Featured Black velvet anyone?

I like this painting; it's not as extravagant as most and it has a sort of mysterious feel to it. Where do you think the location might be? Are the boats a clue? The viewing area measures 31 3/4" by 19 1/4". And most importantly, does anyone recognize the signature??? Or the 'mark' beneath it? Thanks for your input!

 

I'm thinking possibly Vietnam c1960s

 

I was wondering if maybe that's what the VN stands for.

 

There was a rash of these coming out of Viet Nam in the late 60's early 70's - many done by the Vietnamese targeting the American and Australian soldier market (no pun intended), as well as more "graphic" ones done by the SETO soldiers for sale to fellow soldiers, many of which were sent "home".

There WAS a following for these some years ago, though I have no idea if the market continues.


EDIT: correction - I believe that should read SEATO, not SETO

 

Quote from an internet article:

During the Vietnam War, tourist-market black velvet painting also proliferated in Vietnam, Thailand, and the Philippines, particularly in Angeles City, near the United States’ Clark Air Force Base. In “Black Velvet Masterpieces,” Anderson says, “Wherever the U.S. military went, velvet painting seems to have followed.” A company called Suh Kwang Products Limited in Korea and Vietnam produced round velvet paintings with big-eyed soldiers, often with tears in their eyes, in front of jungle scenery or helicopters.

“This snobbery shows the ugly side of the fine art world and upper middle-class aspirational sensibilities.”

“During the Vietnam War in the ’60s, all the G.I.’s would go out from San Diego, through Hawaii, and then to Angeles City in the Philippines,” Baldwin says. “That was the R&R place they’d go to from ‘Nam. Over the course of doing this research, I met quite a few guys who went to Angeles City brothels. It was just a wild, wild place, thanks to all these young guys fighting in the war. And they were teenagers, man. Their taste was not that sophisticated when it came to art, so they went for the naked ladies. These guys would roll them up in their duffle bags and bring them back to the States.”

Baldwin remembers a man who came by, offering them a whole bunch of ’60s black-light paintings, which Baldwin purchased for display in the museum. “It’s heavy stuff about war and drug usage,” Baldwin says. “There’s this muscle-bound skeleton of a G.I. shooting up. He’s got the skull face and the Army helmet. And I go, ‘Shit, that’s Vietnam.’”


Link:
http://www.collectorsweekly.com/art...of-the-paintings-the-art-world-loves-to-hate/

 

Most of these were junk, pun sort of intended, but every so often a painter with real talent made one.

 

My Dad loved paintings on velvet. Now I'm wishing I'd saved a couple.