Calif. artist Thomas Kinkade dies at age 54, 6 April 2012

[BetteDavisEyes]

Autopsy scheduled for painter Thomas Kinkade
13 hours ago

LOS ANGELES — A California coroner is due to conduct an autopsy of Thomas Kinkade on Monday, three days after the famed American painter died unexpectedly, the Los Angeles Times reported on Sunday.

Kinkade, whose luminescent, homespun scenes captivated millions even as critics scoffed, died alone at his home in Los Gatos in northern California of apparently natural causes, according to family spokesman David Satterfield. Kinkade was 54.

The Santa Clara County coroner will perform the autopsy. Officials have offered no further details on the case...

http://xfinity.comcast.net/articles...NT-US-USA-ART-KINKADE-AUTOPSY/?cid=hero_media

 

[LinasK]

Julia Prodis Sulek [email protected]
Posted: 04/09/2012 10:44:56 AM PDT
Updated: 04/09/2012 08:48:18 PM PDT
Thomas Kinkade's girlfriend said Monday the world-famous 54-year-old artist "died in his sleep, very happy, in the house he built, with the paintings he loved, and the woman he loved."
Amy Pinto, in tears, told a reporter through an intercom outside the gate at the Monte Sereno home that Kinkade died Friday morning peacefully but she offered few details.
The two had been dating for the past 18 months, Pinto said, about six months after his wife, Nanette, filed for legal separation. Nanette and the couple's two teenage daughters were in Australia at the time of his death.
The Santa Clara County coroner's office said an autopsy was performed Monday on Kinkade, but the cause of death might not be determined for months. Results of toxicology and other tests could take 12 to 20 weeks, because of a backup at the county lab."The fact that he's famous has nothing to do with the toxicology turnaround time," said a spokesperson from the coroner's office who didn't want her name used. more at link: http://www.contracostatimes.com/top...cause-los-gatos-painter-thomas-kinkades-death

 

[LinasK]

Julia Prodis Sulek
[email protected]
© Copyright 2012, Bay Area News Group
Posted: 04/12/2012 06:58:00 PM PDT
Updated: 04/12/2012 10:27:49 PM PDT
Decades of mean-spirited personal attacks against Thomas Kinkade for the bucolic images of storybook cottages he painted, as well as a heartbreaking split from his wife and four daughters two years ago, had taken a toll on the famous "Painter of Light," his brother said Thursday.
He turned to the bottle, battling alcoholism over the past four or five years, Patrick Kinkade said of his brother in an exclusive interview with this newspaper. Even though he had sobered up and had been "in his studio painting religiously" over the past few months, he said, Thomas Kinkade had a relapse just before his death last Friday at his hillside home in Monte Sereno.
A fire department dispatcher sent Engine 8 to respond to the Kinkade home on Ridgecrest Avenue, where Kinkade's girlfriend had called police. "Fifty-four-year-old male unconscious, not breathing," the dispatcher says in a recording by firescan.net. "Apparently he's been drinking all night and not moving."Patrick Kinkade called his brother a brilliant and prolific artist and intellectual, but one who fought inner demons.
"He would shoulder the world, pull the naysayers on his back and smile when he was doing it," said Patrick Kinkade, an associate professor of criminal justice at Texas Christian University. "As much as he said it didn't bother him, in his heart deep down inside it would sadden him that people would criticize so hatefully his work and his vision when people didn't understand him." more at link: http://www.contracostatimes.com/top...ays-painter-thomas-kinkade-battled-alcoholism

 

[Kat]

http://www.cnn.com/2012/05/08/showbiz/thomas-kinkade-autopsy/index.html?hpt=hp_t2

updated 5:43 PM EDT, Tue May 8, 2012

Artist Thomas Kinkade's death last month was from an accidental overdose of alcohol and Valium, according to the Santa Clara County, California, medical examiner.

 

[gitana1]

http://www.cnn.com/2012/05/08/showbiz/thomas-kinkade-autopsy/index.html?hpt=hp_t2

updated 5:43 PM EDT, Tue May 8, 2012

I just read this on CNN. He died from an overdose of drugs and alcohol! Surprising to me!!!!

 

[Sonya610]

It will be interesting to see how the method of death affects his art sales.

The people that loved his work often did so because it was so perfect and happy without a hint of darkness....and now the artists death kind of ruins that idealized wholesome image.

I am sure some fans won't care but others will find it a bitter pill to swallow.

 

[Blondie in Spokane]

Two Wills, Two Women & Two Very Different Last Wishes

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...-Kinkade-s-wife-girlfriend-battle-estate.html

 

[Gypsy Road]

Oh my! I don't know why, but my first thought after reading that article was I wonder if the girlfriend gave him extra vallium on purpose while he was drunk? And I hope to goodness that the addition to the will that is scrawled out on that piece of note paper does NOT hold up in court! She sounds like a horrible nightmare of a person.

This is really sad for his ex wife and his daughters

 

[Blondie in Spokane]

Painter of Light Thomas Kinkade's estranged wife and his mistress reach a secret settlement over his $66million estate

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...ity-optimism-reach-settlement-60m-estate.html