Critics Mock Kinkade – But Why Did His Work Matter So Much To So Many ?

Andrea Wolk “Rager defines Kinkade’s appeal as ‘the aesthetics of nostalgia.’ She notes that sociologists consider nostalgic longing a response to feeling uprooted or unmoored, while some psychologists link it to an unconscious desire to return to the womb. She contends that Kinkade’s images, with their soft light, rain-slicked streets, and general aura of gentle reassurance, speak to both of those primal pulls.”