Thomas Kinkade - Memphis - Robert Girrard Gallery

ROBERT
GIRRARD

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EVENING ON THE SEINE
    On a recent return trip to Paris, I had the opportunity to discover the visual joys of this city anew. I have experienced Paris during each season and would be hard pressed to pick a favorite, though Paris in winter is particularly luminous. There is a tremendous sense of expectation in Paris as the glowing lights of boulevard cafes contrast brilliantly with the subtle paletteof long winter nights. Snow falls rarely in the “City of Light”, and when it does, excitement seems to build as the snow accumulates. In my mind’s eye I like to turn back the clock to a simpler era and picture the wonderful costumes and festive life of the Impressionist era.
As a young artist exploring my style, I attempted to find inspiration from the French Impressionist viewpoint. I even created a brush name, “Robert Girrard”, that allowed me to create paintings with the carefree abandon of Monet, Renoir, and the other grand masters of the Impressionist style. My passion for Paris and my zeal for color and atmosphere are vibrantly expressed in my painting Evening on the Seine. It is a loving tribute to the timeless city that made the Impressionists famous. — Thomas Kinkade

SUMMER BREEZE
    Summer Breeze is a daydream from heaven; more than that, it is a dream of a perfect day. Puffy white clouds dance in the heavens, while white sails shimmer off azure waters. The joyful tranquility of the scene refreshes the soul.

    Southern France—the hills of Provence and the dramatic coastline of the Cote d'Azur—is blessed with such perfect days, when an endless stream of sunlight pours over beaches and gardens. The great Impressionist masters—Monet, Sisley, and Renoir—were inspired by such splendor, now I, as Robert Girrard join their company.

    I began my love affair with Impressionism years ago, on a walk through Southern France. In the coming months, Nanette and I intend to return to the source on a bicycle sketching tour.

    Summer Breeze uses broken color and broad strokes to engage the imagination; it invites you to join the artist in my heavenly daydream. — Thomas Kinkade

A WINTER'S COTTAGE
     As I look back over my development as an artist, I come to realize how important the trip Nanette and I and our two oldest girls made to the English Cotswolds early in our marriage really was to my self-discovery.

    The rustic charm of the thatch-roofed cottages like A Winter’s Cottage, the solidity of their massive stone walls, the way a golden, welcoming light poured through their ample windows — it all came to represent “the simple life” for me, long before I began to use that phrase to express my philosophy of living.

    I varied my painting technique on that trip as well. I’ve come to recognize that A Winter’s Cottage is one of my early examples of my Impressionist style. It may even be said that my Impressionist persona, Robert Girrard, made his first appearance in the English countryside.

    I painted Nanette and Merritt posing in the snowy yard. They are emboldened by the nearby A Winter’s Cottage to face the bracing challenge of the storm. The comfort and security of family life allow one to embrace the tests the world offers with courage and spirit. — Thomas Kinkade

THE RIVER SEINE
     Impressionism has always seemed to me a most romantic painting style - so emotionally charged, so free.

    When I first put on my beret and assumed my Robert Girrard persona, the circumstances certainly were romantic. My young family's first visit to Paris was accomplished on a shoestring - we lived on the streets for five days in a borrowed RV until the gendarme asked us to move on.

    During those five days, I set up my canvas in the open air and painted feverishly. The bold strokes and evocative colors of those early plein air paintings were my earliest experiments with the Impressionist style.

    I painted River Seine with my easel on a bridge, much like the one in the canvas, overlooking Paris's great river. The Seine is a busy body of water; tug boats and barges and pleasure boats move commerce and people along its banks.

    The warm light of dusk seemed to draw me into the heart of the City of Light. I used broken colors and broad strokes to evoke the emotional response to my beloved Paris that still touches me so many years later. — Thomas Kinkade

AFTERNOON AT ARGENTEUIL
     By using the Girrard brush name, Thomas Kinkade achieved absolute artistic freedom. This freedom led to a joyful experimentation that resulted in numerous breakthroughs and advances in Kinkade's artistic techniques and talents. Accomplished in the creation of mood and atmosphere in landscape, the broadened palette Kinkade acquired during the Girrard years allowed new dimensions to be employed in how he handled the subtle beauties of the qualities in a broad variety of contexts.

MORNING STROLL
     Girrard is a romantic impressionist. Many of his subjects are historic in nature while others are timeless. Among the later are his beautiful countryside and garden scenes. He applies color with a creative sensitivity few artist, past or present, can match. His sophisticated use of broken color yields a soft, atmospheric effect to his canvases.

SEPTEMBER SONG
     The Girrard era ended in 1989 when the name 'Girrard' was brushed onto a Kinkade canvas for the last time. Yet, in a significant way, the Girrard era is actually just beginning, for now, these beautiful, inspired works will take their rightful place in the established body of work of the world's most recognized and best selling living artist.

SUMMERTIME RESORT
     By using the Girrard brush name, Thomas Kinkade achieved absolute artistic freedom. This freedom led to a joyful experimentation that resulted in numerous breakthroughs and advances in Kinkade's landscape, the broadened palette Kinkade acquired during the Girrard years allowed new dimensions to be employed in how he handled the subtle beauties of the qualities in a broad variety of contexts.

GAZING
     I don't think it's a historical accident that Impressionist painting began in France. There are distinctive French vistas that are so lyrical, so vibrantly drenched in radiant light, that they virtually compel the brush to dance over the canvas with the verve of a Renoir or Manet.

    Gazing takes us to just such an exquisite French locale. A lithe, graceful young lady, dressed in white chiffon and wearing a bonnet, gazes out across a glittering lake toward a distant village. She stands under a single, slender tree. The basket she carries suggests some forgotten purpose; for the moment, she is entirely absorbed in the vista that captures her gaze. The mood is one of breathless anticipation. It is not only the girl who holds her breath in order to enter into the perfect tranquility of the moment; it is us as well. As she gazes at far horizons, we, in turn, gaze at her, hoping to join in her beautiful world.

    I adopted my Impressionist persona, and developed the vivid, animated style so that I could create poetic effects that lift my audience beyond the mundane world we live in. Here, we can join a young girl Gazing at a timeless vista. — Thomas Kinkade

PARIS TWILIGHT
     As Kinkade was heavily influenced by the French Impressionists early in his career, he felt a French-sounding name would be helpful if he were to paint impressionistic works under a pseudonym. With the name Robert Girrard, Thomas Kinkade found a new identity.

MORNING AT NICE
     Robert Girrard was a romantic impressionist whose subjects are exquisite in nature, applying his sophisticated use of unique color combinations yielding a soft, atmospheric effect to each canvas. The Girrard Style, influenced by early impressionistic artists, is reflected in the present tranquil light-infused Kinkade plein air and studio works.

THE BEACH AT NICE
     If you have seen Alfred Hitchcock's "To Catch a Thief" - "graced" by an unforgettable performance by the lovely Grace Kelly - then you have seen The Beach at Nice. The backdrop of stately old hotels, the sweep of pebbled beach, the festive beach cabanas, the dancing sailboats, and above all the unmistakable velvet waters of the Cote d'Azur, combine to make this a perfect subject for my Robert Girrard Impressionist style.

When I set up my easel to attempt to capture the grandeur and excitement of The Beach at Nice, my challenge was to convey the animation of the water - which seems like liquid crystal, alive with light and motion - and of the bathers on the shore.

I used bold strokes to convey the vibrant colors of the flags and beach cabanas. The pristine white sailboats dance on the waves, making the perfect accent to suggest the vibrant movement of the water. The wispy clouds, resembling sailboats in the sky, heighten the sense of a blustery afternoon. The Beach at Nice is crowded with bathers; the almost pointillist application of colors works to dramatize the action. Anyone who enjoys sea breeze, sand, and water will surely relish their time at The Beach at Nice. — Thomas Kinkade

MONTMARTRE
     My artist's heart beats faster in Montmartre, surrounded as I am by the heritage of giants. When I set up my easel and canvas on the sidewalks of what was, a century ago, the artistic capital of the world, I know that I follow in the steps of Toulouse-Lautrec, Manet, and all the others who made this section of Paris the symbol of the artistic lifestyle. Happily, Parisian women still stroll the boulevards with parasols in hand, so that my Montmartre retains its historic flavor. — Thomas Kinkade

SUNLIT GARDEN
     On my first visit to the continent, I found myself fascinated by the works of the Impressionist painters, which appear in such abundance in the great Parisian museums. I began to see that the masters had secrets, and I determined to discover them for myself. I went so far as to give myself the very French brush name, Robert Girrard, and to style myself during my travels in France as a member of the Impressionist school.

    Sunlit Garden was painted in the plein-air style preferred by the French masters, with a freedom of brushstroke and boldness of color that embraces the style of the French Impressionist masters. As I worked, I was observed by a weathered old peasant woman, dressed in black, who commented approvingly, "tres jolie, tres jolie" (very beautiful) I imagine Monet might have received similar tribute. .

    Robert Girrard, not surprisingly, shares some of the preferences of Thomas Kinkade. We are both fond of massive old stone and steel gates, intricate iron fences, and the equally intricate shadows they cast. We both love the flowers of spring - in this case, roses and dogwood festooning the grounds. And we both think that a fully enclosed courtyard is an irresistible intimate space. I can only hope that you will join me in my Sunlit Garden. — Thomas Kinkade

A SUMMER'S MORNING
     The play of light on the water intrigues and challenges me today, much as it challenged the Impressionist masters a century ago. Like Monet, I love to set up my easel on a riverbank and attempt to capture the multiple reflections and the sparkle of sunlight as a gentle breeze ripples the stream.

    In my impressionist work, A Summers Morning, the reflections of sailboats dance on the crystal waters. I try to make my brush dance on my canvas, much as Monet's brush danced when he painted outdoors a century ago. — Thomas Kinkade

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