THEORY TO PRACTICE - WHAT IS KITSCH? A range of opinions

Kitsch (English pronunciation: /ˈkɪtʃ/, loanword from German) is a form of art that is considered an inferior, tasteless copy of an extant style of art or a worthless imitation of art of recognized value. The concept is associated with the deliberate use of elements that may be thought of as cultural icons while making cheap mass-produced objects that are unoriginal. Kitsch also refers to the types of art that are aesthetically deficient (whether or not being sentimental, glamorous, theatrical, or creative) and that make creative gestures which merely imitate the superficial appearances of art through repeated conventions and formulae. Excessive sentimentality often is associated with the term.

The contemporary definition of kitsch is considered derogatory, denoting works executed to pander to popular demand alone and purely for commercial purposes rather than works created as self-expression by an artist. The term is generally reserved for unsubstantial and gaudy works that are calculated to have popular appeal and are considered pretentious and shallow rather than genuine artistic efforts.

The concept of kitsch is applied to artwork that was a response to the 19th century art with aesthetics that convey exaggerated sentimentality and melodrama, hence, kitsch art is closely associated with sentimental art.

(wiki)

Kitsch has so many themes that it is difficult to define; but you know it when you see it. Unlike retro, which refers to a specific time period (1950s - 1970s), kitsch is timeless. Nonetheless, it was a particularly common feature of popular culture in the 1950s and 60s. And while retro is admired, even cool, kitsch is most often used in a negative sense. Art snobs use 'kitsch' as a negative judgement not only of the object itself, but also of its owner.

Kitsch is usually poorly designed and cheaply made, and palettes often contain clashing colours that don't work well together. Interiors of Chinese restaurants are kitsch.

There is some snobbery involved in definitions of kitsch, because it is typically a decorative art for ordinary people, like them wot likes the kind of stuff on this website (i.e. me). Kitsch is looked down on by many academic design 'experts' because it stands in such contrast to rarefied Scandinavian and other 'International' styles.

Cute or pretty kitsch

makes you go 'aaah!' with its playful puppies, fluffy kittens, pink ribbons and sweet children being slightly naughty. Quaint cottages and rustic landscapes also belong here. Pink is used to heighten the feminine and sugary aspect. Cute kitsch is very close to sentimental kitsch:

Sentimental kitsch

brings a tear to your eye with its pathos. Doe-eyed children and Saints, sad puppies, kittens and bunnies with doe-eyes, and teddy bears with 'I Love You' stickers. Many religious paintings by Old Masters, some works by the Pre-Raphaelites, and maybe even some portraits by Gainsborough, Reynolds and Lawrence, are sentimental or cute kitsch.

(Retroselect.com)

Art, objects or design considered to be in poor taste because of excessive garishness or sentimentality, but sometimes appreciated in an ironic or knowing way

(Oxford Dictionary)

The term “kitsch” gained popularly by the 1930s when it was used to describe poor art. While the etymology of the word is unclear, many suggest the term was coined by German painters during the mid-1800s to deride the cheap “tourist art” bought in Munich (Kitschen with the sense “to make cheap”). Thus, the term “kitsch” is used by many to denote trivial literature, low quality materials, sentimental arts, or vulgar merchandise. Beyond this, McDannell finds that there are three distinct ways or approaches that scholars, artists, and cultural critics use the term “kitsch”: cultural, aesthetic, and ethical.

(Biblical Studies)

In our current culture, the word 'kitsch' has come to be associated often with tacky souvenirs and cheap trinkets. However, there is a thicker sense given to the word by various thinkers and authors in the twentieth century, even if it is regularly connected with an idea of culture. The Austrian novelist Hermann Broch, examining kitsch in art, offers that kitsch is the greatest aesthetic evil, for its imitative style and overdone effect detracts from the epistemological ethic that grounds all genuine artistic achievement in culture, which is humanity's defiance of death. Theodor Adorno's approach, by contrast, focuses on the presence of kitsch in mass culture. He emphasises the pure beauty of kitsch—its lack of ugliness—and the ease with which kitsch culture is consumed—a relationship which precludes any concentrated, conscious experience with the art object. Furthermore, Walter Benjamin's careful critique of experience and culture leads him to think about kitsch as thoughtless overproduction. For Benjamin, however, kitsch also presents a potential for a renewed interpretation of culture and a renewed relationship to the world of things.

The sometimes daunting richness of theoretical meditations on kitsch is complemented, though, by simpler or more easily discernible forms of kitsch, especially intellectual or emotional—the latter of which often takes the form of sentimentalism or overblown gestures, while the former may be seen partly in parallel as an overemphasis on technical aspects of a work of art to the detriment of its larger importance or effect.

With this beginning in mind, we may ask: What is kitsch and how does its presence or absence in art and life affect us? Although often assumed to be primarily emotional, how does kitsch manifest itself in and affect the intellectual realm? What is the relationship between kitsch and culture? How is kitsch manifested in different art forms? How has the idea of kitsch changed over time and to what extent does it influence our current society?

(Modern Horizons)