Finally Extricated from the Rumpus Room...

Artwork that enters the general cultural zeitgeist usually cannot achieve that level of recognition unless it has a clever gimmick. Warhol's work is instantly recognizeable even to the mouthbreathing masses because he helped change our perception of what appropriate subject matter is—Brillo boxes, soup cans, ephemera. Many can recognize a Picasso (simultaneous views in one composition). Holy crap, it's all a bunch of dots. Jesus Christ, he just threw paint at a big-ass canvas.

When that gimmick is humor, though, the artwork is far too often dismissed. Jerry Lewis is a genius, and yet we invoke his name to mock the French. Charlie Chaplin is more readily recognized than Buster Keaton because Chaplin was occassionally sad (boo hoo), but Keaton easily did more for the art of filmmaking. Hell, even the stupidest, most formulaic Adam Sandler movie creates indelible images like fist-fighting Bob Barker. The ability to brand our memories like that requires distinct, unique inpiration and more skill than you may imagine. Let's face it, folks—funny is harder to pull off successfully than morose, even stupid funny. It requires simplicity, timing, and an uncanny understanding of your audience. Broad, humorous strokes that seem effortless are actually brilliant.

I'm thrilled to hear that someone out there with wads of cash also realizes this truth. The headline:

Two 'Dogs Playing Poker' paintings fetch $590,400 at Doyle's

Sure, nearly $600,000 would do a lot of good feeding the hungry, improving schools, and all that other Liberal rigamarole I clutch so tightly to my sternum. However, $600,000 is a bargain, if you ask me, for two perfect paintings that are burned into our minds. The idea seems so simple, and yet it is so inspired. Everyone knows about the dogs-playing-poker paintings; maybe now it won't be the butt of so many jokes but instead will exist as the clever joke it is in itself.

Besides, it's not like Coolidge painted some hastily executed haystacks. Hell, anyone could do that.

(Thanks for the link, Stig.)