Kitsch (visual art genre)

Kitsch is a genre of visual art that is derived from popular and commercial culture. While it may be considered garish, gaudy, or ridiculous, some viewers appreciate it and may find it worth contemplating as ironic art. Kitsch is not necessarily meant to inspire deep interpretation or inspiration but rather an appreciation of the image or object itself.

Kitsch is a German word meaning “trash.” It was first used as a derogatory term to describe this so-called lowbrow art during the 1920s. Many elements of popular culture may qualify as kitsch, such as Japanese manga comics and commercial character merchandise. A number of artists also took to kitsch and developed the pop art movement of the 1960s.

Some prominent names in kitsch art include Jeff Koons, Margaret Keane, Thomas Kinkade, Vladimir Tretchikoff, Bernard Buffet, Jim Warren, Leroy Neiman, Jack Vetriano, Damien Hirst, and Yoshimoto Nara. Some artists have broken the bounds of kitsch. For example, Andy Warhol elevated everyday objects such as Campbell’s Soup cans beyond kitsch to levels of high art.

Background

Western art has experienced many movements. Among these are Renaissance Art, Baroque, Romanticism, Realism, Art Nouveau, Impressionism, and Cubism. Many works of fine art were created throughout history. At the same time, low art, including utilitarian items such as wood inlay, and low-brow art was created but not held in high esteem. This approach to art began to shift in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries when people appreciated other forms of art.

American art critic Clement Greenberg defined kitsch in "Avant-Garde and Kitsch" in 1939. In this essay, he explored high art, which at that time was dominated by avant-garde works, and kitsch. He described kitsch as the rear-guard of avant-garde and a product of the industrial West. He listed commercial art such as magazine covers, illustrations, and comics as kitsch. Though he saw kitsch and high art as complete opposites, beginning about 1950, many respected and emerging artists began exploring popular culture. This led to the pop art that typifies the 1960s.

A great deal of pop art may be regarded as kitsch. Some works, such as the Campbell’s Soup Cans of American artist Warhol (1928–1987), transcend kitsch and pop art to be considered fine art.

In addition to kitsch art, the art world recognizes the Kitsch Movement. This began in 1998 with Norwegian artist Odd Nerdrum (1944—), who declared himself a Kitsch Painter. Many of his students became figures in the Kitsch Movement.

Overview

Artists whose work is regarded as kitsch represent a wide range of styles. These include popular culture or earlier artistic styles. Others develop styles outside of art movements. A number began their careers as commercial artists.

Jeff Koons (1955—) is regarded as one of the most popular and influential kitsch artists. He is possibly most famously known as the creator of balloon sculptures, such as the ten-foot-tall Balloon Dogs made of stainless steel and finished in translucent coatings of blue, magenta, orange, red, or yellow to resemble twisted and bent balloons. Koons emerged in the 1980s after studying at the School of the Art Institute in Chicago and the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore, earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the latter. Many of his early works included found items and small toys. Later works took on a much larger scale, and Koons handed off the construction of his designs to artists and technicians. For example, one of his earlier works, Michael Jackson and Bubbles, a porcelain sculpture featuring the American singer, songwriter, and dancer Michael Jackson sitting with his pet chimpanzee, Bubbles, was manufactured by an Italian porcelain factory. Koons has also combined fine art and kitsch, as in his Gazing Ball series. For example, the 2016 oil on canvas, glass, and aluminum work Gazing Ball (Titian Pastoral Concert) finds a reflecting ball in the center of the Italian Renaissance painting Pastoral Concert, circa 1509. The surroundings are reflected in the gazing ball. Another series that draws heavily from pop culture is Hulk Elvis. Some of these works are metal sculptures that appear to be inflatables of the Marvel Comics character. They may include wheelbarrows full of live plants, parts of musical instruments, or other items. Others are paintings that include inflatable toys, realistic landscapes, and nudes. Collaborating with billionaire Elon Musk’s SpaceX company, Koons sent 125 small, stainless steel moon sculptures to space on the Odysseus IM-1 lunar lander in early 2024. Entitled Moon Phases, the work became the first “authorized” artwork on the moon. Together, the one-inch diameter sculptures depict sixty-two moon phases from the perspective of Earth, sixty-two moon phases from the perspective of space, and a lunar eclipse.

Margaret Keane (1927-2022) is known as much for her portraits of children with enormous eyes as she is for the fraud perpetuated by her second husband, Walter Keane. For years, he took credit for her work and claimed to be the artist behind the wildly popular paintings. She began her career as a commercial artist who studied for a year at the Traphagen School of Design in New York City. She worked painting furniture and clothing during the 1950s. She also began working on portraits before she met Walter. When they married, he began selling the so-called “big eyes” paintings but did not tell his wife he was claiming the work as his own. Even when her works became more popular and she discovered his deception, she remained quiet. She later said she feared him. She was one of the most commercially successful artists of the 1960s. Some art critics were incensed and critiqued her work mercilessly. After she and Walter divorced, Keane publicly claimed credit for the paintings. She later sued Walter, and during the trial, the federal judge insisted that they both produce a painting in court. While her former husband declined, citing a painful shoulder, Keane produced a big-eyes painting in less than an hour. While her earlier works were primarily of sad children, years later she painted more cheerful subjects.

Thomas Kinkade (1958–2012) was known for paintings of pastoral and realistic settings. He sold prints through his own company and marketed himself as the painter of light, exemplified in Sunset On Lamplight Lane, painted in 2005. Many of his paintings include cottages and churches with light streaming from the windows. He attended the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California. Like Keane, Warhol, and many other artists linked to kitsch, he began his career as a commercial artist. Among other projects, he created background art for an animated feature film. He later credited this work with inspiring his interest in incorporating light in his work.

Other classic examples of art classified as Kitsch include Vladimir Grigoryevich Tretchikoff’s Chinese Girl (1952) and Brooklyn Bridge (1995) by LeRoy Neiman.

Bibliography

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