My New Black Velvet Matador Painting

I had an entirely different post planned for this morning but just had to share with you the awesome present my family pitched in on for my birthday.

"Gold Cap #106", 3'x5', Vintage Black Velvet, 1960's-70's

I am strangely fascinated by Vintage black velvet paintings.

I mean look at that sgraffito! (A technique where a top layer of color is scratched to reveal a color beneath. The term comes from the Italian word sgraffire meaning "to scratch"), and yes that is glitter.

How about that free and loose brush work? His back leg is so minimal.

The abstract expressionist and minimalist painters in America during this same time couldn't have painted a crowd scene better.

This is the signature, I especially love that the top of the R is a palette and brushes! I wish I could decipher the signature.

On the back it says, hecho en mexico, Gold Cap #106. Which brings us to the  Gold Cap, in the lower right hand corner, what the heck is going on with that?

My family and I have had great fun trying to figure this one out. Is it a mistake they were trying to cover up?

Was there an assembly line where one artist painted the bull, another painted the matador and then someone else was supposed to paint a hat that had been thrown in the arena? 

Maybe this was the new guy's job?

Below is the first one I bought. I think two in my collection will be enough unless of course I find a true vintage Elvis. Then it must come home with me.

17"x14", Vintage Black Velvet Painting, 1960's-70's

Is it strange that a fine artist is attracted to this kind of kitsch art or campy art?

Yes, it was mass produced, but the hand of the artist is evident in the making and they look brilliant next to the more serious art pieces in our collection.

I consider The Incognito Project to have an element of camp and truly believe that in playing with the concept of camp it is possible to get to something poignant. Not to say the bullfighter pieces have anything deep going on but they are really fun.

Evidently taste (?, a sense of humor?) runs in the family because my daughter has this 3'x4' piece hanging over her studio desk at the moment.  This one is probably from the late 70's or early 80's when owls were in their heyday.

This is a similar process to a modern day Thomas Kinkade, basically a screen print with highlighting done in real paint. That makes me wonder if in 40 or 50 years his work will be collected by fine artists... naw... probably not.

For an interesting read about kitsch art and how it relates to fine art history Wiki is a good read that will distract you for far too long from something you probably should be doing. Enjoy.