Colegiul National “Elena Ghiba-Birta” AradLucrare pentru obtinerea atestatului de competenta lingvistica -Limba Engleza2013 Pop-Art Candidat : Dance Bogdan Clasa : XII C Profesor indrumator : Christian Aurel 1 . Chapter III... Chapter II.………………………………………………………pag 8 4. Bibliography…………………………………………………. Introduction…………………………………………………. Chapter I…………………………………………………………pag 4 3.……………………………………………………pag 13 5.….…pag 17 2 ..Colegiul National “Elena Ghiba-Birta” Arad Table of contents 1..pag 16 6.... Summary……………………………………………………….pag 3 2. and/or combined with unrelated material. or are some of the earliest examples of Post-modern art themselves. emphasizing the banal or kitschy elements of any given culture. 3 . Product labeling and logos figure prominently in the imagery chosen by pop artists. news.The word will be used to describe the art starting from the 1960s. Pop art means a shorter version of “popular art”. Pop art often takes as its imagery that which is currently in use in advertising. Even the labeling on the shipping box containing retail items has been used as subject matter in pop art. Pop art employs aspects of mass culture. Pop art and minimalism are considered to be art movements that precede postmodern art. Pop art is aimed to employ images of popular as opposed to elitist culture in art. like in the Campbell's Soup Cans labels. Pop art presented a challenge to traditions of fine art by including imagery from popular culture such as advertising.Initially. Alloway used the term in order to make a reference to the massmedia products and not to the art. Much of Pop art is considered incongruent.Colegiul National “Elena Ghiba-Birta” Arad Introduction “Pop Art was born from the need of making the material world visible once again. It is widely interpreted as a reaction to the then-dominant ideas of abstract expressionism. material is sometimes visually removed from its known context. comic books and mundane cultural objects. isolated. And due to its utilization of found objects and images it is similar to Dada. etc. by Andy Warhol. as well as an expansion upon them. for example in Warhol's Campbell's Tomato Juice Box 1964. Pop art is an art movement that emerged in the mid-1950s in Britain and in the late 1950s in the United States.The concept of Pop art refers not as much to the art itself as to the attitudes that led to it. In Pop art. but also at the attitude which brought forward its creation : mass culture replaced elitist culture.” Dore Ashton. such as advertising. as the conceptual practices that are often used make it difficult for some to readily comprehend. It is also associated with the artists' use of mechanical means of reproduction or rendering techniques. which was launched in 1955 by the british critic Lawrence Alloway and introduced in 1957 in the Oxford Dictionary. The concept of Pop Art refers not only to the art itself. or his Brillo Soap Box sculptures. most often through the use of irony. advertising. images and subjects excluded until then from art. While Pop art and Dadaism explored some of the same subjects. founded in London in 1952. Pop art was both an extension and a repudiation of Dadaism. Subsequent coinage of the complete term "Pop art" was made by John McHale for the ensuing movement in 1954. while the American artists were inspired by the experience of living within that culture. co-founding member. artist and sculptor Eduardo Paolozzi presented a lecture using a series of collages titled “Bunk!” that he had assembled during his time in Paris between 1947–1949. appearing in a cloud of smoke emerging from a revolver. 1956. is regarded as the precursor to the Pop art movement. icons and familiar styles into works of art. often containing a certain amount of irony. architects. although the term he uses is "popular mass culture". Similarly. Early pop art in Britain was a matter of ideas fueled by American popular culture viewed from afar. magazine covers and various mass-produced graphics mostly represented American popular culture. One of the images in that presentation was Paolozzi's 1947 collage. “I was a Rich Man's Plaything”. Pop artists include in their work a wide variety of communication environments. comic book characters. Pop Art defies tradition. which includes the first use of the word "pop″. the origin in post-War Britain. modifying pictures. particularly mass advertising. This material of "found objects" such as. sculptors. manipulative symbolic devices that were affecting whole patterns of life. the IG focused primarily on the imagery of American popular culture. while employing irony and parody. they chose to take their subjects and techniques from mass-media. Alloway was one of the leading critics to defend the inclusion of the imagery found in mass culture in fine arts. However. The group discussions centered on popular culture implications from such elements as mass advertising. instead. Pop art replaced the destructive. and the specific term "Pop art" first appeared in published print in an article by IG members Alison and Peter Smithson in “Arc”. 4 . By contrast. United Kingdom The Independent Group (IG). while improving prosperity of a society. the term is often credited to British art critic. product design. movies. science fiction and technology. writers and critics who were challenging prevailing modernist approaches to culture as well as traditional views of fine Art. and anarchic impulses of the Dada movement with detached affirmation of the artifacts of mass culture. Their purpose was not creating an unique work of art. At the first Independent Group meeting in 1952. "Pop art" as a moniker was then used in discussons by IG members in the Second Session of the IG in 1955. was more academic with a focus on the dynamic and paradoxical imagery of American popular culture as powerful.Colegiul National “Elena Ghiba-Birta” Arad Chapter I Origins The movement appeared in Great Britain in the mid 1950s and in the USA at the end of that same decade. Lawrence Alloway in a 1958 essay titled “The Arts and the Mass Media”. Following Paolozzi's seminal presentation in 1952. Nevertheless. They were a gathering of young painters. comic strips. satirical. stating that the use of visual objects produced on a large scale by the artist can be considered an art form. the Occasion was a "Symposium on Pop Art" organized by the Museum of Modern Art. like those of Andy Warhol. (“Drowning Girl” now is in the collection of Museum of Modern Art. produced work that was generally more bold and aggressive." “ Pop art merges popular and mass culture with fine art. irony. By this time. Consequently. The paintings of Lichtenstein. to the color positions and sizes. Pop Art in America was given its greatest impetus during the 1960s. in fact. Selecting the old-fashioned comic strip as subject matter. share a direct attachment to the commonplace image of American popular culture. Andy Warhol is probably the most famous figure in Pop Art. Two important painters in the establishment of America's Pop art vocabulary were Jasper Johns and Robert Rauschenberg. and recognizable imagery and content into the mix. and is visually distinct from the classic American Pop Art which began in the early 1960s. American advertising had adopted many elements and inflections of modern art and functioned at a very sophisticated level. which was appropriated from the lead story in DC Comics' “Secret Hearts” #83. and his work often displays a lack of human affectation that dispenses with the irony and parody of many of his peers. Lichtenstein used oil and Magna paint in his best known works. As the British viewed American popular culture imagery from a somewhat removed perspective. his concern was with social issues of the moment. Warhol attempted to take Pop beyond an artistic style to a life style. His work probably defines the basic premise of Pop art better than any other through parody. mine just don't come out looking calligraphic. sentimental and humorous overtones. their views were often instilled with romantic. Italy 5 .Colegiul National “Elena Ghiba-Birta” Arad United States Although Pop Art began in the late 1950s. as if created by photographic reproduction. but also treat the subject in an impersonal manner clearly illustrating the idealization of mass production. While the paintings of Rauschenberg have relationships to the earlier work of Kurt Schwitters and other Dadaists. New York. American artists being bombarded daily with the diversity of mass-produced imagery. while injecting humor. The term "Pop Art" was officially introduced in December 1962. art critic Arthur Danto once called Warhol "the nearest thing to a philosophical genius the history of art has produced". bold colors and Ben-Day dots to represent certain colors. such as “Drowning Girl” (1963). American artists had to search deeper for dramatic styles that would distance art from the well-designed and clever commercial materials. like Pollock's or Kline's. My style looks completely different. Lichtenstein produces a hard-edged. Of equal importance to American pop art is Roy Lichtenstein. but the nature of putting down lines pretty much is the same. Lichtenstein would say of his own work: “Abstract Expressionists "put things down on the canvas and responded to what they had done. Tom Wesselmann and others. Johns' and Rauschenberg's work of the 1950s is classified as Neo-Dada. By contrast.) Also featuring thick outlines. His approach was to create art out of ephemeral materials and using topical events in the life of everyday America gave his work a unique quality. precise composition that documents while it parodies in a soft manner. Japanese manga and anime would also influence future pop artists such as Takashi Murakami and his superflat movement. road signs. as a great pool of imagery from which to draw material with disenchantment and frivolity. with artists such as Mario Schifano. Mimmo Rotella's torn posters gained an ever more figurative taste. Iconic characters from Japanese manga and anime have also become symbols for Pop art such as “Speed Racer” and “Astro Boy”. and took place in different forms. who have every right to be considered the forerunners of this scene. 6 . Enrico Baj's compositions were steeped in contemporary kitsch. He is well known for his advertisements and creating artwork for pop culture itself. In this respect. Elizabeth Taylor amongst many others. such as the "Scuola di Piazza del Popolo" in Rome. which was to turn out to be a gold mine of images and stimuli for an entire generation of artists.Colegiul National “Elena Ghiba-Birta” Arad In Italy. Marilyn Monroe. Yet this is not an exclusive element. Franco Angeli. both far from neutral in their relationship with society. both inside the four domestic walls and out: cars. from Gianni Ruffi to Roberto Barni. the presence of a more critical attitude to it. The novelty lies in the new visual panorama. Everything can belong to the world of art. Another leading pop artist at the time was Keiichi Tanaami. from Silvio Pasotti to Umberto Bignardi and Claudio Cintoli who take on reality as a toy. there is a long line of artists. Lucio Del Pezzo and Mimmo Rotella. The work of Yayoi Kusama contributed to the development of Pop art itself and influenced many other artists. Italian Pop Art takes the same ideological path as that of the International scene. such as commissions from The Beatles. Italian Pop Art originated in 1950s culture. In fact. including Andy Warhol. it was around 1958-1959 that Baj and Rotella abandoned their previous careers – which might be generically defined as a nonrepresentational genre despite being run through with post-Dadaism – to catapult themselves into a new world of images and the reflections on them which was springing up all around them. questioning the traditional linguistic role models with a renewed spirit of "let me have fun" à la Aldo Palazzeschi. Tano Festa and also some artworks by Piero Manzoni. television. Pop Art would evolve from the nations prominent avant-garde scene. which itself is new. Giosetta Fioroni. often explicitly and deliberately referring to the great icons of the times. to be precise in the works of two artists: Enrico Baj and Mimmo Rotella. Japan In Japan. Even in this case. in some cases. the only thing that changes is the iconography and. the prototypes can be traced back to the works of Rotella and Baj. In the mid-1960s graphic designer Tadanori Yokoo would become one of the most successful pop artists and an international symbol for Japanese Pop art. Pop Art was known from 1964. all the "new world". 1928 – February 22. categorizing art as any other ordinary product.Colegiul National “Elena Ghiba-Birta” Arad Comic books. Chapter II Andy Warhol Andy Warhol (August 6. This came as a consequence of the dissolution of the frontiers between “great art” and “popular culture” and the introduction of the last one in artistic creations as a method of ironically criticizing modern society. Warhol became a renowned and sometimes controversial artist. self-publicity and immediate success. 1987) was an American artist who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as Pop art. Pennsylvania. television shows or cinematography were key elements of the iconography promoted by this movement. encouraging exhibitionism. holds an extensive permanent collection of art and archives. commercials. indulging in all sorts of commercial manipulation. It is the largest museum in the United States dedicated to a single artist. After a successful career as a commercial illustrator. Pittsburgh. America became a greedy consumer society. “Pop art is the artistic expression of the prosperity era which came after the second World War. celebrity culture and advertisement that flourished by the 1960s.” (Jonathan Law). His works explore the relationship between artistic expression. both in Great Britain and in the United States. “The Andy Warhol Museum” in is native city. 7 . Another key feature of Pop art was the rejection of any distinguishment between “tasteful” and “gaudy”. packages. Bohemian street people. Warhol later described this period as very important in the development of his personality. Pavol's son. he became an outcast at school and bonded with his mother. James Warhola. When Warhol was 13. and his mother joined him in 1921. Paul. He coined the widely used expression "15 minutes of fame". After graduating from high school. was born in Slovakia. Ján was born in Pittsburgh. became a successful children's book illustrator. John Chrysostom Byzantine Catholic Church. whose first child was born in their homeland and died before their move to the U. located in today's northeastern Slovakia. film. developing a fear of hospitals and doctors.) was born on August 6. including hand drawing. His studio. Andy Warhol had two older brothers—Pavol (Paul). including “The Philosophy of Andy Warhol” and “ Popism: The Warhol Sixties”. He was the fourth child of Andrej Varhola (Americanized as Andrew Warhola. Hollywood celebrities. playwrights. Warhol had Sydenham's chorea (also known as St. born in 1923. Jr. and John. and wealthy patrons. books. and music.Colegiul National “Elena Ghiba-Birta” Arad Warhol's art encompassed many forms of media. Warhol has been the subject of numerous retrospective exhibitions. The highest price ever paid for a Warhol painting is US$100 million for a 1963 canvas titled “Eight Elvises”. the oldest. 1892–1972). silk screening. Vitus' Dance). and feature and documentary films. sculpture. Often bedridden as a child. skill-set and preferences. Warhol's works include some of the most expensive paintings ever sold. Sr. He is also notable as a gay man who lived openly as such before the gay liberation movement. In third grade. listened to the radio and collected pictures of movie stars around his bed. Warhol's father immigrated to the United States in 1914.S. drag queens. The family lived at 55 Beelen Street and later at 3252 Dawson Street in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh. He was also a pioneer in computer-generated art using Amiga computers that were introduced in 1984. born in 1925. “The Factory” was a famous gathering place that brought together distinguished intellectuals. 1928 – 1949 Andy Warhol (Andrej Varhola. 1928 in Pittsburgh. At times when he was confined to bed.. Warhol graduated from Schenley High School in 1945. Many of his creations are very collectible and highly valuable. his father died in an accident. photography. the nervous system disease that causes involuntary movements of the extremities. His parents were working class Lemko emigrants from Mikó (now called Miková). He founded “Interview Magazine” and was the author of numerous books. As a teenager. his intentions were to study art education at the University of 8 . He became a hypochondriac. Warhol's father worked in a coal mine. which is believed to be a complication of scarlet fever which causes skin pigmentation blotchiness. he drew. painting. The family was Byzantine Catholic and attended St. 1889–1942) and Júlia ( Zavacká. Pennsylvania. two years before his death. after the death of Warhol's grandparents. printmaking. The private transaction was reported in a 2009 article in “The Economist” which described Warhol as the "bellwether of the art market". Andy had two older brothers. part of the former Austro-Hungarian Empire. the artist met for the first time poet John Giorno who would star in Warhol's first film. The exhibit included the works “Marilyn Diptych”. and the Bodley Gallery in New York City and in California his first West Coast gallery exhibition was on July 9. in 1963. At the Stable Gallery exhibit. In his book "POPism" Warhol says. During these years. Warhol's commercial art background also involved innovative techniques for image making that were somewhat related to printmaking techniques. Campbell's Soup Cans. This was akin to a printmaking process on the most rudimentary scale. he earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Graphic Design. Prior to entering the field of fine art. you always turn up something. when you do something exactly wrong. His work became popular and controversial. ". Muhammad Ali and Elizabeth Taylor.” New York's Museum of Modern Art hosted a Symposium on Pop art in December 1962 during which artists like Warhol were attacked for “capitulating” to consumerism. the President knows it. You can be watching TV and see Coca-Cola. “The Factory” and gathered about him a wide range of artists. and just think.. in the Ferus Gallery of Los Angeles. When rendering commercial objects for advertising Warhol devised a technique that resulted in a characteristic image. Coca-Cola bottles. His imagery used in advertising was often executed by means of applying ink to paper and then blotting the ink while still wet. The resulting imagery in both Warhol's commercial art and later in his fine art endeavors is often replete with imperfection smudges and smears can often be found. he founded his studio. celebrities such as Marilyn Monroe. “100 Coke Bottles and 100 Dollar Bills”. In 1949. and underground celebrities. Warhol's work both as a commercial artist and later a fine artist displays a casual approach to image making. as well as newspaper headlines or photographs of police dogs attacking civil rights protesters. Liz Taylor knows it. 1962. Warhol was an early adopter of the silk screen printmaking process as a technique for making paintings. 1962." 1960s He began exhibiting his work during the 1950s. writers. musicians. He held exhibitions at the Hugo Gallery. Marlon Brando. All the Cokes are the same and all the Cokes are good. Critics 9 . Liz Taylor drinks Coca-Cola. “100 Soup Cans”. electric chairs. the bum knows it. The exhibition marked his West Coast debut of Pop art. Warhol had this to say about Coca Cola: “What's great about this country is that America started the tradition where the richest consumers buy essentially the same things as the poorest. and you know that the President drinks Coca-Cola. but his plans changed and he enrolled in the Carnegie Institute of Technology in pursuit of an art career as a commercial illustrator. A Coke is a Coke and no amount of money can get you a better Coke than the one the bum on the corner is drinking. and you know it. Elvis Presley. in which chance plays a role and mistakes and unintentional marks are tolerated.Colegiul National “Elena Ghiba-Birta” Arad Pittsburgh in the hope of becoming an art teacher. His earliest silkscreening in painting involved hand-drawn images though this soon progressed to the use of photographically derived silkscreening in paintings.. “Sleep”. mushroom clouds. you can drink Coca-Cola. It was during the 1960s that Warhol began to make paintings of iconic American objects such as dollar bills. Troy Donahue. Andy Warhol's first New York solo Pop art exhibition was hosted at Eleanor Ward's Stable Gallery November 6–24. too. Warhol used assistants to increase his productivity. Edie Sedgwick. Important figures in the New York underground art/cinema world. Warhol's aluminum foil-and-silver-paint-lined studio on 47th Street (later moved to Broadway).C. art critic and curator. canned goods.Jackie Curtis and Candy Darling. One of the most important collaborators during this period was Gerard Malanga. Ultra Violet. Warhol. Holly Woodlawn. Other members of Warhol's Factory crowd included Freddie Herko. She authored the “S. posters on the wall. 1968 On June 3. Solanas appears in the 1968 Warhol film “I. Mary Woronov. Manifesto”. was seriously wounded by the attack and barely survived: surgeons opened his chest and massaged his heart to help stimulate its movement again. The exhibit was one of the first mass events that directly confronted the general public with both Pop art and the perennial question of what art is.500 while each autographed can sold for $6. Collaboration would remain a defining (and controversial) aspect of his working methods throughout his career. Valerie Solanas shot Warhol and Mario Amaya. a show held in Paul Bianchini's Upper East Side gallery. remained friends with Warhol until his death. Throughout the decade it became increasingly clear that there had been a profound change in the culture of the art world. Amaya received only minor injuries and was released from the hospital later the same day.M. Warhol's painting of a can of Campbell's soup cost $1. Ondine. and some. Malanga assisted the artist with the production of silkscreens. also appear in Warhol films of the 1960s. was created by six prominent Pop artists of the time. except that everything in it—from the produce. revealing Warhol's connections to a diverse range of artistic scenes during this time. such as writer John Giorno and film-maker Jack Smith.Colegiul National “Elena Ghiba-Birta” Arad were scandalized by Warhol's open embrace of market culture. 10 . Warhol also groomed a retinue of bohemian eccentrics upon whom he bestowed the designation “Superstars”. and Brigid Berlin (from whom he apparently got the idea to tape-record his phone conversations). As an advertisement illustrator in the 1950s. These people all participated in the Factory films. and that Warhol was at the center of that shift. 1968. including Nico.S. Mary Inman. however. Before the shooting. The show was presented as a typical U. at Warhol's studio. films. During the 1960s. Viva.Billy Name. This symposium set the tone for Warhol's reception. Joe Dallesandro. small supermarket environment. Earlier on the day of the attack. and other works at “The Factory”. Ronald Tavel. A pivotal event was the 1964 exhibit “The American Supermarket”. among them the controversial (and like-minded) Billy Apple. meat. this was particularly true in the 1960s. like Berlin.U. sculpture. a separatist feminist attack on males. etc. Solanas had been turned away from the Factory after asking for the return of a script she had given to Warhol. Solanas had been a marginal figure in the Factory scene. The script had apparently been misplaced. a Man”. and Robert Watts. James Rosenquist. People sometimes say that the way things happen in movies is unreal. 1987. his paintings were exhibited at the Leo Castelli Gallery in New York City and. Lichtenstein produced hard-edged. I always thought that I was more half-there than all-there. he had been making good recovery from a routine gallbladder surgery at New York Hospital before dying in his sleep from a sudden post-operative cardiac arrhythmia. whereas when things really do happen to you. His work defined the basic premise of Pop art better than any other through parody. By way of explanation. He became a leading figure in the new art movement. His work was heavily 11 . including being required to wear a surgical corset.Colegiul National “Elena Ghiba-Birta” Arad He suffered physical effects for the rest of his life. During the 1960s. She was eventually sentenced to three years under the control of the Department of Corrections. His family sued the hospital for inadequate care. but it's all television. Prior to his diagnosis and operation. saying that the arrhythmia was caused by improper care and water intoxication. After the shooting. but actually it's the way things happen in life that's unreal. 1997) was an American Pop artist. 1923 – September 29. and for many the “Factory 60s” ended. and others. The movies make emotions look so strong and real. precise compositions that documented while it parodied often in a tongue-in-cheek humorous manner. it's like watching television. you don't feel anything. The shooting had a profound effect on Warhol's life and art. as he was afraid to enter hospitals and see doctors. Warhol had this to say about the attack: “Before I was shot. According to news reports. along with Andy Warhol. Warhol delayed having his recurring gallbladder problems checked. she said that Warhol “had too much control over my life”. I always suspected that I was watching TV instead of living life. the Factory scene became much more tightly controlled. Jasper Johns. Favoring the old-fashioned comic strip as subject matter. The channels switch. Right when I was being shot and ever since. Solanas was arrested the day after the assault. Chapter III Roy Lichtenstein Roy Lichtenstein (October 27. I knew that I was watching television.” Death Warhol died in New York City at 6:32 am on February 22. In his last year of high school. engineering. He returned to studies in Ohio under the supervision of one of his teachers. which offered studio courses and a degree in fine arts. his mother. Hoyt L.A. although he frequently traveled back to New York. Beatrice (Werner). Early years Roy Lichtenstein was born in New York City. Lichtenstein began teaching in upstate New York at the State University of New York at Oswego in 1958. In 1957. He was raised on the Upper West Side and attended public school until the age of twelve. a post he held on and off for the next ten years. During this time he undertook jobs as varied as a draftsman to a window decorator in between periods of painting. In 1954.F. “not 'American' painting but actually industrial painting”. he moved back to upstate New York and began teaching again.I. where he worked under the tutelage of Reginald Marsh. After being in training programs for languages. degree from the Ohio State University. Career Lichtenstein then left New York to study at the Ohio State University. Lichtenstein began his first pop 12 . into an upper-middle class Jewish family. His second son. he started teaching at Rutgers University where he was heavily influenced by Allan Kaprow. It was at this time that he adopted the Abstract Expressionism style. 1939. Sherman Studio Art Center). In 1961. Sherman. Lichtenstein first became interested in art and design as a hobby. where he remained for six years. often attending concerts at the Apollo Theater in Harlem. all of which were cancelled. his first son. who was also a teacher at the university. In 1949 Lichtenstein received an M. was a real estate broker. Milton. He returned home to visit his dying father and was discharged from the army with eligibility for the G. His studies were interrupted by a three-year stint in the army during and after World War II between 1943 and 1946. This environment helped reignite his interest in Proto-pop imagery. and through school. He was an avid jazz fan. he served as an orderly. a homemaker. Lichtenstein enrolled in summer classes at the Art Students League of New York. now a songwriter. He moved to Cleveland in the same year. was born in 1956. He then enrolled at New York's Franklin School for Boys. who is widely regarded to have had a significant impact on his future work (Lichtenstein would later name a new studio he funded at OSU as the Hoyt L. remaining there for his secondary education.Colegiul National “Elena Ghiba-Birta” Arad influenced by both popular advertising and the comic book style. David Hoyt Lichtenstein. was born. He described Pop art as. He frequently drew portraits of the musicians playing their instruments. draftsman. being a late convert to this style of painting. Mitchell Lichtenstein. Rise to fame In 1960. He then entered the graduate program at Ohio State and was hired as an art instructor. In 1951 Lichtenstein had his first solo exhibition at the Carlebach Gallery in New York. and pilot training. Bill. and artist. His father. His work at this time fluctuated between Cubism and Expressionism. Colegiul National “Elena Ghiba-Birta” Arad paintings using cartoon images and techniques derived from the appearance of commercial printing. “I don’t doubt when I’m actually painting.C. London). which was appropriated from the lead story in DC Comics' “Secret Hearts” #83. “Drowning Girl” also features thick outlines.” Rather than attempt to reproduce his subjects. but it would be difficult to prove it by any rational line of argument”. My style looks completely different.” His most famous image is arguably “Whaam!” (1963. many art critics of the time challenged its originality. This phase would continue to 1965. Lichtenstein would never take himself too seriously however: “I think my work is different from comic strips. A group of paintings produced between 1961-1962 focused on solitary household objects such as sneakers. When his work was first released. like Pollock's or Kline's. but the nature of putting down lines pretty much is the same. eh. Lichtenstein said. Lichtenstein used oil and Magna paint in his best known works.S. He moved back to New York to be at the center of the art scene and resigned from Rutgers University in 1964 to concentrate on his painting. Washington.but I wouldn't call it transformation. The title of a “Life” magazine article in 1964 asked.?” Lichtenstein responded to such claims by offering responses such as the following: “The closer my work is to the original. (Drowning Girl now hangs in the Museum of Modern Art. Lichtenstein had his first one-man show at the Castelli gallery in 1962. Fame It was at this time. This piece came from a challenge from one of his sons. it does. Dad?" In the same year he produced six other works with recognizable characters from gum wrappers and cartoons. Leo Castelli started displaying Lichtenstein's work at his gallery in New York. such as “Drowning Girl” (1963). bold colors and Ben-Day dots. and included the use of advertising imagery suggesting consumerism and homemaking.). his work tackled the way mass media portrays them. that Lichtenstein began to find fame not just in America but worldwide. National Gallery of Art. the entire collection was bought by influential collectors before the show even opened. it’s the criticism that makes you wonder. His work was harshly criticized as vulgar and empty. as if created by photographic reproduction. Of his own work Lichtenstein would say that Abstract Expressionists “put things down on the canvas and responded to what they had done. “Is He the Worst Artist in the U. In 1961. one of the earliest known examples of Pop art. He discussed experiencing this heavy criticism in interview with April Bernard and Mimi Thompson in 1986. "I bet you can't paint as good as that. However. D. the more threatening and critical the content. I don't think that whatever is meant by it is important to art”. and golf balls. who pointed to a Mickey Mouse comic book and said. mine just don't come out looking calligraphic. Suggesting that it was at times difficult to be criticized. hot dogs. my work is entirely transformed in that my purpose and perception are entirely different. Tate Modern. to the color positions and sizes. In September 1963 he took a leave of absence from his teaching position at Douglass College at Rutgers. His first work to feature the large-scale use of hard-edged figures and Ben-Day dots was “Look Mickey” (1961. I think my paintings are critically transformed. adapted a comic-book panel from a 1962 issue 13 . New York). Mondrian and Picasso before embarking on the Brushstroke series in 1965. who rarely received any credit. (He would occasionally incorporate comics into his work in different ways in later decades. contests the notion that Lichtenstein was a copyist. This diptych is large in scale. and began his “Modern Paintings” series. Lichtenstein then applied a glaze to create the same sort of graphic motifs that he used in his paintings. the application of black lines and Ben-day dots to three-dimensional objects resulted in a flattening of the form. and “Head with Red Shadow” (1965).” However. Lichtenstein reproduced masterpieces by Cézanne.0 m (5 ft 7 in x 13 ft 4 in). challenging images out of familiar architectural structures. color. Tony Abruzzo. Lichtenstein was commissioned by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (within its Art and Technology program developed between 1967 and 1971) to make a film. a subject he largely abandoned in 1965. Lichtenstein moved on from his much-celebrated imagery of the early 1960s..”.. Lichtenstein began experimenting with sculpture around 1964. some have been critical of Lichtenstein's use of comic-book imagery and art pieces. saying: “Roy's work was a wonderment of the graphic formulae and the codification of sentiment that had been worked out by others. and ahead of me rockets blazed through the sky. and Jerry Grandenetti.7 x 4. In 1970. For “Head of Girl” (1964). executive director of the Lichtenstein Foundation.” In 1966. Lichtenstein continued to revisit this theme later in his career with works such as “Bedroom at Arles” that derived from Vincent van Gogh's “Bedroom in Arles”. Most of his best-known artworks are relatively close. Using his characteristic Ben Day dots and geometric shapes and lines. directly related to a series of collages with landscape themes he created between 1964 and 1966. The cartoon style is heightened by the use of the onomatopoeic lettering “Whaam!” and the boxed caption “I pressed the fire control. It was purchased by the Tate Modern in 1966.. The painting depicts a fighter aircraft firing a rocket into an enemy plane. Although 14 . noted comics author Art Spiegelman commented that “Lichtenstein did no more or less for comics than Andy Warhol did for soup. measuring 1.) These panels were originally drawn by such comics artists as Jack Kirby and DC Comics artists Russ Heath. a film of marine landscapes. There is no exact copy. Later work In the early 1960s. including over 60 paintings and accompanying drawings. and produced. he rendered incongruous.. and in their implications. The panels were changed in scale. Irv Novick. Jack Cowart. after being exhibited at the Leo Castelli Gallery in 1963. the artist conceived of. It follows the comic strip-based themes of some of his previous paintings and is part of a body of war-themed work created between 1962 and 1964. with a red-and-yellow explosion. patterns borrowed from Art Déco. especially in so far as that use has been seen as endorsement of a patronizing view of comics by the art mainstream. “Three Landscapes”. demonstrating a knack for the form that was at odds with the insistent flatness of his paintings. With the help of Universal Film Studios. but not exact. treatment. he collaborated with a ceramicist who sculpted the form of the head out of clay. and has remained in their collection since. “Whaam!” is widely regarded as one of his finest and most notable works. copies of comic book panels.Colegiul National “Elena Ghiba-Birta” Arad of DC Comics' “All-American Men of War”. It is one of his two notable large warthemed paintings. the motifs of his “Landscapes in the Chinese Style” series are formed with simulated Benday dots and block contours. cover a variety of motifs and themes. “Interiors” (1991–1992) is a series of works depicting banal domestic environments inspired by furniture ads the artist found in telephone books or on billboards. including books on American Indian design from Lichtenstein's small library. the comic strip. He was survived by his second wife. The "Indian" works took their themes. reaching the people in ways that very few movements of modern art have managed to. flowers. In his “Reflection” series. The artist died of pneumonia in 1997 at New York University Medical Center. Lichtenstein also made over 300 prints. Harold Rosenberg describes it as : “humorless joke. Warhol explained : “Pop art wants to give things names. produced between 1988 and 1990.Colegiul National “Elena Ghiba-Birta” Arad Lichtenstein had planned on producing 15 short films. Lichtenstein reused his own motifs from previous works. Daily object becomes aesthetic object through graphic advertising. which span from 1972 through the early 1980s. Dorothy Herzka. mostly in screenprinting. In addition to paintings and sculptures. where he had been hospitalized for several weeks. and by his sons. In the late 1970s. the graffiti. repeated until it sounds like a threat”. turned out to be the artist's only venture into the medium. Having garnered inspiration from the monochromatic prints of Edgar Degas featured in a 1994 exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. from contemporary art and other sources. including the most traditional such as fruit. David and Mitchell. and has managed to draw the attention of rich collectors. rendered in hard. The nude is a recurring element in Lichtenstein's work of the 1990s. with all traces of the hand removed. A major series of Surrealist-Pop paintings from 1979–1981 is based on Native American themes. These works range “Amerind Figure” (1981). Lichtenstein's “Still Life” paintings. without any illusion. from his first marriage. like the other parts of the Surrealist series. this style was replaced with more surreal works such as “Pow Wow” (1979). sculptures and drawings. a stylized lifesize sculpture reminiscent of a streamlined totem pole in black-patinated bronze. It 15 . such as in “Collage for Nude with Red Shirt” (1995). to the monumental wool tapestry “Amerind Landscape” (1979). vivid color. Summary Pop art represented a great financial success. the three-screen installation – made with New York-based independent filmmaker Joel Freedman. fashion and design. Despite all this. many critics have recorded reserves towards Pop art. and vases. 1962 -CROW. but instead it is based on a concept. Boston. Little. everything is consumer related. New Yok. Bucureşti. Bibliography -ALLOY. Pop Art is representative of the era and the people of that era. styling and indirect transformation. nothing is for the chosen ones. Lawrence – “American Pop Art”. Pop art is not pure technique. Claude (ed) – “Istoria vizuală a artei”. Democratization. Art for everybody and understood by everybody. London.Colegiul National “Elena Ghiba-Birta” Arad surpasses the ‘superficiality’ of the usual look by the use of enlargement. Enciclopedia RAO. Jonathan – “European Culture. Dore – “A View of Contemporary Art”. George Weidenfield and Nicolson. which can be either accepted or denied. Collier Books. A Contenmporary Companion” . Brown. Cassel. 1996 -FRONTISI. but which cannot be ignored. – “The Rise of the Sixties : American and European Art in the Era of Dissent 1955-1969”. I consider Pop art as a representative movement for the philosophy of the second half of the 20th century. 1993 16 . which can make an usual object a true piece of art worth showing in a museum or an art gallery”. the obsoletion of the concept of general education and the elite one found their expression in this movement. Even more. Thomas E. 2003 -LAW. 1974 -ASHTON. consumerism. 2000 17 . Marco – “Pop Art : A Continuing History”. Thames and Hudson. New York.Colegiul National “Elena Ghiba-Birta” Arad -LIVINGSTONE.