Pop Art: Principles, Evolution, Key Artworks

Pop art was one of the most important art movements in history. The art movement was believed to project optimism during the post-war periods. It was a movement that connected fine art with masses such as mass-production, mass-media, and mass-culture and included imagery that society would be able to recognize and also imagery that can be related to. Pop art utilizes everyday and common objects and mixes it with other popular objects but in another context. The art form was most popular for its bold and bright colours and it is undeniably one of the most famous art movements in history.

History of Pop Art

Pop Art is an art movement that had begun in the mid-19th century. Around the early 1950s is when the art movement became more well known, although it reached its peak of activity and flourished in the late 1950s and throughout the 1960s. It first emerged in the United Kingdom, and simultaneously in the United States towards the late 1950s. It had taken inspiration from different sources in popular culture such as pop music, comics and celebrity culture.

The American artist named Andy Warhol played a significant part in the movement of Pop art and was a huge influence on Pop art. Warhol was heavily influenced by Pop artists and so he began to focus on popular culture. Apart from Andy Warhol, Eduardo Palozzi was also very well known for being a prominent part in the pop art movement. He was a Scottish artist and had a love for American culture. At the time he had produced collages, films sculptures and many more. The paintings of Campbell’s soup cans is what Andy Warhol is best known for although he had also created many other artworks which include films and also commercial advertisements. From producing print advertisements to paintings. His work mainly focused on turning everyday objects and people from the popular culture of America into Pop art pieces which are still recognisable today.

Pop Art vs. American Pop Art

Even though Pop art originated in the United Kingdom and later became popular in the United States, they were both inspired by similar concepts and ideas. It is often that pop art and American pop art are seen as quite distinctive. Founded in the United Kingdom in the early 1950s, the Independent Group is believed to be the forerunner to pop art. It would bring together many different artists and painters who shared the same approach of traditional fine arts. pop art was actually extremely influenced by American culture. It focused more on American popular images way of manipulating how people live their lives. American pop art was directly associated with the “American dream” thus ideas were in American identity. After reading a blog by Artsper Magazine, I have found that approach started out with more of an academic vision, whereas American pop art used popular culture and reality and tried to go for a “hard edge” approach and movement.

The 32 Soup Cans Artwork

The 32 Soup Cans artwork is made up of 32 hand-stamped and hand-painted canvases. It is arguably one of the most well-known artworks of American modern art. It was among one of the artworks in which would transform contemporary art today. Based on an article I read called ‘The story of Andy Warhol’s Campbell’s soup cans’, it mentions that it was a friend’s suggestion for him to paint an object that would be easily recognised such as the Campbell’s soup. Thus this is how Andy Warhol had chosen the subject of the artwork. The post-war industrial culture is what heavily influenced this artwork as it reflects its consumers and I believe it was to represent a shift in consumer culture during the 1960s. According to an article I read on Moma, it mentioned that the Soup Cans exhibition in 1962, was Warhol’s first solo exhibition. The first time it was exhibited in 1962, it was displayed together to look like how products would be placed on the long shelves at a grocery store.

After reading an essay by Daniel Beetham on how consumerism was explored through Campbell’s Canned soup, I believe that consumerism’s new era had begun with low-priced commodities. It was during a time where consumers became more aware of branding, advertisements and also design. At first glance, the soup of cans all look identical, but looking closely there is a slight difference in the various flavours. Warhol had used this commodity which was a mass-produced item and made the public reflect on the significance of this subject. The Campbell’s Soup Cans artwork were actually one of Warhol’s first paintings which were based on consumer goods. It made the public think about their own consumerism. It seems to be that Warhol had tried to reflect mass-production through this artwork since he had repeated this canned soup 32 times, resembling it as a machine. Through using silkscreen, he was able to make each element repeatable. As Warhol says “I used to drink it. I used to have the same lunch every day, for twenty years, I guess, the same thing over and over again.” Thus I believe that part of this artwork idea of repetition came from this and was also incorporated with the mass culture.

Marilyn Diptych

A few years after Marilyn Monroe had passed away, Andy Warhol created screen print portfolios of her in 1967. She was one of the world’s most iconic figures and has become an extremely recognizable representative of female beauty as well as fame. She became famous due to her captivating persona. Sadly, she passed away due to a drug overdose, although she is still extremely well known today. He created this piece as a way of honouring her and to pay respects for the loss of an icon in Hollywood. From my own interpretation and research, Warhol was very fond of American movie stars, and he used the image of Marylin as it was easy for the public to recognize and he likes to do this in his artworks. I believe he does this due to his interest and obsession in consumerism and also pop culture. Warhol decided rather than to paint Marilyn’s face, he would depict a photograph that was released in 1953. The diptych was created from 2 canvases which were silver in which Andy Warhol silk-screened the picture of Marilyn Monroe 50 times in 5 columns by 10 rows. The reason he chose to do this was that it could be efficiently mass-produced. Warhol incorporates a number of principles and elements in this piece of art in which two of the most used were colour and pattern. On the left side of the panel, it executed the bright, vivid colours such as pink for her skin, bright yellow for her luscious short hair, bright blue for her eyeshadow, red lips against a bright orange background. Warhol puts an emphasis on the saturation and also the messages of fabrication in consumer culture. The dullness of her face is highlighted by the bright colours which are to show the lack of life this movie star icon has even though people may seem to forget that these icons are human too. Whereas on the right side of the panel, it has an immense contrast of images in a black overlay which I believe was to show the side of the tragedy which was her death.

The context of art is extremely important in art and in Warhol’s artwork, it was created in 1967 in which was during a time where capitalism was high. Warhol wanted to accentuate that Monroe was a product marked to the masses and the fact that no one properly knew who she was as actresses were often controlled and the limited information about them is given to the public. Warhol induced her omnipresence by repeating the images. According to the display caption published on Tate’s website, the Marilyn Diptych has a contrast of black and white with vivid and radiant colours. The compelling artwork showed a contrast between the celebrity as well as her tragedy, the tabloid print aesthetic was combined to honour Marilyn Monroe who was one of Hollywood’s compelling icons.

Conclusion

To conclude, Pop art helped to shift for the direction towards modernism and Warhol played a significant part in shaping what pop art truly is. There are also slight differences between pop art and American pop art. Pop artists such as Warhol have been able to create something that is still thriving today, the distinguishing bold colours can still be seen in work today. Though there were also many other artists that have created artworks related to pop art and also has shaped what pop art is. The two artworks that I have mentioned above were the first few artworks to circulate rapidly. They incorporated the use of media icons as well as everyday objects. Although Andy Warhol was only one of the famous pop art artists, there are many contemporary pop art artists that have continued on with this movement and helped to keep it in existence through their own work.