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Most people think of the artist Andy Warhol or his artwork with Campbell Soup when they hear the words 'Pop Art'. However, Pop Art was a movement that shook the world of arts during the mid-to late-1950s which has complicated and intrinsic roots.
This art movement was born in the United Kingdom and the United States as a challenge to traditional fine arts because it included imagery from popular and mass culture.
These images would typically involve objects belonging to the modern world, like advertising, a soup commercial, comic books, or mundane mass-produced objects.
One of its aims is to use images of popular culture in art, emphasizing the banal or kitschy elements of any culture, most often through the use of irony.
When learning about the history of Pop Art, you'll hear names of artists like Roy Lichtenstein, Claes Oldenburg, Richard Hamilton, Eduardo Paolozzi, James Rosenquist, Ed Ruscha, Robert Rauschenberg, and of course, Andy Warhol.
People tend to confuse Pop Art with contemporary art, but there are many differences between these two movements. For instance, Pop Art came first and contemporary art came later. Pop Art has a clearly defined style and contemporary art does not.
As you learn about the imagery, paintings, and work of different artists, you'll learn to recognize the different movements, techniques, and styles.
Continue reading and learn about what inspired Pop Art, who created it, what tendencies came before, and how Pop Art has developed over time. Keep in mind that you can always hire a private tutor from Superprof to help you learn everything you can about Pop Art.
What inspired American Pop Art?
As I mentioned above, most of the paintings and artworks were created based on images presented in the modern world. These images were taken from media like a TV commercial or a picture in a comic book.
“The Pop artists did images that anybody walking down Broadway could recognize in a split second – comics, picnic tables, men’s trousers, celebrities, shower curtains, refrigerators, Coke bottles – all the great modern things that the Abstract Expressionists tried so hard not to notice at all.” — Andy Warhol
Lawrence Alloway, a British artist, came up with the first definition of Pop Art in 1955 to describe a new form of art characterized by the imagery of consumerism, new media, and mass reproduction.
Pop Art was one of the first art trends to bridge the gap between commercial and fine arts with its bold, straightforward imagery and brilliant use of color.
Keep in mind that this movement was popular (and created) both in Great Britain and the United States. But each country had different influences, trajectories, and artists that marked the movement.
In the United States, Pop Art emerged as a reaction against the dominant artistic movement, Abstract Expressionism. Pop Art challenged the notion that art is the unique expression of an artist's genius by allowing creators to use pictures and combinations of commonplace objects to bring back bits and pieces of reality.
Among the first artists in America to capture the force of everyday was Robert Rauschenberg, who was followed by Jasper Johns.
Don't forget that you can learn more about the history of Pop Art with the help of a private tutor. You can search for tutors right here on Superprof! All you have to do is go to our homepage, put your location and subject of interest, and choose a tutor from a list of different tutors.
Who created American Pop Art?
As it was mentioned above, in America the pioneers of pop art were Robert Rauschenberg, who was followed by Jasper Johns.
Through the actual incorporation of daily objects into painted canvas surfaces, the former investigated the limits between art and the real world; the latter reflected what he termed "things the mind already knows," a collection of repeating ideas and popular iconography.
Here is another group of important names in the industry (who became widely famous) are:
- Roy Lichtenstein — was an American pop artist. During the 1960s, Lichtenstein became a leading figure in the new art movement. His work defined the premise of pop art through parody.
- Claes Oldenburg — was a Swedish-born American sculptor, best known for his art installations featuring large replicas of everyday objects.
- Andy Warhol — was arguably the most popular artist of the Pop Art movement. His works explore the relationship between artistic expression, advertising, and celebrity culture.
- James Rosenquist — was an American artist whose works frequently examined the role of advertising and consumer culture in art and society, drawing on his experience painting signs.
- Ed Ruscha — was an American artist who worked in the media of painting, printmaking, drawing, photography, and film. He is also noted for creating several artists' books.
Other important names in the industry are Richard Hamilton and Ed Paolozzi. Hamilton was an English painter and collage artist. His gallery exhibition called Man, Machine, and Motion and his collage Just what is it that makes today's homes so different, so appealing? are considered by critics and historians to be among the earliest works of pop art.
On the other hand, Ed Paolozzi was a Scottish artist, known for his sculpture and graphic works. He is widely considered to be one of the pioneers of pop art.
British Pop Art v.s. American Pop Art
The Pop Art movement became known worldwide and it is now displayed in any art museum in the world. However, this wasn't always the case.
The movement was born in the United States during the 50s and it then became widely popular in Great Britain. The biggest names in the industry were artists in the US. However, it started to evolve in each country with influences from both places.
This, however, doesn't mean that there aren't differences between the two.
In the US, pop art is a return to compositions described as “hard-edged”, using mundane reality, popular culture, irony, and sarcasm.
On the other hand, the British movement started with a more academic vision. The focus was put on the energetic and paradoxical figuration of American pop culture, as can be found in the works of Richard Hamilton.
They used parody and self-depreciation as a way to denounce the powerful western system of manipulation which affected societal behavior all the while bringing it to material prosperity.
English pop art was fed by American culture but through the lens of distance, whereas American Pop Art was the direct result of this “American dream,” a very central idea in American identity at the time.
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How has Pop Art developed over time?
Regardless of where the trend originated or from which side of the Atlantic, collectors, institutions, museums and the enormous public interest make it abundantly evident that Pop Art is genuine, and here to stay.
This movement continued to grow and expand and today, we have the privilege to see how Pop Art influenced history.
Pop artists and creators were incredibly successful in producing artworks that endured the test of time.
Today, this movement continues to develop in the present pop culture. This means that art is being created around technology and how it has completely taken over our lives.
The trend may be more prevalent than ever right now, in part due to nostalgia and in part due to its especially intriguing aesthetics.
The imagery used in Pop Art can be found anywhere and everywhere, from a gallery to a painting in your friend's living room to a museum in Dubai or New York, and so on. Pop Art imagery may be seen everywhere and in all walks of life.
This is why, if you are interested in learning about this art movement, you can do so by focusing either on its creation or its development into the present day.
Don't forget you can search for an art history tutor right here on Superprof as well as a pop artist tutor who can teach you how to become a pop artist by teaching you techniques and more.
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