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Thomas Kinkade’s Paradise Lost 1

Thomas Kinkade, the self-styled “Painter of Light” and a popular icon in evangelical circles, may perhaps be defended against charges of mass marketing and sentimental appeal. However, a comparison of his “Mountains Declare His Glory” to the incandescent landscapes of the 19th-century painter Albert Bierstadt, himself derided in his own age for selling out and for pandering to the masses, suggests a crucial distinction between the two artists. While Bierstadt begins to explore, in a painting such as “Rocky Mountains, Lander's Peak,” the tension between dark and light, past and present, in Kinkade there is always an apocalyptic light that comes too readily, too easily—a paradise regained oblivious of the consequences or necessity of the fall.

Luke Reinsma
Professor of English
Seattle Pacific University

Luke Reinsma’s article appears in its entirety in Christian Scholar’s Review, Volume XXXIV, Number 2 (Winter 2005).

1. The article “Thomas Kinkade’s Paradise Lost” by Luke Reinsma is published in full by Christian Scholar’s Review, Volume XXXIV, Number 2 (Winter 2005).