pop art

pop art, movement that restored realism to avant-garde art; it first emerged in Great Britain at the end of the 1950s as a reaction against the seriousness of abstract expressionism. British and American pop artists employed imagery found in comic strips, soup cans, soda bottles, and other commonplace objects to express formal abstract relationships. By this means they provided a meeting ground where artist and layman could come to terms with art. Incorporating techniques of sign painting and commercial art into their work, as well as commercial literary imagery, pop artists such as Roy Lichtenstein, James Rosenquist, and Andy Warhol attempted to fuse elements of popular and high culture, erasing the boundaries between the two.

See L. Alloway, ed. Modern Dreams: The Rise and Fall and Rise of Pop Art (1988); H. Foster, The First Pop Age (2011).

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Publication information: Article title: pop art. Encyclopedia title: The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. © 2012 The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia © 2012, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Columbia University Press. Used with the permission of Columbia University Press. All Rights Reserved. Publisher: The Columbia University Press. Place of publication: Not available. Publication year: 2013.

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