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Arts & Culture

The Aesthetics of Kitsch and the Problem of Bad Taste

Quick fact

The term "kitsch" first emerged in the Munich art markets of the 1860s as slang for cheap, mass-produced art sold to tourists, and it was later championed by critic Clement Greenberg as the antithesis of avant-garde art, which he saw as the true carrier of artistic innovation.

Why this is interesting

We all know that velvet painting of a sad clown, that ceramic frog holding a French loaf. Why do we cringe at such objects, yet sometimes secretly enjoy them?