Virag's Art Works & Art History: Pop Art

Pop Art

1955-1970

Pop art is now most associated with the work of New York artists of early 1960s such as Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, James Rosenquist and Claes Oldenburg, but artists who drew on popular imagery were part of an international phenomenon in various cities from the mid-1955s onwards. Following the popularity of the Abstract Expressionists, Pop's reintroduction of identifiable imagery (drawn from mass media and popular culture) was a major shift for the direction of modernism. the subject matter became far from traditional 'high art' themes of morality, mythology and classic history; rather, Pop artists celebrated commonplace objects and people of everyday life, in this way seeking to elevate popular culture to the level of fine art. Perhaps owing to the incorporation of commercial images, Pop art has become one of the most recognizable style of modern art.

American Artists:

Andy Warhol

He was an American artist who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art. His works explore the relationship between artistic expression, celebrity culture, and advertisement that flourished by the 1960s. After a successful career as a commercial illustrator, Warhol became a renowned and sometimes controversial artist. He is also notable as a gay man who lived openly as such before the gay liberation movement. His studio, The Factory, was a famous gathering place that brought together distinguished intellectuals, drag queens, playwrights,Bohemian street people, Hollywood celebrities, and wealthy patrons.

Warhol's art used many types of media, including hand drawing, painting, printmaking, photography, silk screening, sculpture, film, and music. Warhol has been the subject of numerous retrospective exhibitions, books, and feature and documentary films.

Marilyn Monroe - 1962

Campbell’s Soup Can (Tomato), 1965

Michael Jackson

Coca-Cola 5 bottles,1962

Roy Lichtenstein

He was an American pop artist. During the 1960s, along with Andy Warhol, Jasper Johns, and James Rosenquist among others, he became a leading figure in the new art movement. His work defined the basic premise of pop art through parody. Favoring the comic strip as his main inspiration, Lichtenstein produced hard-edged, precise compositions that documented while it parodied often in a tongue-in-cheek manner. His work was heavily influenced by both popular advertising and the comic book style. He described pop art as "not 'American' painting but actually industrial painting."

Whaam!, 1963

Girl with Hair Ribbon

Women Tears

Edward Hopper

He was a prominent American realist painter and printmaker. While he was most popularly known for his oil paintings, he was equally proficient as a watercolorist and printmaker in etching. Both in his urban and rural scenes, his spare and finely calculated renderings reflected his personal vision of modern American life.
Hopper derived his subject matter from two primary sources: one, the common features of American life (gas stations, motels, restaurants, theaters, railroads, and street scenes) and its inhabitants; and two, seascapes and rural landscapes. Regarding his style, Hopper defined himself as "an amalgam of many races" and not a member of any school, particularly the "Ashcan School". Once Hopper achieved his mature style, his art remained consistent and self-contained, in spite of the numerous art trends that came and went during his long career.

Nighthawks 1942

Western Motel, 1957

Early Sunday Morning, 1930

Jasper Johns

He is an American painter and printmaker.
Johns is best known for his painting Flag (1954–55), which he painted after having a dream of the American flag. His work is often described as Neo-Dadaist, as opposed to pop art Still, many compilations on pop art include Jasper Johns as a pop artist because of his artistic use of classical iconography.

Flag

Details of Flag

Map 1961.

Claes Oldenburg

Claes Oldenburg is an American sculptor, best known for his public art installations typically featuring very large replicas of everyday objects. Another theme in his work is soft sculpture

versions of everyday objects. Many of his works were made in collaboration with his wife, Coosje van Bruggen. Oldenburg lives and works in New York.

On the Eve of Claes Oldenburg's MoMA Show

Shuttlecocks, 1994

Robert Rauschenberg

He was an American painter and graphic artist whose early works anticipated the pop art movement. Rauschenberg is well known for his "Combines" of the 1950s, in which non-traditional materials and objects were employed in innovative combinations. Rauschenberg was both a painter and a sculptor and the Combines are a combination of both, but he also worked with photography, printmaking, papermaking, and performance. He was awarded the National Medal of Arts in 1993. He became the recipient of the Leonardo da Vinci World Award of Arts in 1995 in recognition of his more than 40 years of fruitful artmaking.

Buffalo II, 1964

Umpire c1965

Robert Rauschenberg Collection 1954 mixed mediums

British Artists:

Edouardo Paolozzi

British sculptor, collagist, printmaker, filmmaker and writer. Born of Italian parents, he attended Edinburgh College of Art in 1943 with a view to becoming a commercial artist.
After brief military service, in 1944 he attended St Martin's School of Art in London, and from 1945 to 1947 he studied sculpture at the Slade School of Fine Art. In the late 1940s he made various sculptures inspired by Surrealism, and also produced a number of collages, which blend the incongruous juxtapositions of Surrealism with Paolozzi's interest in images of modern machinery.
Paolozzi's I was a Rich Man's Plaything (1947) is considered the first standard bearer of Pop Art and first to display the word ‘pop’.

I was a Rich Man's Plaything (1947)

You can't beat the real thing (1972)

1948 Dr Pepper

1948 Sack-o-sauce

Richard Hamilton

He was an English painter and collage artist. His 1955 exhibition Man, Machine and Motion (Hatton Gallery, Newcastle upon Tyne) and his 1956 collage, Just what is it that makes today's homes so different, so appealing?, produced for the This Is Tomorrow exhibition of the Independent Group in London, are considered by critics and historians to be among the earliest works of pop art. A major retrospective of his work was at Tate Modern until May 2014.

Just What Is It That Makes Today's Homes So Different, So Appealing?

Interior II (1964)

Peter Blake

Sir Peter Blake is one of the leading figures in the art world, often referred to as the Godfather of British Pop Art. Best known for the iconic album cover he produced for the Beatles 'Sergeant Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band', Blake's work is inspired by his love affair with icons and the ephemera of popular culture. He is continuing to produce a prolific output of work from his studio in west London maintaining his reputation and popularity with every artistic piece he creates. Peter Blake was born in 1932 in Dartford, Kent. He studied at Gravesend School of Art before earning a place at the prestigious Royal College of Art London in 1956. His love of art flourished as he built up a respectable portfolio of work through extensive travels across Europe and beyond. Inspiration was drawn from his surroundings influencing much of his work and he began to produce collages incorporating iconic figures. Alongside these Blake also worked with found objects such as photographs, cigarette packets and matchboxes. The concept of found art was an aspect that excited Blake and the notion of finding beauty within banal everyday objects greatly appealed. In 1983 Peter Blake became a CBE and in 2002 received a knighthood for his services to art. His long and respected career is admirable and his contribution to the art world is truly inspiring. Even today, Blake's work retains their popularity and a contemporary aesthetic is maintained with every new piece created.