"kitsch depicts objects or themes that are highly charged with stock emotions."
For what reason?
LANDSCAPES AND STILL LIFES.
Rainy Day in Autumn Anton Bauer
Distaccamento dalla terra Adriano Fida
Madre Natura Adriano Fida
Still Life with Apples Robert Dale Williams
On the object of kitsch.
Kulka tells us that the kitsch artwork should depict something that spontaneously triggers an unreflective emotional response. That it should be things that are generally held to be beautiful, pretty, cute or emotionally charged. He also says that the depiction of the everyday things that are devoid of emotional charge will be unlikely to count as clear cut examples of kitsch (pg. 26).
Well do the above paintings seem to meet this criteria? The ones by Adriano Fina or William's Still Life with Apples don't seem to meet this criteria. They may be painted in a way that captures some beauty but an onion and a coloured piece of cloth are not objects which tend to trigger emotional responses. Yet, they are clear cut examples of kitsch.
So then, what if we think of them in terms of themes they depict. I believe the only two we could try to argue this by are Bauer's Rainy Day in Autumn and Fida's Madre Natura. We could perhaps claim that these present the beauty of nature and environmentalism. However, there is something about Rainy Day in Autumn that is rather mundane, particularly on first viewing. The landscape depicted is neither stunningly gorgeous nor particularly dreary. Its somewhere in the middle. A rather average rainy autumn day. But upon looking closer, and stopping to appreciate the colors of the trees, the richness of the colors in comparison to the grey of the sky. The experience of looking at this image is much like one I'd have with this kind of landscape in general. I suppose, what I am trying to get at is that I find the emotive element of Rainy Day in Autumn to be far more obscure than Kulka is suggesting.
His response to me on this point would probably be that the degree of "kitschiness" of the subject matter of these pictures is less than stereotypical images such as the one below.
expect more on this topic to come...
Kulka tells us that the kitsch artwork should depict something that spontaneously triggers an unreflective emotional response. That it should be things that are generally held to be beautiful, pretty, cute or emotionally charged. He also says that the depiction of the everyday things that are devoid of emotional charge will be unlikely to count as clear cut examples of kitsch (pg. 26).
Well do the above paintings seem to meet this criteria? The ones by Adriano Fina or William's Still Life with Apples don't seem to meet this criteria. They may be painted in a way that captures some beauty but an onion and a coloured piece of cloth are not objects which tend to trigger emotional responses. Yet, they are clear cut examples of kitsch.
So then, what if we think of them in terms of themes they depict. I believe the only two we could try to argue this by are Bauer's Rainy Day in Autumn and Fida's Madre Natura. We could perhaps claim that these present the beauty of nature and environmentalism. However, there is something about Rainy Day in Autumn that is rather mundane, particularly on first viewing. The landscape depicted is neither stunningly gorgeous nor particularly dreary. Its somewhere in the middle. A rather average rainy autumn day. But upon looking closer, and stopping to appreciate the colors of the trees, the richness of the colors in comparison to the grey of the sky. The experience of looking at this image is much like one I'd have with this kind of landscape in general. I suppose, what I am trying to get at is that I find the emotive element of Rainy Day in Autumn to be far more obscure than Kulka is suggesting.
His response to me on this point would probably be that the degree of "kitschiness" of the subject matter of these pictures is less than stereotypical images such as the one below.
expect more on this topic to come...
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