kitsch

Etymology

From German Kitsch, from dialectal kitschen (“to coat, to smear”); the word and concept were popularized in the 1930s by several critics who contrasted it with avant garde art.

noun

1. Art, decorative objects, and other forms of representation of questionable artistic or aesthetic value; a representation that is excessively sentimental, overdone, or vulgar.
   Because it can be turned out mechanically, kitsch has become an integral part of our productive system in a way in which true culture could never be, except accidentally. 1939, Clement Greenberg, “Avant Garde and Kitsch”, in The Partisan Review

adj

1. Of art and decor: of questionable aesthetic value; excessively sentimental, overdone or vulgar.
   […] a picture of lemur-eyed children of the sort one sees in the kitscher sort of Italian restaurant […] 1989, Graham Greene, Yours etc: Letters to the Press 1945-1989, page 243
   Abe Lincoln, Paul Bunyan and kitsch souvenir coconut heads come across as icons of masculinity. June/July 1996, Robert Silberman, “The stuff of art: Judy Onofrio”, in American Craft, pages 40–45
   I recognized her at once even though she wasn't wearing the tweed hunting outfit and the kitsch headwear. spring 2005, Ronald Frame, “Critical Paranoia”, in Michigan Quarterly Review, page 285