Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Art Collection: Korner Kitty by Gig

Click for lots bigger.

Awwww. I mean, really! This cat will be dead within days.

Gig's kitties probably had the largest eyes-to-body-weight ratio of any of the big-eyed artists' critters. So soulful, so pitiful. In fact, "Pity Kitty" is a title I've often seen applied to this one. Isn't that strange? The popularity of abused and neglected animals as decoration?

I mentioned before that nobody has been able to find "Gig," the master of saucer-eyed puppies and kittens. Here's another mind blower: what happened to the original paintings? Forget Leonardo's lost Leda and the Swan, forget the hoopla surrounding rediscovered Caravaggios... where are the lost Gigs?

Art history, I weep for thee.

13 comments:

Diane Griffin said...

How does that neck hold up that big eyed head?

Anonymous said...

Have you ever seen that A&E show "Hoarders?" Those houses, I suspect, is where you'll find the original masterpieces...

Matthew Hubbard said...

I shouldn't laugh at that first paragraph, but I did.

Your driver said...

Could it be that there was no Gig? The paintings were done by a group of hired painters. I'm told that all of the painting factories have followed the other factories offshore, but back in the '70's I had a friend who worked on an assembly line that cranked out landscapes for motels and the like. She told me that the top paid painters did the clouds. Incidentally, when I saw Gainsborough's "Blue Boy", it seemed obvious to me that the background and even the figure of the blue boy were painted by apprentices. Gainsborough came in at the end of the process and painted the face and added a few finishing touches. I don't know if this is true, but that's sure what it looked like.

samael7 said...

I think the cat actually did just expire mere nanoseconds ago. There's a certain look of sweet release in its unseeing eyes. It's looking up to Cat Jesus right now.

I think I really do need to print these out and put them on my office cube. Not all at once though. Familiarity breeds contempt. I'll need to devise a rota . . .

Peteykins said...

Jon, that's a good question, but no. These aren't original paintings, they're prints. And "Gig" and "Lee" and "Eden" have very consistent styles. They would paint one painting, and then different merchandise would be made from the reproductions: prints, puzzles, greeting cards, etc.

Anonymous said...

And if you were lucky, these beauties could be found in white plastic wavy frames with faux goldleaf detailing. The cardboard versions were textured to look like brush marks.

Michael Whittier said...

I had this print, and the corresponding morose collie pup parked in front of a chain link fence, in my bedroom, as a kid. I'm pretty sure they were free with the accumulation of 'points' at the grocery store. We also had the famous "Grace" print, of the elderly, white-bearded, door-to-door foot-scraper salesman (!) praying over a loaf of bread, by Eric Enstrom. All of these were heavily textured, brushstroke-embossed carboard.

I'd ask my mom why she felt that wide-eyed, miserably abandoned pet art was a good choice for tiny, already depressive me, but I know she'd answer with the same repliy I get to all of my 'what were you thinking back then' queries: Fuck if I know.

Unknown said...

holy poo! i have one of these! this cat one on the cardboard with the paint strokes texture. there were just a bunch of prints? i rescued it from my grandmother's house when i was a kid. (she totally could be on hoarders) ive just always loved animals and it stuck out to me. my dad said it would just go in the trash or to a goodwill, unless i wanted it. and i didnt have the heart to let it go. but they are just prints? i dont have like some big treasure sitting in my room?

Peteykins said...

I suppose there's always a chance it's an original painting, Katrina, but it's probably just a print.

megan said...

I have this painting. I got it at a garage sale for 50 cents. Who could say no to that face! Mine does not say "Gig", instead it is signed "A.W. Lin" in the bottom right hand corner....What does this mean? That someone else painted mine? It looks absolutely perfect.

megan said...

Let me correct myself....The painting I have is not the one pictured above. It's a different one by Gig. The one with the tiger cat sitting by the fence and the sardine can.

Peteykins said...

Megan, the Gig prints were very, very popular, so it's expected that there would be copies around.