Classic kitsch:  clown on black velvet.  I’m hoping someday to come across a black velvet painting depicting not only a clown, but also Elvis, children with impossibly big eyes and Jesus all within the same frame.  The kitsch content would be so high, the painting would probably spontaneously combust.

I did some research and found out this painting (which measures about 17″ tall and was found at an estate sale)  was painted by a former airline stewardess by the name of Carol Eytinge who lived in Hollywood.   She turned to painting in the 1950s and had  sold-out exhibitions during the 1960s, 70s and 80s at many galleries including the Edgewater Beach Hotel, Chicago; Tropicana Hotel, Las Vegas; Prince Kuhio Hotel, Kauai, Hawaii; Turner Gallery, Catalina Island, California; Macaray Gallery, Anaheim, California and many others.   I like that this clown is kind of stylized and punked out– he looks like a sort of hipster clown.   Maybe that’s why he’s not as scary or maudlin as most clown paintings.