Thomas Kinkade - Power Artist?

Christopher Knight of the The Los Angeles Times Culture Monster blog reports that Thomas Kinkade has made the list of Britain's Art Review Power 100. Knight questions if the inclusion of Kinkade in the power list is actually a joke. Lets hope it is.

The post is very short, so here it is in full with hot links:

The other day, Britain's ArtReview magazine issued its Power 100 list, a ranking of artists, dealers, collectors and assorted others who ostensibly "run the art world." While most attention focuses on who is at the top -- artist Damien Hirst, dealer Larry Gagosian and Museum of Modern Art associate director Kathy Halbreich came in at Nos. 1, 2 and 3 -- way more interesting is who brings up the rear.

Number 100 on the list is Sacramento-born Thomas Kinkade, 50, self-described "Painter of Light," whose treacle-plenty pictures of bucolic bliss have been cranked out by the hundreds over the years.

A joke from across the pond? Or a simple sign of the inescapable silliness of all such lists?

Either way, Kinkade seems to nicely bracket the Power 100.