Pop Art Essays - Western Art, Avant-garde Art, British Art

Pop Art "Pop art" is a term used to describe popular art, the word popular meaning everyday life. Pop art also varied greatly, from soup cans to comic book art to abstract art. Pop artistis often have "satirical or playful intents." This would mean that a pop artist tries to express himself through humorous art. An early pop artist was Andy Warhol, who is known for his drawing of a can of soup.He was American and was born in 1928. He died in 1987. His works can be found at the Whitney museum of American Art and at the Museum of Modern Art. Another American pop artist was Roy Lichenstein. He was born in 1923 and is still living. His work can also be found at the Whitney Museum of modern art and the Museum of Modern Art. Another pop artist was James Rosenquist. He, too, was American. He was born in 1933 and has yet to die. His works may be foundat the Museum of Modern Art and at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Yet another American pop artist was Larry Rivers. He was born in 1923 and still lives. His work may be found at the Metropolitian Museum of Art. Robert Rauschienburg was also an American pop artist. He was born in 1925, and, like most of the other artists in this essay, still ives. His work may be found at the Whitney Museum of Art and at the Modern Museum of Art. I chose to describe As I Opened Fire, by Roy Lichenstein. It was made in 1964 and is the the third of three panels in a narrative arrangement. As I Opened Fire is magna on a canvas which is 68 X 56. Its composition reminds of a comic book. It shows 2 guns firing of the side of a ship, with letters on the top saying "That my ship was below them..." The color scheme was very interesting. For backround, Lichenstein used grey-blue. For the guns he used white, grey, and black, giving them a three-dimensional look using shadowing. For the fire (coming out of the guns) he uses white, orange, and red, making use of complementary colors. The mood is aggressive and warlike, in some way indicating that the ship was part of a surprise attack on an enemey.This picture reminds me of comic book art, in both mood and composition. To me, pop art signifies the most recent type of art. Andy Warhol liked to draw and average soup can. I like to draw desks. Pop art is more complex than earlier types of art, if not in composition and color, in mood. It can express many more things than portraits can, and in more interesting ways.