A Season of Angels

This collection of nineteen paintings, accompanied by passages from various literary pieces,is a neat little book that manages to convey an introduction to the art of Thomas Kinkaid in a compact manner. Tasteful and thorough are adequate words to describe this book. Having read several negative comment's about the author's work by art pundits and critics, I was surprised by the masterful way the paintings were done, reminiscent of the early Renaisssance palettes and early baroque chiaroscuros. I may not be an art critic (though I do have a degree in art history),but I am once again sadly confronted with how cynical and mediocre liberal academia has become. Today, if art does not shock, anger or offend you, it is summarily dismissed as inferior. But consider what makes art masterful. Michelangelo's Pieta for instance is a masterpiece, because, asides from the superb technical work done on the marble slab, it moves us to an emotional response, the pain of the mother with her dead child, the dead Christ off the cross, His death for our salvation. Art should move you, spur you to be better, to reach a higher place. That is the true value of art. Kinkaid's work, to this end excels.