![]() ![]() This ironic approach is exemplified by Lichtenstein’s methodically painted Benday dots, a mechanical process used to print pulp comics.Īs the decade progressed, artists shifted away from painting towards the use of industrial techniques. In contrast to the dripping paint and slashing brushstrokes of Abstract Expressionism-and even of Proto-Pop art-Pop artists applied their paint to imitate the look of industrial printing techniques. (L) Roy Lichtenstein, Girl with a Ball, 1961, oil on canvas, 60 1/4 x 36 1/4″ (153 x 91.9 cm) (Museum of Modern Art, New York) (R) Detail of face showing Lichtenstein’s painted Benday dots) Characterized by clearly rendered images of popular subject matter, it seemed to assault the standards of modern painting, which had embraced abstraction as a reflection of universal truths and individual expression. It was in this artistic and cultural context that Pop artists developed their distinctive style of the early 1960s. ![]() ![]() Significantly, the development of television, as well as changes in print advertising, placed new emphasis on graphic images and recognizable brand logos-something that we now take for granted in our visually saturated world. The manufacturing industry that had expanded during the war now began to mass-produce everything from hairspray and washing machines to shiny new convertibles, which advertisers claimed all would bring ultimate joy to their owners. The years following World War II saw enormous growth in the American economy, which, combined with innovations in technology and the media, spawned a consumer culture with more leisure time and expendable income than ever before. Post-War Consumer Culture Grabs Hold (and Never Lets Go)ġ950s Advertisement for the American Gas Association These “Proto-pop” artists were, in part, reacting against the rigid critical structure and lofty philosophies surrounding Abstract Expressionism, the dominant art movement of the time but their work also reflected the numerous social changes taking place around them. Robert Rauschenberg’s desire to “work in the gap between art and life,” for example, led him to incorporate such objects as bed pillows, tires and even a stuffed goat in his “combine paintings” that merged features of painting and sculpture. Likewise, Claes Oldenberg created The Store, an installation in a vacant storefront where he sold crudely fashioned sculptures of brand-name consumer goods. In 1917, Marcel Duchamp asserted that any object-including his notorious example of a urinal-could be art, as long as the artist intended it as such. Artists of the 1950s built on this notion to challenge boundaries distinguishing art from real life, in disciplines of music and dance, as well as visual art. Pop Art’s origins, however, can be traced back even further. Robert Rauschenberg, Bed, 1955, oil and pencil on pillow, quilt, and sheet on wood supports, 191.1 x 80 x 20.3 cm (The Museum of Modern Art, New York) Like religious fanatics, the actress’s fans worshipped their idol yet, Warhol’s sloppy silk-screening calls attention to the artifice of Marilyn’s glamorous façade and places her alongside other mass-marketed commodities like a can of soup or a box of Brillo pads. Notably, Warhol’s spiritual reference was especially poignant given Monroe’s suicide a few months earlier. The central image on a gold background evokes a religious tradition of painted icons, transforming the Hollywood starlet into a Byzantine Madonna that reflects our obsession with celebrity. Andy Warhol’s Gold Marilyn Monroe (1962) clearly reflects this inherent irony of Pop. But, then again, a second look may suggest a critique of the mass marketing practices and consumer culture that emerged in the United States after World War II. ![]() Andy Warhol, Gold Marilyn Monroe, 1962, silkscreen on canvas, 6′ 11 1/4″ x 57″ (211.4 x 144.7 cm) (Museum of Modern Art, New York)Īt first glance, Pop Art might seem to glorify popular culture by elevating soup cans, comic strips and hamburgers to the status of fine art on the walls of museums. ![]()
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