Thrift Store Find: Kitsch Painting
Scored this nicely framed kitsch print yesterday at lunch ($20, Millersville Goodwill).
Here is a better picture taken off eBay:
All the hallmarks of "High Kitsch," kitsch with pretensions to high art--faux Romantic pose, awkward posing, unnatural scene in a natural setting, titillation, odd proportions. And the name of the artist--Vinciata (the pseudonym of a one Edwardian Virginian Joseph Wallace King)--adds to the pretension. Of course the cherry of the top of this kitsch masterwork is the nipple--a faint yet undeniable nipple presenting itself on the model's right bosom.
Ah, the nipple. A mediation upon public perception of the female nipple would be a good focal point to explore popular culture's views of sexuality from the twentieth century onwards. It is such an innocent, harmless, and indeed hilarious looking thing--hard to believe the mountains made out of these molehills.
Much has been written about the difference between art and pornography, to little practical purpose. But the humble nipple is a far simpler and more revelatory barometer. My Art-Porn Nipple Index:
Explicit Nipple = Porn
Erased Nipple = Art
Vague Nipple = Kitsch
Here is a better picture taken off eBay:
All the hallmarks of "High Kitsch," kitsch with pretensions to high art--faux Romantic pose, awkward posing, unnatural scene in a natural setting, titillation, odd proportions. And the name of the artist--Vinciata (the pseudonym of a one Edwardian Virginian Joseph Wallace King)--adds to the pretension. Of course the cherry of the top of this kitsch masterwork is the nipple--a faint yet undeniable nipple presenting itself on the model's right bosom.
Ah, the nipple. A mediation upon public perception of the female nipple would be a good focal point to explore popular culture's views of sexuality from the twentieth century onwards. It is such an innocent, harmless, and indeed hilarious looking thing--hard to believe the mountains made out of these molehills.
Much has been written about the difference between art and pornography, to little practical purpose. But the humble nipple is a far simpler and more revelatory barometer. My Art-Porn Nipple Index:
Explicit Nipple = Porn
Erased Nipple = Art
Vague Nipple = Kitsch