Pop Art Paintings

Pop Art paintings are one the most prominent forms of expression in the genre of Pop Art. Pop Art can include a range of mediums such as print, photography, film and Pop Art paintings made the genre famous. The painters of Pop Art include such names Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein and Richard Hamilton. Andy Warhol took Pop Art paintings from a more obscure form of expression to the easily accessible through a printing technique called silkscreening, which, by using a stencil, creates a sharp-edged image and makes the paintings easier to reproduce.

This technique was a popular form of duplicating Pop Art paintings because it allowed a broad audience to view and appreciate the art. At its inception, the duplication of Pop Art paintings did cause a bit of controversy because some thought that it diminished the creative aspect of the art. However, what this process allowed for is a direct representation of the subjects of the art themselves in that just as many of the images within Pop Art are of mass-produced items, so too does the artwork itself become a mass-produced item.

Pop Art paintings are generally distinguishable by their use of bright primary colors of blues, reds and yellows infused on common and popular cultural images. Some of the most famous Pop Art paintings include those by Andy Warhol entitled ‘Soup Cans 100 Campbells’ and ‘Mao’ which are of, literally, one hundred soup cans stacked one on top of the other in a ten by ten grid and a bright blue and green portrait of the Communist leader of China, Mao Zedong respectively. The images and subjects of Pop Art paintings draw of popular advertisements, mass media, consumer products and celebrities alike. This form of art was in direct reaction to the inundation of media information present in a society and culture ruled by advertisements.