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Pop Art Facts & Worksheets

The pop art movement emerged in the 1950s, composed of British and American artists who draw inspiration from ‘popular’ imagery and products from popular and commercial culture, as opposed to ‘elitist’ fine art.

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The pop art movement emerged in the 1950s, composed of British and American artists who draw inspiration from ‘popular’ imagery and products from popular and commercial culture, as opposed to ‘elitist’ fine art.

See the fact file below for more information on the pop art or alternatively, you can download our 21-page Pop Art worksheet pack to utilise within the classroom or home environment.

Key Facts & Information

DEFINITION AND HISTORY OF POP ART

  • The word ‘pop’ was introduced by British art critic Lawrence Alloway in 1954. It was used to describe a new type of art that was inspired by the imagery of popular culture.
  • Alloway, Richard Hamilton, and Eduardo Paolozzi were the founding members of the Independent Group, which explored approaches to contemporary visual culture.
  • British pop art was heavily influenced by the All-American lifestyle – the land of the free, youthful culture, and widespread mass media influence.
  • American pop art was developed and characterized by its portrayal of all aspects of popular culture, which had a powerful impact on contemporary life.
  • It was both a development of and a reaction against Abstract Expressionist painting.
  • The main subjects were usually taken from television, comic books, movie magazines, and all forms of advertising.
  • Although pop art was based on similar principles in the United States and Great Britain, there were differences:
    • British pop art observed the developments in American society and created art from a distance but with humor and emotion.
    • American pop art was influenced by a culture of entertainment, the media, and consumerism. It was the immediate result of that experience.
    • American art was more aggressive, and its aesthetic and stylistic traits were more defined.
  • Its intention was to reflect the normalcy and reality of people’s everyday lives, hence conceptualizing from magazines, comics, and television.

THE LEGENDARY ARTISTS

  • British – Eduardo Paolozzi is often credited with producing the first work of true pop art, a collage entitled I was a Rich Man’s Plaything in 1947.
  • Richard Hamilton’s Just what is it that makes today’s homes so different, so appealing? is one of the first widely viewed examples of pop art.
  • Peter Blake combines images of ordinary, everyday people with a plethora of references to the theme On the Balcony.
  • American – Roy Lichtenstein was the founder of the movement in the U.S., and his works were influenced by American comic books.
  • Andy Warhol was the poster boy for American pop art. He based his art on famous images of American culture (Coca Cola, Campbell’s Soup) and iconic celebrities (Marilyn Monroe, Jackie Kennedy, and Elizabeth Taylor).
  • Tom Wesselmann was best known for his collages, sculptures, and screenprints that stylized the female figure forming into pop art.

POP ART DISTINCTION

  • Compared to past art movements, the pop art movement represented a shift in what artists considered to be important source material – mundane aspects of everyday life.
  • Pop art showed that advertising and commercial endeavors were actually forms of art. Trends and fashions become subsumed into a phenomena seeking to merge the whole cultural endeavor into a singular aesthetic style.
  • It sought to connect fine art with the masses and involved using imagery that ordinary people could recognize and relate to.
  • Most pop art works derive from the artist’s interpretation of art that already exists as compared to other arts deriving from the artist’s interpretation of some aspect of reality.

MOST EXPENSIVE POP ARTS – ANDY WARHOL PIECES

  • Race Riot ($62.8m, 1964) was created via silk screen technique, depicting a photographic-quality scene.
  • Men In Her Life ($63.4m, 1962) features images of Elizabeth Taylor with the most important men in her life.
  • Four Marlons ($69.6m, 1966) features four images of Marlon Brando in a checkered pattern in black and white.
  • Green Car Crash ($71.7m, 1963) features several prints of the same image of an upturned car with smoke billowing from it.
  • Turquoise Marilyn ($80m) consists of four paintings, each from the same image of Marilyn Monroe, but with different color schemes.
  • Triple Elvis ($81.9, 1963) features three identical black and white, silk-screened images of Elvis side-by-side, comprising a single painting.
  • Eight Elvises ($100 million, 1963) consists of eight photographic images of Elvis side-by-side on a long canvas, many of the images partially superimposed.
  • Silver Car Crash ($105 Million, 1963) consists of a black and white image of a crashed silver car wallpapered on a canvas many times.

Pop Art Worksheets

This is a fantastic bundle which includes everything you need to know about the Pop Art across 21 in-depth pages. These are ready-to-use Pop Art worksheets that are perfect for teaching students about the pop art movement which emerged in the 1950s, composed of British and American artists who draw inspiration from ‘popular’ imagery and products from popular and commercial culture, as opposed to ‘elitist’ fine art.

Complete List Of Included Worksheets

  • Pop Art Facts
  • Art Movement
  • The Father of Pop Art
  • Match the Pop
  • Pop Art Rate
  • Make it Pop!
  • Pop Collage
  • Colored Pop Art
  • Digital Pop Art
  • Pop Art Photography
  • My Pop Art

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Link will appear as Pop Art Facts & Worksheets: https://kidskonnect.com - KidsKonnect, October 30, 2020

Use With Any Curriculum

These worksheets have been specifically designed for use with any international curriculum. You can use these worksheets as-is, or edit them using Google Slides to make them more specific to your own student ability levels and curriculum standards.

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