This painting has the look and feel of a cheap, lowbrow book cover. This could be construed as, snobbery but I love her self-confident, sassy, fun-loving portrayal. She smokes with an elegant cigarette holder, a defiant gesture and a sign of liberation for women and sophistication (in its time). One can imagine a hedonistic and wild party lifestyle, everything looks in disarray, and even the picture has been knocked askew. This painting still displays technical skills, and a good sense of colour to build the composition and convey a mood.
Calling an artwork lowbrow sounds derogatory but it isn’t. I don’t see any particular snobbery. It is a differentiation between art that strives for high ideals, intent, meaning competence or skill of composition and technique and comparing it to a work that is not aiming for such ideals or meanings and there is no reason why art should aim for such.
There is plenty of art that is created to please, make someone feel good or happy or art that is decorative, humorous or erotic which can rightly be loved, admired, accepted and hits the spot of personal artistic satisfaction.
Some art disciplines are not comparable as they are not attempting to do what another is doing. The high ideals of a Renaissance painting cannot be compared to a movie poster which, within its genera, has its high points, think of posters for “A Clockwork Orange”, Gone with the Wind or Jaws, classic and fantastic examples.
Art is varied and wonderfully so. Enjoy looking at art that you love and explore the wide variety of Art on offer.
