Pop Art Research

Pop Art

Pop Art is a movement which appeared suddenly in the 1950's and became a popular type of art in the 1960's, the type of things which are usually involved in pop art are things that are involved in popular culture, mass media and what people see in everyday life, because of this it created a lot of debate whether it was a real art form seeing as before pop art the usual art which you would see would be of things such as mythology, history and more rather than everyday objects and very common things. Pop art was done in a very distinct, colourful and eye catching style, it was because of this it was used so heavily in advertising, newspaper and magazines. the style would usually involve a lot of bright, contrasting colours and would have a lot of influence from the style of comic books and illustrations, another big feature of pop art would be the overlapping on images which were already available to the artists for example images from things like magazines, advertisements, newspapers, photographs and many more, because of this like the fact that they included very common things it created a lot of debate towards the art form.

There is a lot of debate when it comes to where pop art originated from, whether it was Richard Hamilton, a British artist who created a piece called "Just What Is It That Makes Today's Homes So Different, So Appealing" in 1956 or whether it was Jasper Johns with a piece of work called "Flag" which was a painting of the American flag and was created in 1955. You can see that the style of pop art is influenced and originates from art that you would usually see in comic books and art which would be used as illustrations, but it was also heavily influenced by other art moments such as surrealism, neo-dada and abstract expressionism.

The main reason pop art was created and the main idea behind it was to close the gap between "high art" which would be art with a high value and art which is only used for its aesthetics and "low art" which is art that has a low price and usually has a function behind it for example something like an advertisement or a magazine illustration, the movements aim was also to crush the idea of a hierarchy in art and that art can come from anybody, anywhere. A big thing that helped pop art achieve these things was the use of common things in the image for example a piece of work by Andy Warhol called "coca cola" which was just a black and white coca cola bottle with the logo next to it, but because it was so simple and involved something that was very recognizable Andy's work and many other pieces of pop art were criticized for lacking originality.

Andy Warhol

Andy Warhol was an artist born on august the 6th, 1928 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvanian, USA. His art first started when he got a degree in fine art after graduating from college, once he got his degree he moved to New York where he worked as a very successful illustrator for a glamour magazine. Once people started seeing his work and started getting familiar with his work he then went on to become a very famous and well known commercial artist, he was well known because he had a very recognizable technique and style which was a style that used blotted lines. In the late 1950's he started to focus on an art movement called pop art which he is most famous for and became one of the most important figures in pop art. Andy Warhol didn't just stick to pop art he went on to do many different art forms such as performance art, writing and film making.

Andy Warhol - Campbell's soup cans, 1962(1)

Campbell's soup cans is a piece of work created by Andy Warhol in 1962 and is arguably the most famous pieces of work he has created. It’s a piece of work which contains 32 Campbell's soup cans each a different flavour to the last, I think the reason why he did this was a personal reason, when asked about the cans of soup he said "I used to drink it, I used to have the same lunch everyday, for 20 years, I guess the same thing over and over again"(2) because of this quote I think while painting and producing this piece of work he was looking back at how he used to live. Aside from this reason I think the main point and purpose behind the cans of soup was that he wanted to achieve pop arts main target which was to blur the lines of high and low art and I think by painting something like a soup can which is considered a very common item he blurred the lines very well.

Andy Warhol - Marilyn Diptych, 1962(3)

Marilyn Diptych was a piece of work created by Andy Warhol in 1962 like Campbell's soup cans, also like Campbell’s soup cans is it one of his most well-known and recognizable pieces of work, it was created in the months after Marilyn Monroe’s death in August 1962, he created many different silkscreen paintings of the actor from one photo of her, which was an image of her from the 1953 film Niagara. The reason he made so many was to show the lifestyle of the celebrity, he wanted to exaggerate and show the constant presence of celebrity’s in our culture and our media. On the left of the piece of work Marilyn has been painted in colour but each coloured painting is different which I think was Andy Warhol's way of telling people about the different faces some celebrity’s put on and show us and the media, on the right of the work there are black and white paintings of her which I think Andy Warhol used to show the 'human' side of her as well as representing the death of her. Another thing that I think backs up the representation of death is that some of the paintings are smudged which could represent her downfall and her actual death.

Richard Hamilton 

Richard Hamilton was born in London on February the 24th, 1922. he first started studying art at evening class as teenager, he then went on to study painting at the Royal Academy School in Piccadilly, while he was at the Royal Academy School he made a living in advertising but went on to be an industrial designer in 1941, in 1946 he went back to study painting but was expelled after disobeying the teachers rules, after this he went on to study at Slade school of art. in 1952 Richard Hamilton went on to create the "independent group" at the institute of contemporary arts, the group was full of artists, writers, critics and architects, some of the leading artist who were involved were Nigel Henderson, Sir Eduardo Paolozzi and William Turnbull, the group later went on the be one of the key factors in British pop art.

Richard Hamilton - Just what is it that makes today's homes so different, so appealing, 1956(4)

"Just what is it that makes today's homes so different, so appealing?" was a piece of work that was produced in 1956 by Richard Hamilton. It went on to be one of the most important pieces of work and one of the key factors in pop art and one of the most recognizable pieces of art in post-war Britain. The image was created when Richard Hamilton was involved in an exhibition called "This is tomorrow", this piece was the art he added to it, before creating the piece of art Richard Hamilton created a list of things he wanted to involve in the piece, he wanted to include "Man, Woman, Food, History, Newspaper, Cinema, Domestic Appliances, Cars, Space, Comics, TV, Telephone, Information, Words"(5). This piece of art creates a lot of controversy and debate because it is argued that either this piece of work or a piece of work called "Flag" by Jasper Johns was the original and starter of the movement which was pop art.

Richard Hamilton - Interior II, 1964(6)

"Interior II" was a painting created by Richard Hamilton in 1964, the painting was done on a photo which Richard Hamilton found completely by accident on the floor of Newcastle polytechnic while he was teaching. The panting included actress Patricia knight from when she stared in the 1940's film Shockproof. The reason I think Richard Hamilton has done a painting in the style of this is because he wanted to mix the old and the modern, like pop arts main aim which was to blur the lines between high and low art I think he has tried to blur the line between old and new. Something that catches your eye after you have looked at the panting is the original image in the top right which I think is a good addition because you aren’t just focusing on the woman who’s the main focus. The painting has a lot of vibrant, bright and eye catching colours which was predictable at this time (1964) because it was when pop art was at its most popular and most recognizable.

Roy Lichtenstein

Roy Lichtenstein was an artist born in New York on October 27th, 1923. He was exposed to various different types of New York culture such as museums and concerts at a very young age, at a very early age he was very creative he drew, painted and played the piano and clarinet as a teenager, he would also spend many hours and various museums. The summer after he graduated, he studied drawing and painting at the art student’s league of New York with fellow artist Reginald Marsh. After being drafted to Europe in 1945 he came back to the US, in the late 1940's and early 1950's he started focusing on his art work, and would become one of the most famous and well-known artists when it comes to the pop art movement.

Roy Lichtenstein - Whaam, 1963(7)

Roy Lichtenstein painted "Whaam" in 1963. it is a piece of art that is very recognizable when it comes to Roy himself and the whole of the pop art movement, mainly because when it was created it was in 1963 when pop art was at its most popular and the whole image conforms very much to the pop art style with the bright, eye-catching colours. It is a painting that was heavily inspired, almost a remake of an illustration from a comic called "All American Men of War" by DC comics, the painting could also be done from a very personal view and level from when Lichtenstein was involved in the army. The style of the painting was very similar to a comic books style; this made Roy Lichtenstein paintings very recognizable, but also caused debates to whether his work, other pieces of work along with this one were original enough. 

Roy Lichtenstein - Drowning Girl, 1963(8)

Drowning Girl was a painting by Roy Lichtenstein created in 1963 and like "whaam" it was heavily inspired by a DC comic but this painting was inspired by the comic "run for love!", the original image shows the girl you can see above and her boyfriend "brad" clinging to an upside down boat, Roy Lichtenstein completely cut the boyfriend out and chose to focus on the girl drowning. To create this image he did it all by hand, first he projected a sketch onto a canvas then drew in all of the black lines and black areas, once he had done this he began to add colour to the image. Even though the image is done in the style of pop art and is still very recognizable, unlike a lot of pop art there isn’t a use of bright eye-catching colours instead there are very dull and dark colour, I think he has done this because it links to the story which is behind the image.

bibliography

(1)-http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/bb1uldq8z6fuj0hhrskv.jpg
(2)-https://www.moma.org/learn/moma_learning/andy-warhol-campbells-soup-cans-1962
(3)-https://ka-perseus-images.s3.amazonaws.com/329f84364bd08b80515b71fa830da2d2b6802c0c.jpg
(4)-http://www.phaidon.com/resource/acvr-059a.jpg(5)-http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/hamilton-just-what-was-it-that-made-yesterdays-homes-so-different-so-appealing-upgrade-p20271
(6)-http://www.tate.org.uk/art/images/work/T/T00/T00912_10.jpg(7)-http://www.artfund.org/assets/what-to-see/exhibitions/2013/Lichtenstein/Lichtenstein_Whaam_1963---old.jpg
(8)https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/df/Roy_Lichtenstein_Drowning_Girl.jpg

Art Movements 1900-Present Day

Surrealism 1924-1966

Surrealism is an art movement which came around, the movement was completely against realism and literal realism, people who were involved in the surrealism movement believed that rational thinking suppressed and stopped imagination which is why a movement where art wasn’t so literal and the viewer had to look past the original image to what it was actually saying was created. because before this art predominantly had reasoning and logic behind it and this movement was one of the first to do something which involved the viewer using there imagination and really thinking about the image in front of them it became very popular and has inspired many art forms and artists in the present day. Some key artists who were involved in this art movement were artists such as Salvador Dali, Andre Brenton and Andre Masson. A major influence to this movement was a philosopher called Karl Marx who said "Reason has always excited, but not always in a reasonable form".

Salvador Dali
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Salvador Dali was a Spanish painter born in 1904, he is most famous for his work in surrealism, but is also very well-known across the whole of art, a piece of work which his is very well known for and recognised by and is one of the most popular pieces of art to do with Surrealism is a piece of work called Persistence of Memory (seen above) that was painted in 1931, this painting main focus is three melting clocks against a landscape background. Some of his inspirations are artists such as Pablo Picasso and Joan Miro

Andre Brenton
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Andre Brenton was born on the 18th of February, 1896, he work as many different things such as a philosopher, Artist, Poet, Publisher and a journalist, he is most well-known for his as a writer and a poet and his art work and literature in the surrealist movement, he is most famous for writing two surrealist manifesto, which encouraged and helped people to express their feelings freely. He was influenced by avant-garde poet Tristan Tzara, French poet Guillaume Apollinaire and more.

Social Realism 1929-1950's

Social Realism isn’t just an art movement it is also a political movement, it was most popular during the 1920's and the 1930's, at this time there was a lot of economic depression and high racial conflict. It was introduced to show real life images and situations, mainly focusing on "masses" which was a term for lower and working class. Photographers and artists who were involved with this movement saw their photos and art as a weapon which they could use to take down and fight capitalism and the capitalist exploitation of the working class. some of the key figures and important artists who were involved in social realism are Jacob Lawrence, Ben Shahn and William Gropper, A lot of artist which were involved in social realism were artists from the Ashcan School which was an art movement from the U.S that was well known for their photos showing daily life in New York, because there main focus was also showing realism and was a lot of the same artists it influence social realism.

Jacob Lawrence
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Jacob was an artist born in Atlantic City but raised in New York; he was an artist who is very well known when it comes to the social realism movement. He is an artist most well-known for works such as his Migration series and his War series, when it comes to social realism he is most famous for his work showing his experiences as an African-American. In an interview he said he has been influenced by a lot of Mexican artists such as Jose Clemente Orozco, Diego Rivera and David Alfaro Siqueiros, this would explain the similar illustrations and the use of colours.

Ben Shahn
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Ben Shahn is a Lithuanian photographer and artist, born in Lithuania in 1896 he moved to New York in 1908, where he attended New York University and the Nation academy of design, he became involved in the social realism movement in 1920. While being known as an artist for his paintings of his local areas of the Bronx and New York he later became more focused on photography where he focused on rural areas and the people who lived in them. He is most influenced by another photographer who was involved in social realism and that is a photographer called Walker Evans. In social realism a lot of the artwork, apart from the photography which is black and white, includes a lot of bright, powerful, contrasting colours; this is partly because a lot of the artists famously involved in the social realism movement were involved in the Ashcan school movement.

Abstract Expressionism 1943-1965

Abstract Expression is an art movement which became famous during the 1940's and 1950's. Abstract Expressionism is the includes paintings from artists which involve a lot of different colours, shapes and forms, though these colours, shapes and forms the artist who produce these also spill their feelings and emotions onto the page. a lot of the work which was involved in Abstract Expressionism was influenced by the surreal moment but modified to fit the post war era, showing anxiety, fear and trauma, another thing which influenced the Abstract Expressionism movement was the era's left-wing political views. The art which was produced wasn't just paintings and illustrations there was also photography, some of the most famous artists who were produced these pieces are Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning, Aaron Siskind and Clyfford Still.

Jackson Pollock
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Jackson Pollock was born on January 28, 1912 and is one of the most famous painters not only in the movement of Abstract expressionism but in the whole of the art world, although he is most famous for his work in Abstract expressionism involving paint multiple splattered on a canvas. Because Jackson Pollock painted like this and showed his emotions in this style meant he was one of the first inventors of Abstract expressionism as this style had never been full done before. Aside from being influenced by famous artists like Pablo Picasso, Jackson Pollock was inspired by his mentor Thomas Hart Benton.

Aaron Siskind
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Aaron Siskind was a photographer born in New York in 1903, he started off as a documentary photography and is most well-known for his book called Harlem document which he published in 1981, later on he produced photographs which corresponded with the Abstract expressionism movement, these photos would focus on close ups containing things like textures, patterns and lines. Although Abstract expressionism came around to show how people were feeling after the war, Aaron Siskind moved away from it and focused on things he was interested in and things that were around him. He was influenced by fellow Abstract expressionists such as Willem De Kooning and Fredrick Sommer; he was also influenced but co-founder of Group F/64 Edward Weston.

Pop Art mid 1950's-early 1970's

Pop Art is an art movement that was invented in the mid 1950's but is most associated with the artists of the early 1960's, artists such as Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, Jasper Jones and Robert Rauschenberg. Pop Arts main focus was to create a smaller divide between High Art and Low Art, it did this by not focusing on things that were traditionally focused on in art such as royalty, mythology and things like that instead it focused on things which were common things and people, things that were involved in peoples everyday life. Because Pop Art has been used in many different magazines and has been used as a very popular way to advertise, it is one of the most recognizable and common art forms. its style is very big, bold, bright and colourful, which is one of the main reasons it been used in advertisements so much, Pop Art also use a lot of colours which contrast and stand out against each other this along with its very distinctive look makes it very recognizable and useful for advertising.

Andy Warhol
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Andy Warhol was born on August 6th, 1928 in Pennsylvania, he was well known for his work as a magazine ad illustrator, his most famous piece of work and a piece of work which is famously connected with Pop Art is "Campbell’s Soup Cans" which he painted in 1962. Like with all Pop Art Andy Warhol uses a variety of colours which are bold, bright and very noticeable. He was influenced by many different artists who were also involved in the movement, artists such as Jasper John and Robert Rauschenberg, also a big inspiration outside of the movement was an artist called Jean-Michel Basquiat. He is known as one of the leading figures in the Pop Art movement, once the Pop Art Movement was well known Andy Warhol moved onto different art form such as performance art and film making. 

Roy Lichtenstein

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Roy Lichtenstein was an artist born in New York in 1923, along with Andy Warhol he is one of the first people to be involved in Pop Art and became one of the most famous people and well known people when it came to the movement. Some of his most well-known and recognised pieces of art work are Whaaam!, Drowing Girl, Blam and Hopeless. A lot of his work is inspired from comic book strips, which is very blatant when looking at his work, because of this he was accused of things like lack of originality and was even accused of copying.

Conceptual Art 1960's-mid 1970's

Conceptual art focuses on the idea or concept rather than the object itself. it was formed in the 1960’s as a revolt against traditional art and the aesthetic values of formalism in which colour, line and shape are primary qualities. They were opposed to the consumer side of art. Conceptual artists challenged and aimed to make the viewers think. Material value was kept to an absolute minimum to emphasize concept. It incorporated text, photography and video as well as other contemporary media, consistently taking inspiration from the real world. some of the key figures in this movement were artists such as Joseph Kosuth, Robert Smithson, Lawrence Weiner and Joseph Beuys.

Joseph Kosuth

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Joseph Kosuth is an artist who was born in Ohio, United States in 1945, he is known as one of the first artist to be involved in the conceptual movement, he is most recognised for a piece of work called one and three chairs which was created in 1965, which was a very good example of conceptual art, it involved a wooden chair, a photograph of the wooden chair and a square with the dictionary's definition of a chair. He was inspired and influenced by many other conceptual artists such as Barbra Kruger, Damien Hirst and Nam June Paik.

Lawrence Weiner
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Lawrence Weiner was born in the Bronx, New York in 1942, he went on to be one of the most recognised artists in the conceptual movement, he is most well-known and famous for such art pieces as Taken Front the Wind, Wvave After Wave, To See and Be Seen and many more, a lot of his conceptual art pieces mainly focused on text but would include a twist rather than just having a sentence wrote out. 

Bibliography

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