Article Disumbrationist School of Art
Summary: A novelist painted deliberately bad paintings, which he submitted to art exhibits, claiming they were the work of a Russian genius.
(left) Paul Jordan Smith;
(right) Smith as Pavel Jerdanowitch In 1924 Paul Jordan Smith, a Los Angeles-based novelist and Latin scholar, painted a blurry picture of a South Seas islander holding a banana over her head. He intended the picture as a spoof of abstract styles of modern art such as Cubism, and as a joke he entered it into an art exhibition. He claimed it was the work of the Russian artist Pavel Jerdanowitch (a name he had invented), the founder of the Disumbrationist School of Art (another invention of his). Smith used the foreign name because he figured that painters with exotic names were always a bigger hit with critics.
To create a portrait of Jerdanowitch, Smith slicked back his hair and made himself look as much like a brooding Russian artist as possible. He submitted this photo along with his painting so that the judges could see that he was clearly a genuine artistic genius.
Smith titled his painting ‘Exaltation’ and wrote that it represented the shattering of the bonds of womanhood. He said the woman had just taken a bite of a banana and was waving the banana skin over her head in triumphant freedom.
To his chagrin, but not really to his surprise, the work was praised instead of being laughed at. This inspired Smith to paint and exhibit more pictures under Jerdanowitch’s name, including one with a lot of squiggles and eyeballs that he named ‘Illumination’. More praise followed.
Smith finally tired of the deception and exposed the true identity of Jerdanowitch to the Los Angeles Times. Along with the unmasking he delivered a lecture about the declining standards of taste in the artistic community.
The Paintings
Below are examples of Jerdanowitch’s Disumbrationist paintings.
“Exaltation”
Jerdanowitch explained that this painting represented the breaking of the shackles of womanhood. The woman has just killed a missionary (if you look closely you can see the missionary’s skull sitting on a pole behind her). In addition, she has just taken a bite of a banana, even though women are forbidden to eat bananas on her island. She is waving the banana above her head to represent her new-found freedom.
“Illumination”
Jerdanowitch on Illumination: “It is midnight and the drunken man stumbles home, anticipating a storm from his indignant wife; he sees her eyes and the lightning of her wrath. It is conscience at work.”
“Aspiration”
A critic described this painting as, “a delightful jumble of Gauguin, Pop Hart and Negro minstrelsy, with a lot of Jerdanowitch individuality.”
“Gination”
Jerdanowitch on Gination: “It depicts the appalling effects of alcohol on Hollywood women of the studios. It is a moral picture. Note the look of corruption on the lady’s skin. Everything is unbalanced. While good gin might not have just that effect, boulevard gin brings it about in short time. The picture is painted in bold strokes and with a sure hand. I believe it is the most powerful of my works.”
“Adoration”
Exhibited in New York City in 1927. Soon afterwards Smith confessed to the Los Angeles Times that the Disumbrationist School of Art was a hoax.