Thomas Kinkade, the artist we were talking about it class (from wikipedia):
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Thomas Kinkade (born January 19, 1958 in Sacramento, California) is an American painter of realistic, bucolic, and idyllic subjects. He is notable for the mass marketing of his work as printed reproductions and other licensed products via The Thomas Kinkade Company. He is self described as "Thomas Kinkade, Painter of Light" (a trademarked phrase), and as "America's most-collected living artist". It is estimated that 1 in 20 homes in the U.S. feature some form of Thomas Kinkade?s art, according to Media Arts, the publicly-traded company that licenses and sells his products. He has received criticism for the extent to which he has commercialized his art -- for example, selling his prints on the QVC home shopping network. Others have written that his paintings are merely kitsch, without substance, and described it as chocolate box art.
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Hm, I'm not sure if his *originals* ever had an "aura"...