibility of returning to the light of heaven [Barrs 2013, 26]. It is the contrast between the feeling of loss and the hope of gain that creates an emotional experience, makes a person think about the salvation of his soul and about his own path, which is one of the main tasks of religious art. But if one removes the loss from this system, excludes the fall, leaving only an ideal light, not disturbed by anything, only a sentimental-romantic image remains, which does not have the depth necessary for the visual embodiment of a religious idea.
The artist’s landscapes, depicting an ideal world without shadows, conflicts and problems, do not lose popularity due to the fact that it is, in fact, the art of escapism, depicting the reality in which everyone would like, if not to live, then to be from time to time, hiding from everyday problems in a peaceful cottage in the middle of an ever-blooming garden. But Christian art has never been escapist in content, its goal is the opposite – to hurt the soul of a person, to remind of the imperfection of the surrounding world, to encourage him to spiritual growth. As George Hunsinger aptly remarked, grace that does not disturb the peace of the soul is not grace [Hunsinger 2001, 18]. The desire of modern art to get away from conflict, from all disturbing topics reflects the needs of society, but comes into dissonance with the essence of Christian art, which, in relation to the work of Kinkade, gives rise to diametrically opposite points of view – from laudatory assessments of the image of an ideal world, to which every person should strive and which seems simple and achievable, to the direct accusations of incongruity of such an image with the Christian canon.
But there is even more important question posed by researchers to Kinkade’s work: is it possible to speak about salvation in the world without the Fall? Just as resurrection cannot be accomplished if there was no death, salvation necessarily presupposes that something to be saved from has already happened. But if there was no Fall, then what to be saved from? If a “world without the Fall” is depicted, then the true context of the religious symbols that appear in the artist’s paintings is lost. A striking example is the painting “Sunrise” (1999). The landscape depicts a cross standing on a high cliff over an endless space drowning in a fog. Like in the previously mentioned landscape “Conquering the storm”, we see the image associated with Salvation – the main Christian symbol, ascending over the world in the rays of the rising sun. The composition of the landscape and its main elements refer to the famous “Tetschen Altar” (“Cross in the Mountains”, 1808) of the German romanticist Caspar David Friedrich (fig. 2), moreover, Kinkade’s painting looks like a conscious repetition and a reference to the prototype, but it reads completely differently.
The crucifixion is the center of Friedrich’s painting, and the rays of the rising sun, as if radiating from the cross, create a powerful image of atonement for
original sin. In Kinkade’s painting, there is no Crucifixion and no Calvary: the cross is framed by a spectacular landscape that does not refer to the symbolism of Christianity, and although the cross itself is perceived by the viewer as a symbol of salvation, this symbol is placed in a world where there was no original sin and crucifixion.
Fig. 2. Caspar David Friedrich. Cross in the Mountains (Tetschen Altar). 1808 © Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden
This picture does not show the image of salvation, but one of the images of idyllic world that Kinkade puts in his paintings. We see a similar image in the painting “Walk of Faith” (2011), which depicts Christ and Peter the Apostle walking along the path of a blossoming garden. There is a scene of the handing over of the keys – but a scene in which there is neither drama, nor triumphality, nor the feeling of an insurmountable border between the earthly world and the heavenly world. The ideal landscape, in which the heroes are, is both realistic and infinitely far from reality. The scene that takes place in our imperfect world seems to be moved into the idealized dream space.
Daniel Siedell, an American art historian and critic who deals with contemporary religious art, characterized Kinkade’s work as “dangerous”, criticizing the artist for the fact that, refusing to deal with the imperfection of our world, he par-
asitizes on the prejudices and expectations of the public instead of expanding the horizon of their experiences [Siedell 2012]. Nevertheless a work that corresponds to our ideas is comfortable for perception, calms and gives a feeling of security and, therefore, fulfills another important goal of Christian art – to give hope and consolation to the audience. The light that fills Kinkade’s paintings, thus, can be perceived both as a distortion of the Christian idea, and as a direct appeal to it, and the discussion about this is still relevant.
Speaking about light in Kinkade’s landscapes, we note that this aspect of the artist’s work causes skepticism among theologians – primarily because here we also see a rejection of the idea that is fundamentally significant for Christian art. The light in the icons or secular paintings always has one source – God. Christ is personified by light and personifies light, and it does not matter whether we face the Crucifixion, Christ walking on the waters, or an allegorically rethought image. The presence of God in the picture always shows where the light comes from. Kinkade’s light, evenly scattered throughout the paintings and emanating from many randomly placed sources, breaks this tradition. The world of Kinkade is flooded with light, not because the presence of God is felt in it, but because the artist shows an ideal world that does not know the Fall and sin – beautiful, but at the same time not ours.
It was Kinkade’s work, or rather, his commercial success and popularity among believers, that gave new urgency to the question – can the visual preaching of Christian values exist without addressing the imperfection of the world around us? The demand for this painting is evident, because in every fifth American house there is at least one reproduction of Kinkade, but it poses another problem: can art that is religious in content be mass? Or, to put the question differently, can a painting that is visually comfortable and does not evoke emotions and feelings in most people, can be considered religious in content? Can the preaching in which the priest speaks only about what his parishioners want to hear, be effective? The answer depends both on the goal of the author and on the result achieved in each particular case. But there is no doubt that the discussion that began around the work of the popular American painter and extended to all modern art entails changes not only in religious art, but also in its understanding from the point of view of both art history and theology.
Barrs 2013 – Barrs J. Echoes of Eden: Reflections on Christianity, Literature, and the Arts. Wheaton (IL), 2013.
Hunsinger 2001 – Hunsinger G. Disruptive Grace: Studies in the Theology of Karl Barth. Grand Rapids (MI), 2001.
Siedell 2012 – Siedell D. A. The Dark Light of Thomas Kinkade. Patheos. 2012. May 22. URL:
https://www.patheos.com/blogs/cultivare/2012/05/the-dark-light-of-thomas-kinkade. Sukhorukova 2019 – Sukhorukova O. A. Religious Sense of Art. The Academic Journal of Moscow
City University. Series: Philosophical Sciences. 2019. 2 (30). P. 57-63. In Russian. Tulpe 2001 – Tulpe I. A. Religious in Secular Art. East – Russia – West: World Religions and Art. St. Petersburg, 2001. P. 179-183. In Russian.
Материал поступил в редакцию 23.07.2021, принят к публикации 03.09.2021
CHRISTIAN—-art—AND —THE—-MARKET—-PLACE —–OF ideas
This article will discuss some of the theoretical and philosophical boundaries of the artist. In later articles I will discuss whether or not the vocation of an artist can be deemed a calling.
Most of the mainstream thinking about an artist in Eastern culture seems to be that an artist has inherent value in that he or she expresses beauty. To Christian this value seems paramount in that it suggests honoring and extolling God by admiring the beauty of His creation).
But what is an artist such as myself to do?
Where does my work fit in?
Does it honor God?
Most of my work may not be considered particularly beautiful.
This painting directly BELOW- for instance: is one of my most controversial .
because I show Jesus vomiting.
Jesus Retched by Kata Billups 2004
But in our culture (where people now have the average attention span of a goldfish. ) I often find myself begging people to take the time to understand an artists’ true motivations and the context of the narrative before judging.
The narrative above–shows Jesus vomiting because little children are ganging up to attack a homeless man.
So- although the first words that come to mind when someone sees this piece of my art are probably not things like “how beautiful” or “what a lovely painting”
Many OTHER examples of my work are—principally comical or (to use a horribly overused term- “whimsical”). It can also be considered serious, thought provoking, sarcastic, challenging, complicated, but rarely beautiful.
“John Lingered on the Tramak to Discuss the Baby Panda He Adopted with the Guru. This was BEFORE John Figured out the Guru was full of ‘s’. In fact at this time- John was Overly Indoctrinated into the iDea of being One with all Things and Believed Himself to be the Biological Father of the Bear” KATA 2014
Does my work have value to the majority of people in my culture?
Maybe it does not.
Does it deeply move certain sectors of people?
Does it have value in God’s perspective?
We will explore that question in this article- along with other questions.
One of the problems with the idea that art has value because of beauty is that beauty is not the only criteria which makes art “useful”.
You see. the theory of aesthetics explores the factors which make art “useful” throughout all the cultures of the world.
Being a “Westerner” I will be considering just the Western Philosophies of art in this book., Researchers and Art Historians have isolated at least four major traditional philosophies (or theories) art in our culture. They have been given titles which I will explain one by one. I suggest a book entitled Calliope’s Sisters (A Comparative Study of Philosophies of Art) by Richard L. Anderson for in depth research on this topic.
I assert that simply using beauty as the benchmark for judging all art is a big mistake. One disqualifies a much broader range of artistic experience by setting beauty as the pinnacle for viewing art. Although the inclusion of beauty may be found in all of the theories it is central to only a couple. We all have backgrounds through which we filter our experience. I ask you to look though a new filter as you read and learn.
I ask you to consider the work of Kathe Kollowitz She sketched the horror and pain in the faces of victims of The Nazis in Germany. She was a dedicated Christian artist. To my knowledge, she never captured an image which could be considered beautiful. Yet her art had a large impact on the way people thought at the time.
Now I will synopsize the four main Western Philosophies of art. 1: The Mimetic-theory of art is a Greek-derived term. Think of our words “mine”: and “imitate”. This philosophy states that the purpose of art is to faithfully record what is seen in reality. When I think of this theory I imagine landscape realistic paintings, still life paintings, realistic portraiture or the school of photorealism.
2. The Pragmatic theory of art (which my art about Jesus often falls into) states that the purpose of art is mainly to teach or inspire the viewer in some concept or idea. This type of art can be found in church murals, illustrations, propaganda posters, etc. Pragmatic authors desire for their works to bring abut social reform (think Charles Dickens). Charles Dickens and social Reform in England
3. The Emotionalist Theory of art. “It might be said that if the reality of mimetic art lies in the material and social world, and the truth of pragmatic art lies in the moral, ethical and spiritual realms, then emotionalist theories take as their universe the inner landscape of the individual’s emotions and feelings. (quote: Richard L. Anderson, pg. 211). The Romantic movement began in the late eighteenth century. In current culture, rock concerts, recorded background music in elevators, even television, dancing and movies bring enjoyment to the participant.
3. Formalist Theories of art. This is the latest philosophy or theory of art and is a reaction against the other forms of art. A formalist will often paint abstractly (and so throw off the ties of imitation of anything in nature.. This philosophy also considers pragmatic art to be “preachy”. It diverges from the emotionalists in certain ways as well in asserting that “art is for arts sake” not to conjure up an emotional response. Formalist deny that art has any purpose but that of making the art.
Ever since I began making my own art in junior high school- I’ve been driven to tell stories with my work. Stories about life. Stories which expunge the tough issues from my own life onto a canvas.. When I was a teenager I painted about homeless people, about women as toys and sex objects, about the masks we all wear, about being trapped in a bad drug trip.
This is the way God built me. I take little joy in painting a beautiful landscape (although I have done it- and have pleased the clients in doing so…) I do enjoy painting and sketching the human figure however, God also “built me” to have a keen awareness of people.
As my work progresses I still yearn challenge people to see the world from a different perspective. My Jesus art is arguably the most controversial because is doing exactly that.
Some Christians find it uncomfortable to have a long standing representation of their Jesus challenged. But they need to understand that I am not challenging that image to destroy it but to refresh it. Jesus talked about putting new wine into new wine skins. This younger generation has an entirely different experience than we have had- and a correspondingly different visual and verbal language. The new wine is the same “old truth” but it is truth for a new time and new people.
I often think about how during the time of Bosch there were plagues and famines and infant mortality. Death lurked around every corner. And so his new wine was “here is heaven- here is hell- choose now because this may be your last day”. That message is outdated for now.. Life spans are much longer, people rarely die as infants in the Western world. So that message translates as fear and pressuring people into heaven by threatening hell. It repulses people. And yet a few hundred years ago it was the “good news”! How can that be? It’s a simple answer.
These are two different time periods and the people of each generation are the ones who will define what is the central need for them as the good news (gospel) Today I assert it is belonging. Belonging is a central element of the good news that is felt in the heart of every human being as our civilization becomes increasingly splintered apart. I also assert that healing has always been central to the good news of every era and it is being revised in our time. Hospitals are necessary and keep many people alive. But hospitals are also increasingly failing the many wounded and ill people of the world. Only a supernatural God has the answer for an incurable disease. So the message (and the supernatural power of God to bring the message to reality) that God heals the incurable aids or cancer victim is truly a gospel needed for this time.
Unless we (as artists) can first feel the pain and anxiety , the fear and dreams of the younger generations we will never be able to communicate to them in relevant manners. Our work will be “old school”. It will be passed by as if it were written in a foreign language. How much attention do we give to a book written in a language which is strange to us? That is how the young people see the art of their elder’s generation.
I write quite a lot about the sub culture of the Christian bookstore and Christian coffee shops. The ultimate symbol of old wine skins is the hand painted rock in many Christian bookstores which says “God is my rock”. “God is my rock” – rocks ! This archaic imagery says it all. It tells me that my generation of Christian artists (for the most part) has little to offer by way of talent, invention, and real intercourse and discussion with today’s culture.
