Art for Everybody

Thomas Kinkade was the best-selling artist of all time and a self-proclaimed pious Christian.

But he was also a raging, strip-club-attending, out-of-control drunk by night—and now his daughters have uncovered a hidden stash of paintings that look nothing like the cozy cottages that made him a fortune.

Thanks to Stephen Silver for first turning us on to this doc — I love his phrase that Kinkade is “The Kenny G. of Art”.

Fun fact: Kinkade grew up in Placerville, CA, where Daily Doc founder Rob Kelly has a family home.

Speaking of Kenny G., Rob loved the “Listening to Kenny G” doc (he gave it a 97/100!).

Trailer for “Art for Everybody”

You Can’t Make This Sh!t Up

• At his peak, Kinkade’s art was in 1 out of every 20 American homes. He sold over $4 billion worth of product—calendars, coffee mugs, and puzzles.
• Kinkade’s family found a “vault” of around 5,000 unreleased paintings after his death. Only about 600 of his ~6,000 works had ever been shown publicly.
• He built an actual Kinkade-themed real estate development—complete with faux gas lamps and idealized small-town vibes straight out of his paintings.
• He once drunkenly peed on a Winnie the Pooh statue at Disneyland while yelling, “This one’s for you, Walt!”

Watch “Art for Everybody”

Currently Unavailable to Stream in the U.S. It last streamed on Eventive until April 2024. We got early access thanks to a screener provided by Tim Rummel (thanks, Tim!).

Ratings:

• My Rating: 90/100
• IMDB Rating: 7.9/10
• Rotten Tomatoes Ratings: not yet rated (Users); 100/100 (Critics)

Director’s Note: Directed by Miranda Yousef. This is her feature debut. It’s layered, mournful, and lets the family speak, even when it hurts. Morgan Neville is a Producer on this doc — he’s behind some of our favorite docs such as “Piece by Piece” (whih my colleague Rob ranked a perfect 100/100!) and “Won’t You Be My Neighbor” (which Rob gave a 95/100).

Release Date: Premiered at festivals in 2023. Wider release TBD.

Thanks again to Stephen Silver for his excellent early review and for calling this “every bit the equal of Penny Lane’s Kenny G doc.” I couldn’t agree more.

My Review of “Art for Everybody”

The Setup

Thomas Kinkade was one of the most successful artists in American history. He was also one of the most ridiculed. His cozy, glowing cottages and nostalgic landscapes sold billions through mass-market galleries, QVC, and gift shops. But this doc shows the darker side of his life and art.

He died in 2012 at age 54 from an overdose of alcohol and Valium. The media called it a tragedy. This film calls it more of a Shakespearean fall. After his sudden death, Kinkade’s family uncovered a secret vault filled with thousands of never-before-seen paintings. These works were moody, unsettling, even bleak.

More Highlights from the Doc

• Archival footage shows how Kinkade rose to fame through mall galleries, QVC appearances, and a branding machine that merged evangelical values with Norman Rockwell kitsch.
• Among the secret stash: paintings full of skulls, shadowy figures, apocalyptic chaos. They were nothing like the cozy cottages and gazebos that made him famous.
• Interviews with his ex-wife and daughters give raw insight into the double life he led—one part “Painter of Light,” one part tortured soul with a penchant for alcohol and chaos.
• The doc tracks his slow unraveling: a collapsed business empire, tabloid scandals, lawsuits, DUIs, and erratic public behavior that embarrassed the very Christian base he built his fortune on.
• The reveal of the “lost” paintings is a gut punch: haunting, moody, filled with anguish. They completely rewrite what we thought we knew about him as an artist.
• The final chapters connect his art to modern-day cultural divides. Kinkade’s legacy becomes a mirror of America itself: surface-level comfort masking deeper fractures.

Cameos – Lesser-Known Details from the Doc

• At one point, he reportedly got kicked out of a Siegfried & Roy show for shouting “codpiece!” repeatedly while drunk.
• One of the family’s darkest discoveries: he painted chilling apocalyptic visions during the same period he was selling teddy bear prints on shopping channels.
• The Filmdrunk Frotcast once described his work as “like slowly vomiting saltwater taffy.” The film includes that roast—and several others from art critics who absolutely hated him.

Wrap Up

If you think you know Thomas Kinkade, you don’t. This doc reframes the art and rewrites the man.

Thanks for reading!
Heather Fenty, Guest Writer, Daily Doc