Thomas Kinkade’s serene paintings hung in one of 20 American homes — as he hid a vault of tortured art

The art of Thomas Kinkade became a Nineties phenomenon as collectors and the American public clamoured for his pieces while critics rolled their eyes. But the ‘Painter of Light’ was battling personal demons as business woes and scandal plagued the empire before his death at 54 — and a new film lifts the lid not only on Kinkade’s inner struggles but a vault of uncharacteristic art discovered by his family. Sheila Flynn reports