Pop art was an art movement that initially occurred in the United States of America in the early sixties. The epicenter of this art phenomenon was New York, the city confirming its trend setting leader position. Although this movement strongly erupted in the early sixties, the attempts of change started during the late fifties in the work of Robert Rauschenberg and Jasper Johns. These painters wanted to replace the abstract mode of artistic expression, aiming at making the art’s message easier to be understood by the public. The first pop art paintings contained easy to recognize images of common items. The purpose of incorporating these objects was to mock the gravity, the metaphysical dullness of abstract expressionism that had started to become out of fashion. Jasper Johns and Robert Rauschenberg introduced amusing objects into the first pop art paintings: flags, maps and targets or stuffed animals and rubber tyres for the latter artist. The pop art movement become famously known for their main feature: mockery and irony.

Claes Oldenburg, James Rosenquist Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein were the most representative artists for this new art stream. Their pop art paintings were characterized by their original display of popular culture’s symbols: advertisements, media images or even comic strips. These new, colorful, lively pop art paintings were strikingly opposing the gravity, the spirituality of abstract expressionism. Consequently, these kinds of pop art paintings become very popular among the art loving public and among the art critics community. But the abstract expressionism continued to be highly appreciated, despite the pop art paintings’ mockery.

Although the pop art movement was popular and influential it proved to lack the strength of completely supplant the abstract expressionism, but it determined the birth of two new schools of abstraction: color-field painting and minimalist art. The color-field painting movement (mainly represented by painter Helen Frankenthaler) minimized the influence of abstract expressionism’s old features into a style completely committed to the use of pure color.

The American art of the sixties remained in the art history books as a period of constant rivalries between different competing styles and ideas. Yet, the pop art paintings represented best the ideas and the symbols of the American lifestyle in the sixties.

Basic Knowledge on Pop Art Paintings is a post from: Give To World Voice

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Pop art started in the USA during the earlier period of the 1960′s. But it was already making its presence felt in the late fifties. Pop art was basically an art movement which aimed to replace the abstract mode of artistic expression with messages that are easier to understand. The pioneers of this art movement were Robert Rauschenberg and Jasper Johns. The boom of this art movement or phenomenon mainly happened in New York City. The initiators of Pop art believed that the metaphysical complexities of abstract art are already out of tune as times and people had become different. As its followers believed in the power of easy to recognize images of common items, pop art introduced new objects such as flags, maps and targets or stuffed animals and rubber tires on paintings. Irony, sarcasm, and mockery were the favorite aspects of this art movement. Pop art in many ways was a form of rebellion to the dictates of traditional expressionism. According to pop art, confining ourselves to the old rules of the arts can make us stagnant as they fit only with the old era.

Some of the known advocates of this new artistic movement were Claes Oldenburg, James Rosenquist Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein. They shocked the painting world with their works that courageously introduced pop culture symbols such as comic strips, advertisements, and media images. Pop art was not just a far cry from the traditional rules on visual expression. It was in itself a slap in the face to the dictates of abstract painting style. Because the public could easily relate to its features, pop art gained the appreciation and support of many art critic groups. But in spite of that traditional abstract expressionism continued to flourish as it is the respected root of classic art. As they say, nothing beats the original. As pop art maintained its mockery activities, it did not reduce the popularity of abstract expressionism.

As abstract expressionism prevailed, pop art also continued to make its presence felt. The rivalry between these two styles resulted in the establishment of two new schools of abstraction: minimalist art and color-field painting. Minimalist art reduced art to its bare elements in reaction to the flamboyance of abstract expressionism. Frequently criticized for being too unapproachable, minimalist art has also been celebrated for its unprecedented immediacy. It attains this immediacy through abstract form, absence of decorative detail, and emphasis on geometry. On the other hand, color-field artists moved toward a more impersonal and austerely intellectual aesthetic. In their works they dealt with what they considered to be the fundamental formal elements of abstract painting. These elements are pure, unmodulated areas of color, flat and two-dimensional space, monumental scale, and the varying shape of the canvas itself.

Pop art and abstract expressionism engaged in a somewhat bitter rivalry in the American sixties. These two artistic styles struggled to get hold of the public’s support. While abstract expressionism tried to keep its old tradition and rules, pop art considered its rival an elitist approach that influenced America’s consumer society.

A Brief History of Pop Art is a post from: Give To World Voice

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