The Pop Art Movement Essay

Post-impressionism and Pop Art resulted as an artistic reaction on both sides. Post-Impressionism groups diverse pictorial tendencies that arose in France surroundings to 1880-1905 like reaction to the impressionism. In the other hand pop art was an artistic reaction to abstract expressionism. It can seem surprising the fact that in so short space of time, as soon as a quarter of century, so many evolutions and involutions in the land of art have taken place, mainly considering that until second half of century XIX, the great

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.

The sixties were a time of social and political change in America, and the art world was not left untouched. Early in the decade a new movement focused on popular culture and national icons began to develop. It was aptly named Pop art. "Many critics were alarmed by Pop, uncertain whether it was embracing or parodying popular culture and fearful that it threatened the survival of both modernist art and high culture..." (Stokstad 1101) Pop artists were not the first to make cultural statements with their work, however controversial art always draws criticism and attention. One of the most well known artists of the Pop movement was Andy Warhol, a young commerial illustrator from manhattan. Warhol's use of popular icons and brands as the focus

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.

The Pop Art movement was named as a way to define the new form of popular

From this I gathered the idea of sexuality in Pop Art was a form of

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 was a 20th century art movement that utilized the imagery and techniques of consumerism and popular culture as well as mass media and advertising

Pop Art is an art movement that emerged in the mid-1950s in Britain and the late 1950s in the United States. Andy Warhol’s different style of pop art transitioned the dull style of art to something that no one has seen before. Warhol focused on putting “pop art” into the mass production of commercial goods. The many pop art paintings such as Marilyn Monroe, Coca-Cola, and others made him famous which stood out the most to most oh his work.

The late 1950s in Britain Pop art had emerged. The Independent Groups during this time rejected the traditional and old-fashioned art taken place. After this, Pop art took full effect all over America. In the 1960s early 1970s Pop art became mainstream in America and was the top form of artistic expression over Abstract Expressionism

The Pop Art movement was an international phenomenon that began in the 1950’s in which artists like Roy Lichtenstein and Andy Warhol sought to initiate fresh thinking in art. The term Pop Art is credited to the British art critic Lawrence Alloway and is short for “popular art” which referred to the popular mass culture and familiar imagery of the contemporary urban environment. This movement was a comment and expansion on the then popular ideas of the Abstract Impressionism movement. Fred S. Kleiner says of pop artists,

Arguably one of his most famous pieces of art, Whamm! displays this method of painting. Those methods make the panels look different from the original panels but remarkably similar at the same time. By designing his subjects the way the mass media portrayed them, rather than attempting to accurately reproduce the subject Lichtenstein helped define the Pop Art movement.

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”.

Pop artists chose a specific theme and style for their work of art, sculptures and prints, they utilized their claim to create a surprizing outline or a design with the same amount of energy and creativity. Also, pop art turned to be more affordable and open to everybody.