"Black Velvet Masterpieces"
By Carl Baldwin and Caren Anderson
Chronicle Books, 2008
Bullfighters, naked
Polynesian women, Elvis—these are all standard fare for black velvet paintings.
And that’s a good thing. Nothing looks better on the wall of a bachelor
pad than one of these black velvet masterpieces. Husband and wife Carl
Baldwin and Caren Anderson have been drawn into the
mysterious world of black velvet in a big way. Over the last ten years,
they have collected over 1,200 velvet paintings and this number keeps growing
every day. But rather than horde these artistic wonders, they have decided
to share them with the world. They own and operate a museum dedicated
exclusively to black velvet painting. Located in Portland, Oregon, the
Velveteria
is—as they say—the place where dreams are made.
For those who can’t
make the trip to Portland and the Velveteria, Baldwin
and Anderson have gathered up some of their favorite pieces
for their book Black Velvet Masterpieces: Highlights from the Collection
of the Velveteria Museum. They cover the history black velvet paintings
from its earliest incarnations to the halcyon days of Leeteg,
Tyree,
and other South Seas painters. They move to the assembly line factories
in Mexico and finally stop in the current day where black velvet paintings
have become snapshots of popular culture. During the journey, they cover
disco-era nudes, big-eyed children, unicorns, clowns, and all archetypical
icons of black velvet.
Black Velvet Masterpieces
doesn’t shy away from the camp and kitsch appeal of black velvet paintings,
but it also argues the legitimacy of this art form. Black velvet has gotten
a bad rap from the big-“A” arts community and Baldwin and
Anderson
are trying to change that. They agree the art was tainted by the Mexican
factories and their poorly mass-produced copies, but when you look at the
individual artists—especially the Polynesian artists—you see true masters
at work.
This book, with its
black velvet cover, is a proud addition to the Java’s Bachelor Pad
Book Shelf. Now if we only had more black velvet paintings to hang
on the wall next to the book shelf.
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