Chapters
- 01. Robert Rauschenberg
- 02. Jasper Johns
- 03. Roy Lichtenstein
- 04. Andy Warhol
- 05. Other famous Pop artists
Pop Art was a revolutionary artistic movement that emerged in the United States and Great Britain during the late 50s and early 60s.
It is characterized by including imagery from popular and mass culture, such as advertising, comic books, and mundane mass-produced objects.
A painting of a soup can, a picture of someone famous turned into a comic, a sculpture of a cherry on a spoon or a collage mocking an ad are some examples of Pop Art.
Pop Art was born to imitate real life, by taking the most mundane objects and turning them into a painting, a collage, or a sculpture.
When it comes to Pop Art, there is a large number of artists whose artworks changed our views of the contemporary world.
This is why, whether you are studying art history in school or you want to learn a little bit of history before you create your paintings, you should learn who the artists who marked the Pop Art movement were.
Only knowing about one artist, like Andy Warhol, won't give you the amount of perspective you need to fully understand the subject.
The group of artists who marked the Pop Art movement is Robert Rauschenberg, Jasper Johns, Roy Lichtenstein, Richard Hamilton, Claes Oldenburg, Eduardo Paolozzi, Peter Blake, David Hockney, James Rosenquist, and Keith Haring.
Continue reading to learn a little bit about these artists, their trajectories, and their work. To learn more in-depth about their style, what other movements they belonged to (like Neo-pop), or more, we recommend you work with the help of a private tutor.
You can search for pop art or art history tutors right here on Superprof and start your journey as an artist.
Robert Rauschenberg
Robert Rauschenberg is one of the pioneers of pop art. He was born in 1925 and had a distinguished career as a graphic artist and painter.
He was most famous for creating combines (artworks that combine painting and collage) which allowed him to mix both of his passions. With these artworks, he developed the beginning of Pop Art and inspired an entire generation.
Robert Rauschenberg won numerous awards for his highly popular work. In 1964 he won the International Grand Prize in Painting at the 32nd Venice Biennale. And in 1993 he won the National Medal of Arts.
He worked most of his life in New York and passed away in 2008.
Jasper Johns
Jasper Johns was one of the most popular Pop artists, especially for his depictions of the American flag. He was born in 1930 and spent his entire career as an artist.
He was a painter, sculptor, and printmaker whose work is not only associated with Pop Art but also with abstract expressionism and Neo-Dada.
Johns's works regularly sell for millions of dollars, including a reported $110 million sale in 2010. At multiple times works by Johns have held the title of most paid-for work by a living artist. He was also awarded the National Medal of Arts in 1990 and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2011.
Roy Lichtenstein
Roy Lichtenstein was born in 1923 in New York. During the decade of the 60s, alongside Andy Warhol and James Rosenquist, Lichtenstein became a leading figure of Pop Art, an art movement that was becoming increasingly popular.
He became famous for being the author of various popular artworks like Whaam! The piece is divided into two sides, the left side shows a fighter plane firing a rocket and the right side hits a second plane which explodes in flames.
Whaam! was first exhibited at the Leo Castelli Gallery in New York City in 1963, and purchased by a British gallery called Tate Gallery, in 1966.
Other famous paintings of his are Drowning Girl, Crying Girl, In the car, Look Mickey, Hopeless, and more. His most expensive piece is Masterpiece, which was sold for $165 million in January 2017. He became popular because his work defined the premise of pop art through parody.
Both popular advertising and the comic book aesthetic have an impact on his work. His work was seen as "disruptive." He characterized pop art as "industrial painting," not "'American' painting".
If you want to learn more about Lichtenstein's work, the techniques he used, and the inspiration for his work, you can consult with a private tutor from Superprof.
You can search for online or in-person tutors. All you have to do is go to our homepage and search for your subject of interest and your location (or add the online option).
Andy Warhol
If you think of Pop Art you'll probably first think of Andy Warhol. He was a distinguished American artist who was born in Pennsylvania in 1928.
His artwork is famous because it is an exploration of the relationship between artistic expression, advertising, and celebrity culture that flourished by the 1960s.
Warhol used to work as a visual artist, film director, and producer. His artworks usually include a variety of media, including painting, silkscreening, photography, film, and sculpture.
Some of his best-known works include:
- Campbell Soup Cans: a silkscreen painting of the variety in the market of Campbell Soups. (1962)
- Marilyn Diptych: 50 images of the departed actress, Marilyn Monroe. (1962),
- Empire: an experimental black-and-white silent art film of the Empire State in New York, (1964)
- Chelsea Girls: an experimental film following the lives of women in New York, (1966),
- Exploding Plastic Inevitable: multimedia events featuring dance, music, film, and much more. (1966–67).
A lot of Andy Warhol's artwork influenced the art scene for decades, and it changed the game forever. This is why he is such a phenomenon, and people who are clueless about art still know his name or have seen the Marilyn or Campbell Soup pieces.
Other famous Pop artists
Aside from Warhol and Lichtenstein, there are plenty of other important names in the movement that worked before, during, or after the boom of Pop Art. These artists understood what pop art was all about.
- Richard Hamilton: was a British Pop artist, popular for his collages and for being part of the movement during the 60s. Richard Hamilton was the author of the collage titled Just what is it that makes today's homes so different, so appealing?
- Peter Blake: is known for creating a bunch of popular pieces. Peter Blake co-created the sleeve design for the Beatles' album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. He designed the covers for two of The Who's albums, and the cover of the Band-Aid single "Do They Know It's Christmas?".
- Claes Oldenburg: was a Swedish-American sculptor and Pop artist. Oldenburg is better known for his public art installations typically featuring large replicas of everyday objects.
- David Hockney: was a painter, draftsman, printmaker, stage designer, and photographer. David Hockney is considered an important contributor to the pop art movement of the 1960s, he is considered one of the most influential British artists of the 20th century.
- James Rosenquist: was an American artist and one of the pioneers of the Pop Art movement. James Rosenquist used his background in sign painting to explore the role of advertising and mass consumption culture in art.
- Keith Haring: was an American Pop artist whose art emerged from the New York City graffiti subculture of the 80s. Much of Keith Haring's work includes sexual allusions that turned into social activism by using the images to advocate for safe sex and AIDS awareness
- Eduardo Paolozzi: is considered another pioneer of the Pop Art movement due to his works with sculptures and graphics. Paolozzi's collage titled I was a Rich Man's Plaything (1947) is used in every school to teach students art history.
You can search for a local museum or a contemporary art gallery that showcases the work of some of these artists. You can also take a class in school or hire a private tutor to continue learning about style, imagery, culture, early and modern works, Neo-pop, popular paintings, and more.
Keep in mind you can hire a tutor right here on Superprof and start your journey as a Pop artist. You can ask your tutor to come up with a teaching curriculum specified for you.
You can ask to learn about techniques, history, Pop Art culture, contemporary art, modern art, and so on. You could also go with them to a local art museum or gallery and ask them to give you a lesson there.
It is up to you! Keep in mind that you can see if your tutor offers discounts for group sessions or something similar.
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