Pop Art Movement Essay

When we eat a slice of pizza we tend to wash it down with a bottle of Coke when we 're feeling sick we tend to have some Campbell 's chicken noodle soup when we think of rock 'n ' roll the name Elvis Presley comes to mind and for America 's sweetheart and movie actress there is none other than Marilyn Monroe. These for iconic objects and figures all have one thing in common they have stood the test of time and continue to be a part of American culture. Today I 'm going to talk about one man who took these ideas and started a new movement in the early 1960s it movement coined pop art where everyday recognizable images that have stood the test of time and continue to influence and be a part of American culture. This man goes by the name of Andy Warhol.

Pop art got its name from Lawrence Alloway, who was a British art critic in 1950’s. The name “Pop Art” reflected on the “familiar imagery of the contemporary urban environment” (kleiner, 981). This art form was popular for its bold and simple looks plus its bright and vibrant colors. An example of this type of art is the oil painting done by Andy Warhol, “Marilyn Diptych” (Warhol, Marilyn Diptych) in 1962. The Pop art movement became known in the mid-1950 and continued as main type of art form until the late 1960’s. The Pop art movement, was a movement where medium played a huge part in the society, with it reflecting on advertisements, comic strips and even celebrities, like Marilyn. This movement also has a large

Roy Lichtenstein was an American artist who was an influential part of the Pop Art movement in the 1960s. Roy Lichtenstein was born in New York in 1923 and he has created some of the most well-known Pop Art paintings and artworks. An example of his artwork is “Reverie”, it is a screen print by Roy Lichtenstein in 1965 in his iconic comic strip art style. “Reverie” by Roy Lichtenstein shows social commentary of mass production through the art movement it’s in, the technique used, the subject matter.

The concept of pop art started to become popular during this time as it was described using simple, bright colors and images to symbolize everyday life.

Pop Art emerged in Britain in the late 50’s and the United States in the early 60’s.(Mamiya 1992) Pop Art is generally known today as a representation of celebrating popular culture and consumerism, however it’s background and origins are far more broad and extensive. There are many factors and influences that lead to the creation of the Pop Art movement such as adjusting to life after World War II, new technological advances that lead to mass cooperate growth, the evolution of Abstract Expressionism and also social issues in the media such as feminism. (Smith 2001; Mamiya 1992) Many of these factors overlap and act as a catalyst in the creation of Neodadaism and eventually Pop Art. (Livingstone 1992) Pop Art does not have a soul distinct style nor just one major influence and this can be proven by looking at key artists of the movement such as Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol, Claes Oldenburg and James Rosenquist as well as female Pop artists such as Martha Rosler. (Brauer, Edwards, Finch & Hopps 2001) Exploring these artists and the major influences of their work will break down Pop Art and establish the movement’s purpose as well as its evolution.

The 1920s were a time of great prosperity and revitalization. This decade gave way to many great social milestones for every class of people. From the limits for immigration to the boom of the auto industry American society was drastically altered. Issues such as foreign immigration,prohibition, the Ku Klux Klan ,evolution, women’s roles, and race were the focus of the populus and drove politics within the nation. Art played a major role in how the black community expressed their new found sense of culture. Painting has always been a way for someone to portrait their ideas.

Pop Art is defined as art based on modern popular culture and the mass media, especially as a critical or ironic comment on traditional fine art values. “To Americans, Pop Art was an artistic manifestation which reflected their own culture.” (Elmaleh 1) Many artists or writers will take normal, everyday things in nature, and will turn them into brighter things. This was considered to be a new movement because it was right after the war, so it was a darker time period. Throughout the text, Joe Hill tried to convey many things with his short story about Art using his own culture and what he knew, but I think the most obvious message that he tried to convey is emotion.

Rathnasambhava, the Transcendent Buddha of the South and Madonna Enthroned are very similar images that were produced by very different cultures. Both images were produced during the 13th Century. The image of Rathnasambhava, the Transcendent Buddha of the South was produced in Tibet during an interesting period of the country’s religious history. The branch of Tibetan Buddhism is led by a religious and sometimes political leader called the Dalai Lama. It was during the 13th Century during the reign of Kublai Khan, around the time of the production of this painting, that Tibet experienced the first incarnation of the Dalai Lama. One has to wonder if this painting is somehow related to that occurrence. According to

The woman portrayed in the painting is the famous movie star Marilyn Monroe. The photograph that Warhol used for this piece is a publicity still from the 1953 movie Niagra.(Museum of Modern Art) Marilyn Monroe has always been known, and always will be known as our nations most famous sex symbol. Her personal life was even more interesting and exciting to the public than her films. She was married several times, and the mysterious events surrounding her death were rumored to be the result of an affair with President John F. Kennedy. Warhol chose the year of Monroe's death, declared a suicide, to create this piece. Her troubled personal life and untimely death only made Warhol's painting more powerful. He displays Monroe at her best. She is young and beautiful with styled hair and a made up face-yet inside she was empty. By glorifying her, Warhol shows her vulnerability. She was an icon to millions, yet the constant demands from fans and the media drove her into the downward spiral which ultimately ended her life.

The Arts and Craft movement was a social and artistic movement, which began in Britain in the second half of the nineteenth century and continued into the twentieth spreading to continental Europe and the USA. Its adherents-artists, architects, designers and Craftsmen sought to reassert the importance of and craftsmanship in all arts in the face of increasing industrialization, which they felt was sacrificing quality in the pursuit of quantity. Its supporters and practioners were united not so much by a style rather than the common goal- a desire to break down the hierarchy of the arts and to revive traditional handicrafts and make art that could be affordable to all.

His career as an artist mainly started in 1951, he usually painted cowboys and Indians in various modern art styles. In 1957 he tried his hand at Abstract Expressionism. What he is famous for though is his works based on comic strips. This all began with a painting he made of Mickey Mouse in 1960 for his children. By 1961 Lichtenstein was completely dedicated to the making of art from mass-produced, merchandising images. His comic-strip paintings, such as Good Morning, Darling, are blowups of the original cartoon characters, reproduced by hand, with the same technique of benday dots and bright primary colors used in printing. This result was a blend of commercial art and abstraction. He tried to use brilliant colors outlined in black to emphasis the visual impact. These painting made him famous and the first one-man show of his comic strip paintings was in New York City in 1962. It was a major success and by 1968 the interest in his artwork was phenomenal. He has the distinction of being the first American artist to have an exhibition at London’s Tate Gallery. Lichtenstein continued in this area for a while, taking subjects from sentimental

In order to discuss pop art I have chosen to examine the work and to some extent lives of Roy Lichtenstein and Andy Warhol who were two of the main forces behind the American movement. I intend to reflect the attitudes of the public and artists in America at this time, while examining the growing popularity of pop art from its rocky, abstract expressionist start in the 1950s through the height of consumer culture in the 60s and 70s to the present day.

Pop Art- defined as 'making impersonality a style' by using the imagery of commercial art and other mass media sources. (Hugh Honour and John Fleming, 1991) Pop Art, a movement in the 1950's and 1960's, is based on 'popular culture' and is concerned with such phenomena of modern life as commercial posters, packaged foods,

Andy Warhol is probably the most infamous artists to emerge from this time period. Not only was Warhol a painter, he was also a commercial illustrator, avant-garde filmmaker, record producer, and author. His affection for consumerism and pop culture led him to create pieces of controversial art that is still popular today. Warhol was infatuated by

There were two major art movements during the 1960’s: Pop Art and Minimalism.The two movements are still relevant and influentiantial now in the 21st century. These two art movements do not meet the standard of arts original idea. Pop art represents popular culture, comic books, advertising and television. Pop art movement appeared in the mid 1950’s. It challenged traditional art, it is loud and aggressive, filled with vibrant colors. Once you are familiar with a some Pop art paintings, its unique style is easy to distinguish among the rest. It represented more everyday life than anything. Minimalism and Pop art can be very similar but yet have countless differences that vary from artist to artist. Minimalism isolates the material and blurs out any emotional content and personal expressivity. Minimalism reduces everything to its essential elements. The events that occurred during these movements, such as the Civil rights and the Vietnam War influenced artist to try to challenge other type of art forms and go beyond just “fine art”.