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A Brief History of Velvet Painting
A brief history of black velvet paintings is presented by Pamela Liflander in Black Velvet Artist, a booklet published by Running Press, Philadelphia, 2003, and included in an identically-titled art kit. She notes that "The birthplace of black velvet paintings can be traced to ancient Kashmir, which is considered to be the fabric's original homeland. These paintings were religious in nature, portraying the iconic artwork of the Caucasus region by Russian Orthodox priests." She further wrote that Marco Polo and others introduced the West to this art form, and that some of these early works still hang in the Vatican. Liflander also details the life of Edgar Leeteg (1904-1953), "the father of American black velvet kitsch," whose "raucous and bawdy" life was previously captured by James Michener in Rascals in Paradise (1957).
Velvet paintings were widely sold in the 1970s, and usually have kitschy themes. Often depicted, are images of Elvis, Jesus, celebrities, presidents, cute children or animals, cowboys, native Americans, or nude women.
In the 1970s, Ciudad Juárez, Mexico was the capitol of velvet painting. Doyle Harden created a velvet painting factory where paintings were mass produced by hand. No longer are they massed produced so the Quality has increased tremendously.There beauty is Awesome. Black velvet paintings are making a come-back today all over the world.
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