Pop Art – Paintings

The Pop art movement began in Britain in the 1950’s alongside the Beatles. The most famous Pop Art paintings from the movement were by the American artists Roy Lichtenstein and Andy Warhol. Warhol began his career as a commercial artist in New York city and founded the Factory where he produced his Pop Art paintings and films. He painted comic art and art found in advertising. Warhol was a commercial artist who found fine art in the simple but popular designs of comical packaging. A Pop artist takes the popular and every day iconic images outside of the commercial realm or setting and lets us see the lines and colors behind the logos and advertising designs as well as their roll in our lives.

There was a lot of growth in the 1950’s. Growth in industry and disposable containers which lead to stylized products for consumers. The commercial illustrators were creating beautiful sculptural designs which were aimed at capturing the consumers attention. The toaster and the coke bottle as well as the soap box were designed to grab and hold our interest.

Fine artists felt that they needed to speak to this production of graphic art and the rise of the celebrity. The comic book was a popular media of the time. Warhol took the popular commercial comic art style and married it with his series of celebrity portraits.  Marylin Monroe’s  fanatic celebrity status was captured by the comic style Pop art painting.

In our world today we are even more consumed and led by commercial art. It influences our spending habits and our language with iconic Apple store products and new words added to the dictionary developed from gaming and text messaging. The celebrity for the sake of being famous  has reached a point where Warhol could not have imagined. All his portraits were of talented artists and public figures. They were the icons of his time. Today our icons are reality show figures and drugged out pop stars. Warhol’s 15 minutes of fame has turned into a mission for many individuals. The Pop Artist of today speaks to a society caught up in fame and commercialism.