Thomas Kinkade

Thomas Kinkade, the self-styled "Painter of Light," whose works are available through richly appointed galleries found in shopping malls around the country, obviously views his calling as more elevated than that of a mere dauber of paint. His works, he says in a video playing on his company Web site, "are messengers."

NEW YORK -- The old "contents may have shifted during flight" warning seemed especially worrying for "One Man, Two Guvnors," the London smash from the National Theatre of Great Britain that opened last week on Broadway.   Although the play by Richard Bean is a freehand adaptation of Carlo Goldoni's 18th century classic "The Servant of Two Masters," a commedia-dell'arte-inspired romp with timeless bona fides, not everyone was certain whether the production's British humor style would tickle American audiences. Well, to go by the gales of laughter pouring out of the Music Box Theatre on West 45th Street, the gags, jokes and pratfalls, under the unerring direction of Nicholas Hytner (with assistance from "physical comedy director" Cal McCrystal)

Beyond the cozy network of museums, auction houses and New York galleries that establish the market value and reputations of the contemporary artists they dub "important," there is a vast world of artists with followings that make Picasso's seem piddling. Hawaiian marine artist and long-tressed surfer Christian Lassen paints throbbing Pacific sunsets above preening waves.

The legal battle over the estate of Thomas Kinkade received a hearing earlier this week in a court in San Jose, with the artist's estranged wife squaring off against Kinkade's girlfriend, who was living with him at the time of his death in April. The hearing was held to decide whether the estate fight will be held in open court or in private arbitration. Amy Pinto-Walsh, the artist's girlfriend, has submitted to the court a handwritten document that she says shows Kinkade bequeathed her his mansion and $10 million to establish a Thomas Kinkade Museum, according to the San Jose Mercury News.

Thomas Kinkade, the self-styled "Painter of Light" who died Friday at 54, once said he worked to "create images that project a serene simplicity. " But despite his astonishing commercial success with luminous seascapes and paintings of cottages and street scenes, Kinkade's life in many ways was neither serene nor simple. Millions of his paintings and prints hang in homes around the world, popularity that translated to more than $50 million in earnings for the artist from 1997 to 2005 alone.

One of Thomas Kinkade's companies filed for bankruptcy protection Wednesday, a day after a $1-million payment was due to former gallery owners who have tried for four years to collect on a judgment they won against the self-styled "painter of light." The Chapter 11 petition was filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in San Jose in the name of the Kinkade production arm, Pacific Metro of Morgan Hill, Calif. It allows Pacific Metro to reorganize and puts an automatic stay on the collection of all judgments, including one for $3 million owed to Karen Hazlewood and Jeff Spinello.

SAN JOSE - Thomas Kinkade, Painter of Light™, spent his last two years legally separated from his wife of nearly three decades and struggling with alcoholism. Now, the $60-million-plus estate of America's most collected artist - master of the prayer garden and the glowing cottage - is at the center of a nasty legal battle complete with two wills, two women and two very different images of the painter's last wishes. Nanette Kinkade, his estranged wife, and Amy Pinto, who says she and Kinkade were planning a Fiji wedding before his death at age 54, are locked in a dispute over the disposition of his fortune - as well as his remains.

About 20 miles beyond the red-tile roofs of downtown Santa Barbara, it begins: the rolling blond hills that go indecently green in spring, the massive estates and miniature horses, the sprawling vineyards and "Sideways" scenery, the dude ranch with 10,000 acres, the old stagecoach stop with boar on the menu and bikers in the parking lot .... Santa Barbara County's wine country has a lot to offer. The nine micro-itineraries that follow are a quick introduction for newcomers, part of our ongoing series of Southern California Close-Ups.

As a current Signature Gallery owner, I disagree with statements made by disgruntled dealers. I have not experienced the poor customer/dealer support that Michael Hiltzik described in "Future Clouded for 'Painter of Light's' Galleries" (Golden State, Feb. 3). Although the success of Thomas Kinkade is undisputed, I think the story that should be told is the great effort that Media Arts Group Inc. and its management have made to support the Signature Galleries. In any type of business, retail or otherwise, a business plan is a goal established by the entrepreneur.

Having read your paper for over a dozen years, I feel compelled to write for the first time regarding the piece on Thomas Kinkade ("Rich Man, Poor Man," July 26). To say that I am disappointed in your decision to do a profile of him would be an understatement. By making such an enormous sum of money by merchandising every ounce of kitsch that he pumps out, Kinkade may appear to be worthy of an article, [but] you are tacitly endorsing what he represents. --ALEX GROSS South Pasadena