Look Mickey signifies a turning point in Roy Lichtenstein’s career as a pop artist. It closed the gap between his abstract expressionism work and the beginning of his work in pop art, and was praised by critics for its humor and irreverence. It is the first piece in which Lichtenstein used many of his trademark elements, such as Ben Day…
Pop Art
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It’s one of the quintessential images of pop art: a girl surrounded by swirling water, thinking “I don’t care! I’d rather sink – than call Brad for help!” Drowning Girl is one of pop artist Roy Lichtenstein’s defining images, his masterpiece of melodrama, displaying his skill for reproducing comic book images and giving them a deeper, more complex meaning. Singulart…
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Pop artist Roy Lichtenstein’s Brushstrokes series was a subversive, sly nod at the abstract expressionism movement, as well as a tribute to artists such as Jackson Pollock. The first piece of the series, Brushstrokes, took its inspiration from a panel in a comic book, like many of Lichtenstein’s artworks. Lichtenstein explained, “You think it’s a picture of a brush stroke.…
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Nichols Canyon marks a transition in David Hockney’s oeuvre from the swimming pools of the 1960’s to more varied panoramic Californian landscapes, concerned with portraying time and movement. In this article, Singulart discusses the composition of Nichols Canyon and Hockney’s life and love of California. Who is David Hockney? Born in Bradford, West Yorkshire, in 1937, Hockney attended the Royal…
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Portrait of an Artist (Pool with Two Figures) is one of David Hockney’s most renowned paintings, which combines two of his most common motifs: the male figure and the swimming pool. In this article, Singulart discusses the story behind this masterpiece and its place in the context of Hockney’s life and career. Who is David Hockney? Born in Bradford, West…
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Andy Warhol’s Campbell’s Soup Cans is one of the most renowned examples of his pioneering Pop Art style, transforming an everyday object into an iconic symbol. In this article, Singulart investigates Warhol’s transition from commercial artist to Pop Art star and takes a closer look at his famous work Campbell’s Soup Cans. Who was Andy Warhol? Andy Warhol (1928-1987)…
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A Bigger Splash is one of David Hockney’s most iconic works, combining his fascination with California in the 1960’s with his investigation of the relationship between painting and performance. In this article, Singulart investigates Hockney’s famous painting in the context of the artist’s career and the artistic landscape of the late twentieth century. Who is David Hockney? Born in Bradford,…
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Jasper Johns’ renowned lithograph False Start bridges the gap between Abstract Expressionism and Pop Art and represents the development of his practice to encompass verbal as well as visual symbols. Overcoming the limitations of the symbols upon which Johns relied at the start of his career, False Start marks the transition into new territory, taking influences from Marcel Duchamp and…
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The term Americana refers, quite simply, to cultural artifacts related to the history of the United States. However, as American historian Hampton Sides wrote in Americana: Dispatches from the New Frontier, “the United States is such a glorious mess of contradiction, such a crazy quilt of competing themes, such a fecund mishmash of people and ideas, that defining us is…
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On Thursday, June 13th, the art world lost a pillar of expressionist pop art. Since the mid-70s, Joy Pensato was re-imagining cartoon characters in her pop-y, acerbic, energetic, and sometimes sinister paintings. Her work combined influences from the likes of Kooning, Franz Kline, and Philip Guston. While she described her paintings as operating within the field of expressionism, it would…
