United States Pop art

jasper johns, flag, 1954–55 (dated on reverse 1954)

although pop art began in 1950s, in america given greatest impetus during 1960s. term pop art officially introduced in december 1962; occasion symposium on pop art organized museum of modern art. time, american advertising had adopted many elements , inflections of modern art , functioned @ sophisticated level. consequently, american artists had search deeper dramatic styles distance art well-designed , clever commercial materials. british viewed american popular culture imagery removed perspective, views instilled romantic, sentimental , humorous overtones. contrast, american artists, bombarded every day diversity of mass-produced imagery, produced work more bold , aggressive.

roy lichtenstein, drowning girl, 1963, on display @ museum of modern art, new york.

two important painters in establishment of america s pop art vocabulary jasper johns , robert rauschenberg. while paintings of rauschenberg have relationships earlier work of kurt schwitters , other dada artists, concern social issues of moment. approach create art out of ephemeral materials. using topical events in life of everyday america, gave work unique quality. johns , rauschenberg s work of 1950s classified neo-dada, , visually distinct prototypical american pop art exploded in 1960s.

the cheddar cheese canvas andy warhol s campbell s soup cans, 1962.

roy lichtenstein of equal importance american pop art. work, , use of parody, defines basic premise of pop art better other. selecting old-fashioned comic strip subject matter, lichtenstein produces hard-edged, precise composition documents while parodying in soft manner. lichtenstein used oil , magna paint in best known works, such drowning girl (1963), appropriated lead story in dc comics secret hearts #83. (drowning girl part of collection of museum of modern art.) work features thick outlines, bold colors , ben-day dots represent colors, if created photographic reproduction. lichtenstein said, [abstract expressionists] put things down on canvas , responded had done, color positions , sizes. style looks different, nature of putting down lines pretty same; mine don t come out looking calligraphic, pollock s or kline s. pop art merges popular , mass culture fine art while injecting humor, irony, , recognizable imagery/content mix.

the paintings of lichtenstein, of andy warhol, tom wesselmann , others, share direct attachment commonplace image of american popular culture, treat subject in impersonal manner illustrating idealization of mass production.

andy warhol famous figure in pop art. in fact, art critic arthur danto once called warhol nearest thing philosophical genius history of art has produced . warhol attempted take pop beyond artistic style life style, , work displays lack of human affectation dispenses irony , parody of many of peers.

early u.s. exhibitions

claes oldenburg, jim dine , tom wesselmann had first shows in judson gallery in 1959 , 1960 , later in 1960 through 1964 along james rosenquist, george segal , others @ green gallery on 57th street in manhattan. in 1960, martha jackson showed installations , assemblages, new media - new forms featured hans arp, kurt schwitters, jasper johns, claes oldenburg, robert rauschenberg, jim dine , may wilson. 1961 year of martha jackson s spring show, environments, situations, spaces. andy warhol held first solo exhibition in los angeles in july 1962 @ irving blum s ferus gallery, showed 32 paintings of campell s soup cans, 1 every flavor. warhol sold set of paintings blum $1,000; in 1996, when museum of modern art acquired it, set valued @ $15 million.

donald factor, son of max factor, jr., , art collector , co-editor of avant garde literary magazine nomad, wrote essay in magazine s last issue, nomad/new york. essay 1 of first on become known pop art, though factor did not use term. essay, 4 artists , focused on roy lichtenstein, james rosenquist, jim dine, , claes oldenburg.

in 1960s, oldenburg, became associated pop art movement, created many happenings, performance art-related productions of time. name gave own productions ray gun theater . cast of colleagues in performances included: artists lucas samaras, tom wesselman, carolee schneemann, oyvind fahlstrom , richard artschwager; dealer annina nosei; art critic barbara rose; , screenwriter rudy wurlitzer. first wife, patty mucha, sewed many of soft sculptures, constant performer in happenings. brash, humorous, approach art @ great odds prevailing sensibility that, nature, art dealt profound expressions or ideas. in december 1961, rented store on manhattan s lower east side house store, month-long installation had first presented @ martha jackson gallery in new york, stocked sculptures in form of consumer goods.

opening in 1962, willem de kooning s new york art dealer, sidney janis gallery, organized groundbreaking international exhibition of new realists, survey of new-to-the-scene american, french, swiss, italian new realism, , british pop art. fifty-four artists shown included richard lindner, wayne thiebaud, roy lichtenstein (and painting blam), andy warhol, claes oldenburg, james rosenquist, jim dine, robert indiana, tom wesselmann, george segal, peter phillips, peter blake (the love wall 1961), yves klein, arman, daniel spoerri, christo , mimmo rotella. show seen europeans martial raysse, niki de saint-phalle , jean tinguely in new york, stunned size , of american artwork. shown marisol, mario schifano, enrico baj , Öyvind fahlström. janis lost of abstract expressionist artists when mark rothko, robert motherwell, adolph gottlieb , philip guston quit gallery, gained dine, oldenburg, segal , wesselmann. @ opening-night soiree thrown collector burton tremaine, willem de kooning appeared , turned away tremaine, ironically owned number of de kooning s works. rosenquist recalled: @ moment thought, in art world has changed . turning away respected abstract artist proved that, 1962, pop art movement had begun dominate art culture in new york.

a bit earlier, on west coast, roy lichtenstein, jim dine , andy warhol new york city; phillip hefferton , robert dowd detroit; edward ruscha , joe goode oklahoma city; , wayne thiebaud california included in new painting of common objects show. first pop art museum exhibition in america curated walter hopps @ pasadena art museum. pop art ready change art world. new york followed pasadena in 1963, when guggenheim museum exhibited 6 painters , object, curated lawrence alloway. artists jim dine, jasper johns, roy lichtenstein, robert rauschenberg, james rosenquist, , andy warhol. pivotal exhibition american supermarket organised bianchini gallery in 1964. show presented typical small supermarket environment, except in it—the produce, canned goods, meat, posters on wall, etc.—was created prominent pop artists of time, including apple, warhol, lichtenstein, wesselmann, oldenburg, , johns. project recreated in 2002 part of tate gallery s shopping: century of art , consumer culture.

by 1962, pop artists started exhibiting in commercial galleries in new york , los angeles; some, first commercial one-man show. ferus gallery presented andy warhol in los angeles (and ed ruscha in 1963). in new york, green gallery showed rosenquist, segal, oldenburg, , wesselmann. stable gallery showed r. indiana , warhol (in first new york show). leo castelli gallery presented rauschenberg, johns, , lichtenstein. martha jackson showed jim dine , allen stone showed wayne thiebaud. 1966, after green gallery , ferus gallery closed, leo castelli gallery represented rosenquist, warhol, rauschenberg, johns, lichtenstein , ruscha. sidney janis gallery represented oldenburg, segal, dine, wesselmann , marisol, while allen stone continued represent thiebaud, , martha jackson continued representing robert indiana.

in 1968, são paulo 9 exhibition – environment u.s.a.: 1957–1967 featured s of pop art. considered summation of classical phase of american pop art period, exhibit curated william seitz. artists edward hopper, james gill, robert indiana, jasper johns, roy lichtenstein, claes oldenburg, robert rauschenberg, andy warhol , tom wesselmann.