The Pop Art Movement

In the years following the conclusion of World War II, European and American governments ended food rationing, their economies rebounded, families recovered, and consumerism began to flourish. Britain, enthralled by the seemingly seductive glamour of American culture portrayed in magazines and film, quickly became one of America’s top importers; and it wasn’t long before every store teemed with American-made goods from bubblegum to Coca-Cola to cigarettes. Pop artists, beginning in Britain, before progressing to America, felt that these items were such an integral part of American culture, and, therefore, just as influential and relevant to society as more traditional artistic contributions. The primary objective of the Pop Art movement was

Jackson Pollock, for example, created his massive canvases by dripping, flicking, and splattering house paint in a way that he felt reflected his inner turmoil; and for his piece, Full Fathom Five, rather than depict a subject, he incorporated many seemingly superfluous items, such as cigarettes, nails, and keys, which added to the piece’s sense of movement and depth. Abstract Expressionists, like Pollock, transferred their own emotions through their execution of their work, ensuring that their own feelings would radiate from their pieces, regardless of their final

Warhol’s 1962 Marilyn Diptych, featured one of the greatest icons of that time, Marilyn Monroe; of the two portions of this piece, one contained several prints of Marilyn painted in vibrant neon colors, while the other was created using only black and white. The vibrant piece demonstrated how, though Marilyn had recently passed, she was still very much alive in American culture; the black and white portion represents the downward spiral that eventually lead to her suicide. Though, in this particular instance Warhol used colors not present in the original photograph, he still produced a piece that lacked obscure significance; his work continued to be purely