Art for Everybody

The centerpiece of the film is the Kinkade daughters’ posthumous discovery of a vault that houses a trove of their father’s unseen, artistically challenging work, much of which shows an underside that few people knew — or could have ever imagined.

Yousef’s illuminating doc appeals to all sides, from Kinkade’s haters to his most ardent defenders, revealing dimensions altogether absent from his enormously popular oeuvre.

A thoroughly fascinating documentary about a family discovering the depth and complexity of their patriarch while coming to terms with his flaws.

Well structured, meticulously researched and revealing, even for a Kinkade-jaded viewer like me.

With observations from collectors, friends, art critics, his family, and Kinkade himself in archival footage, this documentary reveals what all those pictures of cozy cottages hid: a complicated life as tragic as it was triumphant.

Art for Everybody is instead a reflection on what art can bring to a person and a life, its power to connect people and provide a reprieve from the woes of the world.

While biographical docs have an inherent ceiling, Yousef does her best to overcome those issues. With an eclectic group of commentators and those who knew him best, Art is For Everybody provides a thorough portrait of Thomas Kinkade’s life and struggles.

In revealing the deeper demons that haunted—and possibly consumed—Kinkade, this superbly crafted doc shows how even the Painter of Light had a dark side.

Director Miranda Yousef doesn't just look at the paintings, prints, and ancillary products that made him rich, but behind the pious image to reveal what he really thought and the kind of art he really wanted to make.

Captivating, revealing and occasionally moving.