Kitsch /kɪtʃ/ is a term of German origin that has been used to categorize art that is considered an inferior copy of an existing style. The term is also used more loosely in referring to any art that is pretentious to the point of being in bad taste, and also commercially produced items that are considered trite or crass. Many times, the term art is used to refer to the visual arts. ... Taste (sociology) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ...

Because the word was brought into use as a response to a large amount of art in the 19th century where the aesthetic of art work was associated with a sense of exaggerated sentimentality or melodrama, kitsch is most closely associated with art that is sentimental; however, it can be used to refer to any type of art that is deficient for similar reasons—whether it tries to appear sentimental, glamorous, theatrical, or creative, kitsch is said to be a gesture imitative of the superficial appearances of art. It is often said that kitsch relies on merely repeating convention and formula, lacking the sense of creativity and originality displayed in genuine art. The Parthenons facade showing an interpretation of golden rectangles in its proportions. ... The Sentiment for 18th century readers and writers is an equivalent for a strong romantic, usually exageratedly powerful feeling. ... Poster for The Perils of Pauline (1914). ...

History

Though its precise etymology is uncertain, it is widely held that the word originated in the Munich art markets of the 1860s and ’70s, used to describe cheap, hotly marketable pictures or sketches^{[citation needed]} (the English term mispronounced by Germans, or elided with the German dialect verb kitschen that originally meant “to scrape up mud from the street” or "to smear"). Kitsch appealed to the crass tastes of the newly moneyed Munich bourgeoisie who, like most nouveau riche, thought they could achieve the status they envied in the traditional class of cultural elites by aping, however clumsily, the most apparent features of their cultural habits. Not to be confused with Entomology, the study of insects. ... For other uses, see Munich (disambiguation). ... Look up Market in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Nouveau riche (French for new rich), or new money refers to persons who acquire wealth within their generation. ...

The word eventually came to mean “a slapping together” (of a work of art). Kitsch became defined as an aesthetically impoverished object of shoddy production, meant more to identify the consumer with a newly acquired class status than to invoke a genuine aesthetic response. Kitsch was considered aesthetically impoverished and morally dubious, and to have sacrificed aesthetic life to a pantomime of aesthetic life, usually, but not always, in the interest of signalling one’s class status. Consumers refers to individuals or households that purchase and use goods and services generated within the economy. ...

Avant-garde and kitsch

The word became very popularized in the 1930s by the theorists Theodor Adorno, Hermann Broch, and Clement Greenberg, who each sought to define avant-garde and kitsch as being opposites. To the art world of the time, the immense popularity of kitsch was perceived as a threat to culture. The arguments of all three theorists relied on an implicit definition of kitsch as a type of false consciousness, a Marxist term meaning a mindset present within the structures of capitalism that is misguided as to its own desires and wants. Marxists suppose there to be a disjunction between the real state of affairs and the way that they phenomenally appear. Max Horkheimer (front left), Theodor Adorno (front right), and Jürgen Habermas in the background, right, in 1965 at Heidelberg. ... Hermann Broch (November 1, 1886 - May 30, 1951) was a 20th century Austrian writer, considered one of the major Modernists. ... Clement Greenberg (January 16, 1909 - May 7, 1994) was an influential American art critic closely associated with the abstract art movement in the United States. ... A work similar to Marcel Duchamps Fountain Avant garde (written avant-garde) is a French phrase, one of many French phrases used by English speakers. ... Culture (Culture from the Latin cultura stemming from colere, meaning to cultivate,) generally refers to patterns of human activity and the symbolic structures that give such activity significance. ... False consciousness is the Engelsist hypothesis that material and institutional processes in capitalist society mislead the proletariat — and perhaps the other classes — over the nature of capitalism. ... Marxism takes its name from the praxis (the synthesis of philosophy and political action) of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. ... Capitalism generally refers to an economic system in which the means of production are all or mostly privately[1][2] owned and operated for profit, and in which investments, distribution, income, production and pricing of goods and services are determined through the operation of a free market. ...

Adorno perceived this in terms of what he called the “culture industry,” where the art is controlled and formulated by the needs of the market and given to a passive population which accepts it—what is marketed is art that is non-challenging and formally incoherent, but which serves its purpose of giving the audience leisure and something to watch. It helps serve the oppression of the population by capitalism by distracting them from their alienation. Contrarily, art for Adorno is supposed to be subjective, challenging, and oriented against the oppressiveness of the power structure. He claimed that kitsch is parody of catharsis, and a parody of aesthetic experience. The term culture industry was coined by Theodor Adorno (1903-1969) and Max Horkheimer (1895-1973). ... Look up alienation, alienate in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... In contemporary usage, a parody (or lampoon) is a work that imitates another work in order to ridicule, ironically comment on, or poke some affectionate fun at the work itself, the subject of the work, the author or fictional voice of the parody, or another subject. ... Catharsis is the Greek Katharsis word meaning purification or cleansing derived from the ancient Greek gerund καθαίρειν transliterated as kathairein to purify, purge, and adjective katharos pure or clean (ancient and modern Greek: καθαρός). // The term in drama refers to a sudden emotional breakdown or climax that constitutes overwhelming feelings of great...

Broch called kitsch “the evil within the value-system of art”—that is, if true art is “good,” kitsch is “evil.” While art was creative, Broch held that kitsch depended solely on plundering creative art by adopting formulas that seek to imitate it, limiting itself to conventions and demanding a totalitarianism of those recognizable conventions. To him, kitsch was not the same as bad art; it formed a system of its own. He argued that kitsch involved trying to achieve “beauty” instead of “truth” and that any attempt to make something beautiful would lead to kitsch.

Greenberg held similar views; believing that the avant-garde arose in order to defend aesthetic standards from the decline of taste involved in consumer society, and seeing kitsch and art as opposites. He outlined this in his essay “Avant-Garde and Kitsch.” One of his more controversial claims was that kitsch was equivalent to Academic art: “All kitsch is academic, and conversely, all that is academic is kitsch.” He argued this based on the fact that Academic art, such as that in the 19th century, was heavily centered in rules and formulations that were taught and tried to make art into something learnable and easily expressible. He later came to withdraw from his position of equating the two, as it became heavily criticized. While it is true that some Academic art might have been kitsch, not all of it is, and not all kitsch is academic. A work similar to Marcel Duchamps Fountain Avant garde (written avant-garde) is a French phrase, one of many French phrases used by English speakers. ... Aesthetics (or esthetics) (from the Greek word αισθητική) is a branch of philosophy dealing with the nature of beauty. ... Birth of Venus, Alexandre Cabanel, 1863 Academic art is a style of painting and sculpture produced under the influence of European academies or universities. ...

Other theorists over time have also linked kitsch to totalitarianism. The Czech writer Milan Kundera, in his book The Unbearable Lightness of Being (1984), defined it as “the absolute denial of shit.” He wrote that kitsch functions by excluding from view everything that humans find difficult to come to terms with, offering instead a sanitised view of the world in which “all answers are given in advance and preclude any questions.” Forms of government Part of the Politics series Politics Portal This box:      Totalitarianism is a term employed by political scientists, especially those in the field of comparative politics, to describe modern regimes in which the state regulates nearly every aspect of public and private behavior. ... Milan Kundera (IPA: ) (born April 1, 1929 in Brno, Czechoslovakia) is a Czech-born writer who writes in both Czech and French. ... This does not cite any references or sources. ...

In its desire to paper over the complexities and contradictions of real life, kitsch, Kundera suggested, is intimately linked with totalitarianism. In a healthy democracy, diverse interest groups compete and negotiate with one another to produce a generally acceptable consensus; by contrast, “everything that infringes on kitsch,” including individualism, doubt, and irony, “must be banished for life” in order for kitsch to survive. Therefore, Kundera wrote, “Whenever a single political movement corners power we find ourselves in the realm of totalitarian kitsch.” This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Individualism is a term used to describe a moral, political, or social outlook that stresses human independence and the importance of individual self-reliance and liberty. ... Irony is a literary or rhetorical device, in which there is a gap or incongruity between what a speaker or a writer says and what is generally understood (either at the time, or in the later context of history). ...

For Kundera, “Kitsch causes two tears to flow in quick succession. The first tear says: How nice to see children running on the grass! The second tear says: How nice to be moved, together with all mankind, by children running on the grass! It is the second tear that makes kitsch kitsch.”

Academic art

Nineteenth century academic art is still often seen as kitsch, though this view is coming under attack from modern critics. Perhaps it is best to resort to the theory of Broch, who argued that the genesis of kitsch was in Romanticism, which wasn’t kitsch itself but which opened the door for kitsch taste, by emphasizing the need for expressive and evocative art work. Academic art, which continued this tradition of Romanticism, has a twofold reason for its association with kitsch. Birth of Venus, Alexandre Cabanel, 1863 Academic art is a style of painting and sculpture produced under the influence of European academies or universities. ... Wanderer above the sea of fog by Caspar David Friedrich Romanticism is an artistic, literary, and intellectual movement that originated in 18th century Western Europe during the Industrial Revolution. ...

It is not that it was found to be accessible—in fact, it was under its reign that the difference between high art and low art was first defined by intellectuals. Academic art strove towards remaining in a tradition rooted in the aesthetic and intellectual experience. Intellectual and aesthetic qualities of the work were certainly there—good examples of academic art were even admired by the avant-garde artists who would rebel against it. There was some critique, however, that in being “too beautiful” and democratic it made art look easy, non-involving and superficial. High Art (1998) is an independent movie directed by Lisa Cholodenko and starring Ally Sheedy and Radha Mitchell. ...

Many academic artists tried to use subjects from low art and ennoble them as high art by subjecting them to interest in the inherent qualities of form and beauty, trying to democratize the art world. In England, certain academics even advocated that the artist should work for the marketplace. In some sense the goals of democratization succeeded, and the society was flooded with Academic art, the public lining up to see art exhibitions as they do to see movies today. Literacy in art became widespread, as did the practice of art making, and there was a blurring between high and low culture. This often led to poorly made or poorly conceived artworks being accepted as high art. Often art which was found to be kitsch showed technical talent, such as in creating accurate representations, but lacked good taste. Democracy describes a number of related forms of government. ... Motto (French) God and my right Anthem No official anthem - the United Kingdom anthem God Save the Queen is commonly used England() – on the European continent() – in the United Kingdom() Capital (and largest city) London (de facto) Official languages English (de facto)1 Unified  -  by Athelstan 927 AD  Area  -  Total... World literacy rates by country The traditional definition of literacy is considered to be the ability to read and write, or the ability to use language to read, write, listen, and speak. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Low culture is a derogatory term for some forms of popular culture. ...

Secondly, the subjects and images presented in academic art, though original in their first expression, were disseminated to the public in the form of prints and postcards—which was often actively encouraged by the artists—and these images were endlessly copied in kitschified form until they became well known clichés. For the record label, see Postcard Records. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

The avant-garde reacted to these developments by separating itself from the aspects of art such as pictorial representation and harmony that were appreciated by the public, in order to make a stand for the importance of the aesthetic. Many modern critics try not to pigeonhole academic art into the kitsch side of the art/kitsch dichotomy, recognizing its historical role in the genesis of both the avant-garde and kitsch. A dichotomy is a division into two non-overlapping or mutually exclusive and jointly exhaustive parts. ...

Postmodernism

With the emergence of Postmodernism in the 1980s, the borders between kitsch and high art became blurred again. One development was the approval of what is called “camp taste.” Camp refers to an ironic appreciation of that which might otherwise be considered corny, such as singer/dancer Carmen Miranda with her tutti-frutti hats, or otherwise kitsch, such as popular culture events which are particularly dated or inappropriately serious, such as the low-budget science fiction movies of the 1950s and 60s. “Camp” is derived from the French slang term camper, which means “to pose in an exaggerated fashion.” Susan Sontag argued in her 1964 Notes on “Camp” that camp was an attraction to the human qualities which expressed themselves in “failed attempts at seriousness,” the qualities of having a particular and unique style and of reflecting the sensibilities of the era. It involved an aesthetic of artifice rather than of nature. Indeed, hard-line supporters of camp culture have long insisted that “camp is a lie that dares to tell the truth.” The term Postmodernism (sometimes abbreviated Pomo[1]) was coined in 1949 to describe a dissatisfaction with modern architecture, founding the postmodern architecture. ... Camp is an aesthetic in which something has appeal because of its bad taste or ironic value. ... Carmen Miranda, pron. ... Camp is an aesthetic in which something has appeal because of its bad taste or ironic value. ... Slang is the use of highly informal words and expressions that are not considered standard in the speakers dialect or language. ... Susan Sontag (January 16, 1933 – December 28, 2004) was a well-known American essayist, novelist, intellectual, filmmaker, and activist. ... Notes On Camp is a well-known essay by Susan Sontag organized around fifty-eight numbered theses. ...

Much of Pop art attempted to incorporate images from popular culture and kitsch; artists were able to maintain legitimacy by saying they were “quoting” imagery to make conceptual points, usually with the appropriation being ironic. In Italy, a movement arose called the Nuovi Nuovi (“new new”), which took a different route: instead of quoting kitsch in an ironic stance, it founded itself in a primitivism which embraced the ugliness and garishness, emulating it as a sort of anti-aesthetic. Just What Is It That Makes Today’s Homes So Different, So Appealing? (1956) is one of the earliest works to be considered pop art. ... Primitivism is an artistic movement which originated as a reaction to the Enlightenment. ...

Conceptual art and deconstruction posed as interesting challenges, because, like kitsch, they downplayed the formal structure of the artwork in favor of elements which enter it by relating to other spheres of life. Joseph Kosuth, One and Three Chairs (1965) Conceptual art is art in which the concept(s) or idea(s) involved in the work take precedence over traditional aesthetic and material concerns. ...

Despite this, many in the art world continue to have an adherence to some sense of the dichotomy between art and kitsch, excluding all sentimental and realistic art from being considered seriously. This has come under attack by critics who argue for a reappreciation of Academic art and traditional figurative painting, without the concern for it appearing innovative or new. As in the surreal and figurative paintings of Lawrence Hollien. A different tactic is taken by the Norwegian artist Odd Nerdrum, who composed a manifesto entitled “On Kitsch,” where he makes a point of declaring himself a Kitsch painter rather than an artist, even though very few critics would actually think of his artwork as kitsch. Early Morning, oil on canvas, 206cm x 175. ... Look up manifesto in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... The introduction of this article does not provide enough context for readers unfamiliar with the subject. ...

In any case, whatever difficulty there is in defining its boundaries with art, the word “kitsch” is still in common usage to label anything felt in bad taste.

The concept of the “kitsch-man”

The term “kitsch-man” (or Kitschmensch) refers to an individual who compulsively metamorphoses all of his aesthetic experiences into kitsch, regardless of whether the work of art concerned is good or bad. Whenever the kitsch-man contemplates art, it always involves the adoption of a particular viewpoint, a perspective swamped with the vicarious and the sentimental. When the kitsch-man encounters a genuine artwork and its kitsch replica (e.g. a twelve-inch copy of Michaelangelo’s pieta in plaster) the response elicited will be no different. Pathos is projected onto genuine works of art, transforming art from the past into objects of sentimentality. Even nature is not immune to kitsch under the apprehension of the kitsch-man, in particular those components of nature that have endured kitsch portrayals to the extent that they have become hackneyed. A sunset, for example, could too closely resemble its representation in cheap paintings or “romantic” films; here the kitsch-man makes natural occurrences seem “false.”

Examples

Many lawn ornaments like this garden gnome are considered kitsch.

One of the first painters that served as a demonstrative example of kitsch is the Hungarian Charles Roka. Despised by the art world, he was nevertheless loved by the people. He became famous for his numerous variations of the Gipsy Girl, where he painted exotic looking Gypsies in a pin-up style, and for sentimental portraits of children with their pet dogs. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (852x1908, 961 KB) Beschreibung Description: Garden gnome with wheelbarrow Source: photo taken by Ioannes. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (852x1908, 961 KB) Beschreibung Description: Garden gnome with wheelbarrow Source: photo taken by Ioannes. ... Lawn ornaments are decorative objects placed in the grassy area of a property. ... This article needs additional references or sources for verification. ... Charles Roka (Róka Károly, 1912-1999) was a Hungarian painter living in Norway whose name became synonimous with an excess of artistic kitsch. ... The Roma people (pronounced rahma, singular Rom, sometimes Rroma, and Rrom) along with the closely related Sinti people are commonly known as Gypsies in English, and as Tsigany in most of Europe. ... Pin-up photo of Ingrid Bergman for the March 16, 1945 issue of the U.S. Army magazine, Yank. ...

A modern example of a painter considered by most art critics and academics to be producing kitsch, but who has a loyal following that generally does not claim artistic sophistication, is the commercially successful American Thomas Kinkade, who brands himself the “Painter of Light™” and claims to be the United States’ “most collected living artist.” Kinkade paints scenes of stone cottages, lighthouses, cobble stone streets, rustic villages, and other vistas, with emphasis on the glittery ornamentation in the play of light and natural foliage. His work is meant to be sentimental, patriotic, quaint, spiritual, and inspirational. In the United Kingdom the artist Maggi Hambling is considered by many^{[citation needed]} to be an unconscious exponent of kitsch, with the coffin-like Oscar Wilde memorial and the controversial Scallop sculpture (however, Hambling’s portraits of the dying Henrietta Moraes escape such critical accusation). Perhaps the closest British equivalent of Kinkade is the kitsch painter Jack Vettriano. Kinkade with copy of his painting Heading Home presented to USO in October 2005. ... Hamblings Scallop (2003) stands on the north end of Aldeburgh beach. ... Henrietta Moraes (d. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ...

His Station and Four Aces by C. M. Coolidge, 1903.

Several Dogs Playing Poker paintings produced in the early 20th century by C. M. Coolidge are famous examples of kitsch. His Station and 4 Aces by C. M. Coolidge. ... His Station and 4 Aces by C. M. Coolidge. ... His Station and Four Aces by C. M. Coolidge, 1903. ... His Station and Four Aces by C. M. Coolidge, 1903. ...

A painter classified as making kitsch is Margaret Keane, who worked in the ’50s and ’60s, painting mostly portraits of waif children; but whether her subject was child, adult, or animal, all of her pictures had very large, staring eyes that always directly faced the viewer. Margaret Keane is an American artist. ...

Another painter who is commonly used as an example of kitsch is the fantasy artist Boris Vallejo, born in Peru. His painting involves muscular heroes, voluptuous ladies, and monsters, all depicted in a fantasy setting. Vallejo’s works and similar ones are often painted on the sides of vans and featured in calendars. Critics of his paintings find them garish and gaudy in similar ways to Siegfried and Roy shows in Las Vegas. Boris Vallejo, April 2005 Boris Vallejo (born January 8, 1941 in Lima, Peru) is an American painter. ... Siegfried & Roy are longtime Las Vegas headliners whose longrunning illusion and magic act closed October 3, 2003 after “Roy” was mauled by one of the acts performing white tigers during a performance. ... For further information, see Las Vegas metropolitan area and Las Vegas Strip. ...

Similar practitioners of kitsch include the following comic artists: The works of Frank Frazetta have sometimes been identified as kitsch, but that classification has been disputed and is a matter of sometimes heated debate, Jack Kirby, and Alex Ross. Frank Frazetta (born February 9, 1928) is one of the worlds most influential fantasy and science fiction artists. ... Jack Kirby (August 28, 1917 – February 6, 1994) was one of the most influential, recognizable, and prolific artists in American comic books, and the co-creator of such enduring characters and popular culture icons as the Fantastic Four, the X-Men, the Hulk, Captain America, and hundreds of others stretching... Nelson Alexander Alex Ross (born January 22, 1970) is an American comic book painter, acclaimed for the photorealism of his work. ...

David Ligare and Bev Doolittle are good examples of the extent of kitsch. Bev Doolittle (born January 10 into a large family, 1947) is an American artist working mainly in watercolor paints. ...

Inkpots and deer antler for penholders

A kitschy ashtray, of a style common[1] in the Jim Crow and segregation era, and thus showing the historical face of racism.

Velvet paintings, which are widely sold in rural America, usually have kitsch themes. They often depict images of Elvis Presley, Dale Earnhardt, John Wayne, Jesus, Native Americans, and Cowboys. One example of a kitsch velvet painting features an 18-wheel truck driving through the night with a ghostly image of Jesus in the sky watching protectively from above. Image File history File linksMetadata Schreibtischset. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Schreibtischset. ... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1217x1840, 423 KB)Photo by KF, June 2006. ... Image File history File links Download high-resolution version (1217x1840, 423 KB)Photo by KF, June 2006. ... A typical glass ashtray In the days when smoking was still permitted in public buildings, ashtrays were fixed to the walls in corridors at regular intervals. ... Jim Crow can refer to several subjects: James F. Crow, Professor Emeritus of Genetics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. ... The Rex Theatre for Colored People Racial segregation is characterized by separation of different races in daily life, such as eating in a restaurant, drinking from a water fountain, using a rest room, attending school, going to the movies, or in the rental or purchase of a home[1]. Segregation... Racism is a belief or doctrine that differences in physical appearance between people (such as those upon which the concept of race is based) determine cultural or individual achievement, and usually involve the idea that ones own race is superior. ... Velvet is a type of tufted fabric in which the cut threads are very evenly distributed, with a short dense pile, giving it its distinct feel. ... Elvis Aron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), often known simply as Elvis and also called The King of Rock n Roll or simply The King, was an American singer, musician and actor. ... This article is about the elder Dale Earnhardt. ... John Wayne (May 26, 1907 – June 11, 1979) was an iconic, Academy Award-winning, American film actor. ... This article is about Jesus of Nazareth. ... Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples from the regions of North America now encompassed by the continental United States, including parts of Alaska. ... The classic vision of the American cowboy, as portrayed by Frederic Remington A cowboy (Spanish vaquero) tends cattle and horses on cattle ranches in North and South America. ...

Some kitsch items, typically small statuettes, deviate from the original concept, such as a Santa Claus in biker garb riding a chopper. Commonly, they can also be found bearing unrelated symbols, such as the motorcycle Santa wearing Green Bay Packers colors and logo. A typical depiction of Santa Claus. ...

The musicians whose work may be considered kitsch are Stockholm Syndrome, Nickelback, Modern Error, and Telekinesis for Cats. The Eurovision Song Contest is considered by some to be an example of kitsch. One could also consider such music to be examples of the closely related concept of camp. Stockholm Syndrome (from left to right): Kevin Klages, Chris Baboolal, Dustin Sampson and Jonas Thydell. ... Nickelback is a Canadian rock band formed in Hanna, Alberta by Chad Kroeger, Mike Kroeger and jayde sleep. ... The modern logo was introduced for the 2004 Contest to create a consistent visual identity. ... Camp is an aesthetic in which something has appeal because of its bad taste or ironic value. ...

Las Vegas is considered by many the pinnacle of architectural kitsch in the world, and may be used as good example of how luxury and kitsch can be together. 1959 Cadillacs also seem to illustrate this. For further information, see Las Vegas metropolitan area and Las Vegas Strip. ...

The plastic pink flamingo lawn icon, popularized in the 1950s, has been reviled as kitschy bad taste or revered as retro cool. Lawn flamingos in their natural habitat. ...

These are only strong, defining examples of what art purists refer to as kitsch—many would say that it saturates all popular culture, and some would equate popular culture and kitsch as being one and the same; as Clement Greenberg remarked, kitsch is “all that is spurious in the life of our times" (from "Avantgarde and Kitsch", in Greenberg 1989). Clement Greenberg (January 16, 1909 - May 7, 1994) was an influential American art critic closely associated with the abstract art movement in the United States. ...

Quotations

• “Kitsch is mechanical and operates by formulas. Kitsch is vicarious experience and faked sensations. Kitsch changes according to style, but remains always the same. Kitsch is the epitome of all that is spurious in the life of our times.”—Clement Greenberg, “Avant-Garde and Kitsch,” 1939.
• “The more romantic a work of art, or a landscape, the quicker its repetitions are perceived as kitsch or ‘slush.’ ” —Arthur Koestler, 1949
• “[K]itsch is the absolute denial of shit, in both the literal and figurative senses of the word; kitsch excludes everything from its purview which is essentially unacceptable in human existence.”—Milan Kundera, 1984
• “Kitsch is the expression of passion at all levels, and not the servant of truth. It keeps relative to religion and truth...Truth, kitsch leaves for (modern) art. In kitsch skill is the important criteria...Kitsch serves life and seeks the individual.” Odd Nerdrum, “Kitsch—The Difficult Choice,” 1998.
• “I think that what’s truly vulgar is kitsch, that means the lack of technical awareness.”—Daniele Luttazzi, 1 February 2001 interview at L’Espresso.
• “The absence of kitsch makes life unbearable”—Friedensreich Hundertwasser
• “They say that romance is back in fashion, they say that kitsch is back in fashion.”— (Brian Molko, during live performance of the song “Kitsch Object”)
• "It's kitschy!"—Cosmo Kramer

Clement Greenberg (January 16, 1909 - May 7, 1994) was an influential American art critic closely associated with the abstract art movement in the United States. ... Avant-Garde and Kitsch is the title of a 1939 essay by Clement Greenberg in which he claimed that avant-garde and modernist art was a means to resist the dumbing down of culture caused by consumerism. ... Arthur Koestler (September 5, 1905, Budapest – March 3, 1983, London) was a Hungarian polymath who became a naturalized British subject. ... Milan Kundera (IPA: ) (born April 1, 1929 in Brno, Czechoslovakia) is a Czech-born writer who writes in both Czech and French. ... Early Morning, oil on canvas, 206cm x 175. ... The term vulgar originally meant of the common people, from the Latin vulgus. ... Daniele Luttazzi Daniele Luttazzi (born in Santarcangelo di Romagna, Rimini, January 26, 1961), real name Daniele Fabbri, is an Italian comedian, writer, satirist, illustrator and singer/songwriter. ... Lespresso is an Italian magazine. ... Hundertwasser (left) 1965 in Hannover Hundertwasser 1998 in New Zealand Friedensreich Regentag Dunkelbunt Hundertwasser (born Friedrich Stowasser December 15, 1928 – February 19, 2000) was an Austrian painter and sculptor. ... Brian Molko (born December 10, 1972 in Belgium) is lead vocalist and guitarist of the band Placebo. ... Cosmo Kramer is a fictional character on the United States based television sitcom Seinfeld (1989–1998), played by Michael Richards. ...

See also

• Retro
• Camp (style)
• Popular culture/popular culture studies
• Fine art
• Folk art
• Jeff Koons
• Vladimir Tretchikoff

Retro is a term used to describe the culture of the past. ... Camp is an aesthetic in which something has appeal because of its bad taste or ironic value. ... Popular culture, sometimes called pop culture, consists of widespread cultural elements in any given society. ... Popular culture studies is the academic discipline studying popular culture. ... Fine art refers to arts that are concerned with beauty or which appealed to taste (SOED 1991). ... This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ... Jeff Koons (born January 21, 1955), is an American contemporary artist and sculptor. ... Self-portrait of Tretchi, 1950 Vladimir Tretchikoff (born 13 December 1913 in Petropavlovsk, Kazakhstan; died 26 August 2006 in Cape Town, South Africa) was one of the most commercially successful artists of all time - his painting Chinese Girl (popularly known as The Green Lady) is one of the best selling...

Notes

References and further reading

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Kitsch

• Adorno, Theodor (2001). The Culture Industry. Routledge. ISBN 0-415-25380-2
• Broch, Hermann (2003). Geist and Zeitgeist: The Spirit in an Unspiritual Age. Counterpoint Press. ISBN 1-58243-168-X
• Dorfles, Gillo (1969, translated from the 1968 Italian version, Il Kitsch). Kitsch: The world of Bad Taste, Universe Books. LCCN 78-93950
• Elias, Norbert. (1998[1935]) “The Kitsch Style and the Age of Kitsch,” in J. Goudsblom and S. Mennell (eds) The Norbert Elias Reader. Oxford: Blackwell .
• Greenberg, Clement (1978). Art and Culture. Beacon Press. ISBN 0-8070-6681-8
• Kulka, Tomas (1996). Kitsch and Art. Pennsylvania State Univ Pr. ISBN 0-271-01594-2
• Kundera, Milan (1999). The Unbearable Lightness of Being: A Novel. (Perennial. ISBN 0-06-093213-9
• Moles, Abraham (nouvelle édition 1977). Psychologie du Kitsch: L’art du Bonheur, Denoël-Gonthier
• Odd Nerdrum (Editor) (2001). On Kitsch. Distributed Art Publishers. ISBN 82-489-0123-8
• Olalquiaga, Celeste (2002). The Artificial Kingdom: On the Kitsch Experience. Univ. of Minnesota ISBN 0-8166-4117-X
• Richter, Gerd, (1972). Kitsch-Lexicon, Bertelsmann Lexicon-Verlag. ISBN 3-570-03148-9
• Ward, Peter (1994). Kitsch in Sync: A Consumer’s Guide to Bad Taste, Plexus Publishing. ISBN 0-85965-152-5

Image File history File links Commons-logo. ... The Wikimedia Commons (also called Wikicommons) is a repository of free content images, sound and other multimedia files. ...

External links

• Avant-Garde and Kitsch—groundbreaking essay by Clement Greenberg
• On Kitsch—selections from Odd Nerdrum’s manifesto
• Kitsch and the Modern Predicament—essay by Roger Scruton
• Kitsch Wiki
• Museum of Bad Art
• Demonica Gifts—Kitsch jewellery
• world wide kitsch —kitsch painters and writers