Pulp International - Joseph+Stalin

Mar 16 2013

French painter Jacques Puiseux returns with another batch of pulp influenced contemporary art.

Last year we shared some unusual pulp influenced crate paintings from a French artist named Jacques Puiseux, and this morning we received more scans of his Marxist themed pieces via email. Last time we shared Puiseux’s work, we mentioned that we avoid posting modern art, and that’s true, but we didn’t want to leave you with the impression that we find it inferior to vintage art (if that were true we wouldn't bother to have a "Modern Pulp" category on the website). What we find inferior is modern promotional art—e.g., book covers, movie posters and the like. And obviously we find modern movies inferior, but then who doesn’t? However modern fine art is something we very much like, and more to the point, we like the relationship it has to the viewer. We aren’t art majors or anything, so bear with us while we try to explain ourselves.

When it comes to classic art all the hard work is already done for you by the time you see it. You can go see Picasso’s blue portraits or Monet’s lilies or any run-of-the-mill Diego Rivera and know before you see it that you’re about to experience great art. But with contemporary art the viewer plays a role in deciding its ultimate worth. Certainly gallerists and museum curators have plenty of say, but the public is extremely important, and its influence can cut both ways. Sometimes, the public is wrong, as in the case of artists that never sold anything while alive, but whose flames were kept burning by critics and experts, eventually leading to a reevaluation of the work. Conversely, sometimes art is critically dismissed, but sustained public support brings about a reevaluation. That’s almost a description of the entire field of pulp art.

So, while we glorify vintage art on this website, and in the case of promotional art we don’t think there’s any possible doubt that 99% of today’s efforts are just lame (maybe they should try letting actual artists do the work), we do like contemporary art, which means that when Jacques Puiseux sends us something that exhibits such a strong pulp influence we feel like we might as well throw it out there for you to have a gander at. It’s different from looking at a famous artist’s work—in this case, you actually have a say. And that’s the beauty of contemporary art. So at top is a piece featuring Leon Trotsky called “Embrouille à Tijuana,” just below is our favorite, “Fidèle-au-poste,” and under that are four more interesting efforts, including the last—“Tsar bomba.” For some context on that one, go here. Enjoy.

France Fidel Castro Leon Trotsky Vladimir Lenin Karl Marx Joseph Stalin Jacques Puiseux

Vintage Pulp

May 26 2011

From out of a clear blue sky.

Above is an unusual war-themed cover of The National Police Gazette from May 1953. In addition to stoking up a little Soviet fear with an A-bomb photo illustration, editors play the Hitler card, telling us at upper right that Der Führer is still alive. They made this claim scores of times after the end of World War II, and it never seemed to get old (we documented that phenomenon here). And since the U.S. was embroiled in a proxy war against China in Korea when this issue appeared, that conflict gets a mention too, in the banner at the bottom of the cover. All in all it's three enemies for the price of one—and a small insight into the nuclear fears that shaped the post-war generation. Do you ever wonder what fears shape us that they'll study in the future? We could take a guess, but then we might get real scared, so let's not think about it.

Korea China Soviet Union Joseph Stalin Police Gazette World War II Adolf Hitler Lucille Ball Desi Arnaz nazis nukes tabloid