PrimeLuck ArtsPop Art
Pop Art took its images from advertising, comics, celebrity and mass-produced goods. It blurred the line between fine art and popular culture.
- Period
- Postwar and contemporary art
- Approximate dates
- c. 1955 to the 1970s
- Place of origin
- Britain and the United States
- Key regions
- Britain, United States, then worldwide
- Art forms
- Painting, printmaking, collage, sculpture
- Major artists
- Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, Richard Hamilton, Pauline Boty, Claes Oldenburg
Visual introduction
Just what is it that makes today's homes so different, so appealing?
Richard Hamilton · 1956 · Collage · Kunsthalle Tubingen
An early British collage built from magazine images, often named as a starting point of Pop Art.
Marilyn Diptych
Andy Warhol · 1962 · Acrylic and screenprint on canvas · Tate, London
Repeated, bright and faded images of a film star show fame and mass production.
Whaam!
Roy Lichtenstein · 1963 · Acrylic and oil on canvas · Tate, London
A comic strip panel enlarged to a huge canvas, with printed dots and bold lettering.
Historical context
Pop Art began in Britain in the 1950s and flourished in New York in the 1960s. After the war, consumer goods, television, magazines and advertising spread fast, and young artists responded by using those images directly.
It was partly a reaction to the seriousness and emotion of Abstract Expressionism. Artists used printing methods such as screenprint, and questioned fame, repetition and the idea of the single original artwork.
Visual characteristics
Subject: soap boxes, comic strips, film stars, food and brands.
Style: flat bright colour, bold outline, repetition and a smooth, printed look, sometimes with dots that imitate printing.
Attitude: ironic, playful and critical of consumer culture, while also celebrating it.
Related movements
Sources and further reading
Further reading: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. Tate, Art Terms. Smarthistory.