BLAST FROM THE PAST: Velvet Paintings

 

The epitome of tackiness, black velvet paintings didn't start out being this way.  The use of velvet as a canvas for paint originated in Kashmir, a subcontinent region in India. In ancient times (we're talking like long, long time ago), the paintings focused on depictions of religious entities. The explorer Marco Polo, in his travels to Asia, saw them and thought "why not introduce them to Western Europe". Some of the painting he brought back from his journeys are currently in Vatican museums.

Fast forward to the the 1930's when American painter Edgar Leeteg popularize them. In the 1930's - 1950's, he lived in Cooks Bay (French Polynesia) where he became a prolific painter using velvet as his canvas. His work depicted the beautiful women who lived on the island.  His paintings caught the eye of Barney Davis, a Honolulu art gallery owner. Barney saw the potential of Edgar's talent and paintings and became his agent. Edgar's paintings became popular among high brow collectors, with pieces selling for thousands of dollars. Edgar became known as the father of velvet painting.

In the 1970's velvet paintings took a kitschy turn by being adopted as folk art by artists in Cuidad Juarez, Mexico. Doyle Harden, a farm boy from Georgia, liked them so much that he decided to commercialize them by a building a factory to mass produce them.  This fueled the velvet painting craze that swept the USA in the 1970's. 

Growing up, our house had a huge velvet painting in the living room that hung behind the sofa. It was on green velvet and it depicted a landscape scene of hills,  trees, and a house. It was in a tacky gold frame.  My mom loved it - it added a sense of joie de vivre to the room which was adorned with plastic covered furniture and shag carpet.

Velvet paintings are no longer a popular style of art. There was a museum dedicated to velvet paintings called Velveteria. It was opened from 2005-2013. 

Nowadays, you may occasionally a roadside stand selling them. Those that exists in households are probably found in attics or basements next to other forgotten collectibles.  

Photos: Collector's Weekly; South Pacific Dreams; Pintrest; Ebay.