What makes a difference between a work of art and kitsch? Nowadays, with diversification of artistic expression, it is relatively simple to confuse kitsch with art. Actually, the entire discussion is subjective: what is art for a man can be an ordinary kitsch for another one!
In fact, there are some clues that help recognizing kitsch, which is useful in a situation when even an expert can have doubts today, apropos of some form of expression. The term kitsch is today used as it appeared in 1860 and referred to so called works of art sold cheap by the merchants in Munich (painting, statues).
The word kitsch seems like a misunderstanding of the English word sketch. The Germans distorted the English word. Another theory is about the term kitschen, meaning cleaning the garbage, so kitsch referred to something like garbage.
What makes a product kitsch?
Kitsch is historically bound by mass-culture and industry; once the consumers become numerous, it is necessary the mass production of the solicited goods. So, instead of an artist that spends ten years for finishing a true masterpiece that should be sold in an exclusive circle of rich amateurs, he may prefer to produce numerous products that need less time and less effort, selling them to a large circle of unfussy amateurs.
What is the difference between art and kitsch is first of all de quality and the uniqueness of the product. While a work of art is created by the highest standards of technique, kitsch is produced quick and cheap. While a piece of art demands time, effort and is a unique creation, kitsch is produced on large scale and has multiple copies (about them, we can discuss also the chap copies of some works of art, like little paints with Mona Lisa).
While a work of art allows a vast interpretation and challenges the spirit, a kitsch expresses a simple idea and addresses to a common taste. What difference there is between a sun flower painted with the eyes and the hands of Van Gogh and a sunflower painted by a merchant in a fair!
In fact, kitsch has been part of some copies of unique and expensive objects, copies that are affordable for a painting or a statue. If all would be unique masterpieces, just a small part of population would afford to decorate their house.
Kitsch isn’t always an ugly and worthless object: just that it isn’t true art! Although, thinking about kitsch we could think about the little paintings sold by unknown painters or about the classic Abduction of the Seraglio, there is also attractive kitsch, which is nice, created with a little talent.
In fact, the mass-production of an object makes it a kitsch: when there a multiple copies available for many individuals we can talk of kitsch! That doesn’t mean that we have to run away from every kitsch: sometimes, there a pretty object that deserve to be exposed, even if they aren’t unique and perfect.
