What is Pop Art?

Pop Art stands for "popular art". It started gaining popularity in the mid 1950s, in the United States. It generally used images from popular industry like food, news, advertisement, etc. Also, the art created a sense of optimism after World War 2. It was fresh and young, and embraced popular culture. It usually involved bright, neon colours.

One of the main artists who influenced Pop Art was Andy Warhol (born 1928, died 1987.) He painted pretty much anything, such as celebrities; including his famous Marilyn Monroe; soup cans and many more. Warhol embraced the American culture like no other artist. Warhol's approach to painting was this:I think every painting should be the same size and the same colour so they're all similar and nobody thinks they have a better or worse painting."

In the image above, Warhol shows that you can embrace even the simplest of culture through painting, like these soup cans, which would normally be dull, but now are electrified with colours.

This collage of 9 Marilyn Monroe's is perhaps the piece most widely associated with Warhol.