Attorney in first successful arbitration against the Painter of
Light warns the artist’s company will soon face many more
lawsuits
Morgan Hill – The war of words over the Painter of Light is escalating.
Days after Thomas Kinkade blasted disgruntled art dealers, unethical attorneys and an angry ex-employee out for revenge as the source of a series of baseless lawsuits and media attacks against him and his company, the lawyer for two former dealers who recently won the first successful business fraud case against the Morgan Hill-based Thomas Kinkade Co. warned the artist that more trouble is on the horizon.
“We’ve been flooded with inquiries from existing and former dealers, along with concerned shareholders and collectors,” Michigan attorney Norman Yatooma said. “There are many more lawsuits coming. Life is about to change for Mr. Kinkade. A change, I might add, which is long overdue.”
Last week, in a letter to Kinkade Gallery owners across the country, the artist wrote that the “source of these attacks is a small group of disgruntled ex-dealers who blame the company for the unfortunate demise of their business several years ago. … I guess they hope to either impact the outcome of these cases or force us to settle. But we have refused to bow to this kind of unethical pressure… .”
Kinkade was responding to an arbitration ruling last month that awarded $860,000 to two Virginia art dealers who claimed his company fraudulently induced them to contract with the company to carry Kinkade’s work, and a story in the Los Angeles Times that portrayed him as a heavy drinker with a penchant for “ritual territory marking.” According to an employee who testified against Kinkade, the painter once urinated on a Winnie the Pooh statue at the Disneyland Hotel.
In a two-to-one decision, the arbitration panel ruled that the company, at the time known as Media Arts Group, “did breach the covenant of good faith and dealing” and “failed to disclose material information which, if known by the claimants, would have reasonably caused them to decide not to proceed with their investment.”
The panel also concluded that Media Arts “painted an unrealistic and misleading picture of the prospects of success for a dealer,” who must make an initial investment of at least $80,000 to $150,000 to trade in Kinkade’s work. It was the first loss over unfair business practices for the Kinkade Co. Lawyers for the company have denied the allegations and will appeal the ruling. The company had prevailed in at least three previous arbitration cases.
A week after the decision, Kinkade’s lawyers filed suit against Yatooma, who currently represents 23 gallery owners in six outstanding cases against Thomas Kinkade Co., claiming Yatooma’s firm used illegal eavesdropping tactics to tamper with the arbitration proceedings.
According to the claim, attorneys used the Internet to transmit testimony in real-time to a third-party witness outside of the hearing room so that the witness, a former Media Arts Group employee who had lost a wrongful termination lawsuit, could suggest questions for cross-examination. The attorney who did the transmitting stopped working for Yatooma shortly after it occurred.
Monday, Yatooma ripped Kinkade for hiding behind his Christian persona.
“This is a man who … has compared himself to Billy Graham,” Yatooma said. “That image he’s built for himself, the heart of his appeal, is all coming down. My clients aren’t the only ones who’ve been sold a lie. How many paintings of candy cane cottages is Mr. Kinkade going to sell when his true character is revealed?”
Neither Kinkade or company CEO Dan Byrne could be reached for comment. In the letter, Kinkade attributes the accusations made in arbitration proceedings and the media as an assault on his religious faith, a conservative Christianity that is often the theme of his paintings.
“I’ve never had a problem admitting my own shortcomings and mistakes, but when people rewrite history or take events out of context to sling mud, that’s downright wrong,” Kinkade wrote in the letter. “It is true that there was a phase of my life when I occasionally ate and drank too much as a way of relieving stress … . If during this period I ever offended anybody, I am sorry.”
Kinkade goes onto say that he’s lost more than 50 pounds and gained control of his life with the help of God and his family, and is excited about many business opportunities on the horizon.
“Long after all this absurd negativity subsides,” the letter concludes, “I will still be here, sitting in front of my easel, trying my best to share the light.”
Most gallery owners contacted for this article referred calls to a Kinkade Co. media spokesman, as urged in an attachment to Kinkade’s letter.
Steve Austen, a Kinkade dealer in Capitola, did comment by praising Kinkade.
“All I can say is thanks to him, we’ve been able to buy our own building,” said Austen, who’s been a Kinkade dealer for 15 years. “Thom’s been wonderful.”
