Brooke A

Mrs. Burakowski

Foundations of Art

May 16, 2017

Art Final Paper

From a young age, I have always had a fascination with retro art and 1940s-1950s culture. I

adored the art style that was used in comic books and movie posters, but only recently have I

discovered that it is called pop art. My inclination towards retro art and culture has caused me to

develop a strong liking towards pop art. This penchant has inspired me to write my final

alternative assessment on the founders of pop art and the styles famous paintings. In this paper, I

will examine the foundations of pop art and the factors that make it so appealing to perceive.

Born on February 24th, 1922 in London England, Richard Hamilton became one of the

primary pop art and British pop art painters and illustrators. Hamilton is believed to be the

founder of pop art as well as a visionary who outlined his aims and ideals. For Hamilton, pop art

was not just a movement, but a way of life. It was total immersion in pop culture: movies,

television, magazines, comic books and many more. With his focus on mainstream media and

culture, Hamilton bridged the gap between high art and consumer culture. He is also a reminder

that Pop art originated in England, manipulating aspects of visual culture that weren't considered

a part of a traditional artists training. Hamilton was born into a working class family in London

and was a self-proclaimed misfit. He decided he was interested in drawing when he was ten, later

dropping out of school but continuing his interest in art. After the Second World War, he was

accepted into a high-end school for gifted students. Further into his schooling, he befriended
some of the future pop art pioneers, exchanging ideas with them. While a renowned painter and

artists, Hamilton is most well-known for creating pop art, asserting its definition as popular,

transient, expendable, low-cost, mass-produced, young, witty, sexy, glamorous and Big

Business (theartstory.org). Just what is it that made yesterdays homes so different, so

appealing? is Hamiltons most famous piece. He planned it as a collage, and created a list of

categories he planned to incorporate: man, woman, newspapers, domestic appliances, etc.

Imagery that fitted into these categories were sourced from a stash of American magazines, and

the title of the piece comes from one such paper. The final collage presents all the multiple ways

of communicating information available at that time, reflecting Hamiltons interest in popular

culture and modern technology. It shows a domestic interior, and there is a framed comic strip on

the wall, and most significantly a muscular man standing in a bodybuilders pose. He holds a

giant lollipop bearing the word POP which points towards the semi-naked woman sitting in the

sofa opposite him. The crowded atmosphere of the piece is meant to be a representation of all the

objects and ideas crowding the post-war consciousness (tate.org.uk).

Hamilton, Richard. Just what is it that makes todays homes so different, so appealing? 1956.

Guggenheim Museum, New York.

 There is a great deal of clutter is in this piece, and there is a feeling of discomfort. All of the

different items in the image shows that there is no focus and that there is no meaning to the odd

looking piece. Besides a great deal of clutter, there are two statues of a man and woman, but

naked and suggestive. These statues affirm and assert the sexiness and cheapness that

accompanies Pop art. The various elements of style can also be studied through this piece.

Hamilton uses a lot of negative, open space between objects, such as the man and the woman on

the sofa. There is few positive space used, as most of the objects have a noticeable difference

between one another. There are also many prominent lines in the piece, most notably all of the

portraits that line the walls. The television set and the carpet are also examples of such sharp

lines. Hamilton uses these elements of style to make the work captivating and appealing, and he

succeeds in mesmerizing the viewer. The piece, as previously stated, symbolizes the

crowdedness of the American mind following the war. The country had so many ideas and

movements that it becomes cluttered trying to accommodate them all. Hamiltons collage

represents the crowded, imaginative and colorful ideas that America possessed following the war.

It is a symbol of the creative mess that the country stumbles into once being free of war,

oppression and poverty. It represents a healthy sense of clutter. As an artist, the work ultimately

makes me feel intrigued. Nothing that I have seen is as original to me as Pop art, and this

painting is the prototype of all Pop art. There is a level of vulgarity to the collage that is not

present in most artwork, and modesty is thrown right out the window. Nakedness is not portrayed

as the art of one body here, but rather sexiness and cheapness. It is more reminiscent of the

modern day view of sex. Hamiltons piece ultimately makes me feel intrigued because of the

elements it uses and its interpretation of cultural values.

 Born in the city of New York in 1923, Roy Lichtenstein was another reputable pop artist. He

was one of the first American Pop artists to achieve widespread renown, although he faced large

amounts of criticism. His work was accused of banality, lack of originality, and even copying.

His iconic images have since become synonymous with Pop art and his method of creating

images has become central to critics understanding of the significance of the movement. In

contrast to Richard Hamilton, Lichtenstein grew up wealthy on the Upper West Side of

Manhattan. He exercised his artistic tendencies by taking art classes during his schooling. He

served in the war, but finished his degree succeeding his deployment. While he faced criticism

for his art and was believed to have been simply copying the cheap style of comic books, he

became one of the most important figures in the Pop art movement because of his embrace of

low styles of art (theartstory.org). His most famous piece would be Popeye (1961). It was one

of the very first paintings he created. Early in his Pop art career, he chose to depict immediately

recognizable characters such as Mickey Mouse and Popeye. Some people have suggested that

Popeyes punch in the image was intended as a sly response to one of the reigning ideas in

contemporary art criticism that a pictures design should make an immediate visual impact.

While most people believed this should be achieved with abstract art, Lichtenstein demonstrated

that one could achieve it just as well by borrowing from low culture.
Lichtenstein, Roy. Popeye. 1961, Oil on canvas. Estate of Roy Lichtenstein, Manhattan, New

York City, New York.

In this image the famous cartoon character Popeye is beating up a rival of his with his famous

right-hook. There are relatively few colors used, only blue, white, yellow and red, but a color

scheme is present. Popeye is depicted in blue while his enemy is in red, signifying their

polarization. Popeye is delineated as winning as the fight while his enemy goes down. Elements

of style such as color are of significant in this piece, as they help to asserts the conflict between

the depicted characters. The values of the colors are pretty deep and rich and the saturation is

slightly dark. There are also defined lines present, further separating the two characters. A social

factor that may have influenced this piece is the rise of low culture, or art referring to comic

books and other types of mass produced art. Lichtenstein was known to mimic commercialized

pieces and popularize them, and the mass production of cartoon characters such as Popeye may

have inspired him to create his own Pop art version of them. As an artist, this piece is somewhat

simple to me and does not really have much to it. I can see how it could be overly simple and

commercialized, but I also appreciate the creativity gone into it. Lichtenstein supported an art
movement and contributed to it in such a notable way that it led to mass production. Although

simple, Lichtenstein was amazingly creative and influential in its own way.

Another influential Pop artist is Robert Rauschenberg. He was born in Port Arthur, Texas in

1925 and imagined himself as a minister or pharmacist. He didn't discover his aptitude towards

drawing and his interest in art until he served in the marines in 1947. He eventually made his

way to New York City and realized the full extent of what he could do with art. Rauschenberg

had an abundant enthusiasm for popular culture and he rejected angst and seriousness, searching

for a new style of painting. As Pop art emerged in the 1960s, Rauschenberg abandoned his

previous art projects and indulged himself in the movement. He is still living and creating vivid

pieces, a current and lasting member of the art community (pbs.org). An important and

significant painting of his is Sky Garden (1969). It focuses on the space race of 1964 while it was

still in its infancy, and its blossoming into a major event in 1969. The reality of space flight was

something that greatly inspired many Americans, especially Rauschenberg, with the

collaboration between men and technology. Rauschenberg was actually a witness to the launch of

the Apollo 11 mission, and he was able to explore NASAs facilities. The visit developed a sense

of optimism in him and gave him hope in the world despite the war. Sky Garden itself echoes the

sensory overload experienced while witnessing the Apollo 11 launch and is a physical

embodiment of Rauschenbergs hope and optimistic nature towards a future of prosperity and

peace (theartstory.org). The piece has the design of a map, but there are various images depicting

the launching of the Apollo 11 space shuttle. There are bright colors accentuating some of the

images, and it adds a positive and vibrant feeling to the piece. This may allude to the optimism

Rauschenberg felt towards the space race and the progress the United States was making after the

Second World War. The use of elements of style also add to the optimism of the piece. As stated
before, vibrant colors add to the inherent optimism of the piece. There is also a use of positive

space between the images and there is hardly any negative space. This may add to a sense of

togetherness and unity, referring to the unity the United States felt during and after WWII, and

the time preceding the Vietnam War. As discussed, the history of the piece is very important to

how it was made and what is included in it. The painting is about the space race and the

optimism Rauschenberg felt about the direction of America. As an artist, I really admire the piece

and how Rauschenberg turned real life into art. All the images in the piece are photos of the

space launch and newspaper clippings.

Rauschenberg, Robert. Sky Garden. 1969, Oil on canvas.

Works Cited
"Richard Hamilton Most Important Art." The Art Story. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 May 2017.

"Robert Rauschenberg Biography, Art, and Analysis of Works." The Art Story. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 May

2017.

"Robert Rauschenberg Most Important Art." The Art Story. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 May 2017.

"Robert Rauschenberg Most Important Art." The Art Story. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 May 2017.

"Robert Rauschenberg." PBS. Public Broadcasting Service, 21 Oct. 2015. Web. 17 May 2017.

"Roy Lichtenstein Most Important Art." The Art Story. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 May 2017.

Tate. "'Just What Was It That Made Yesterday's Homes so Different, so Appealing? (upgrade)',

Richard Hamilton, 2004." Tate. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 May 2017.