Commercial Artist in the 1950s

Pop art

Commercial artist in the 1950’s developed a style of art based on the popular culture of the time, most notable the American culture. This was a movement that went from strength to strength and swept across America and Europe.

Pop art was introduced in the United Kingdom in 1952 and was practiced by a group of artist who called themselves the Independent Group. It was first introduced by a sculptor and cofounding member Eduardo Paolozzi. It concentrated on the American popular culture and often had an emotion. Eduardo Paolozzi himself was inspired not only by the popular culture but also by the post war development in science and technology. Paolozzi’s ‘I am a rich man’s play thing’ of 1942 was the first to display the name pop on it and was wildly considered a pioneer in pop art.

Figure 1: if I was a rich man’s plaything by Eduardo Paolozzi

Other famous sculpts of Paolozzi include The mosaic patterned walls in Tottenham, the cover of Paul McCartney’s album Red Rose Speedway, the ceiling panels and window tapestry of Cleish Castle, the ‘Piscator’ sculpture outside Euston Station in London, the ‘ Head of Invention’ sculpture and many more.

Figure 2: the Head of Invention by Eduardo Paolozzi

Pop art peaked in America only in the mid 1960s. By then, commercial art and advertisement had gotten so sophisticated the pop artist had to go to new lengths to distinguish their art. When talking about pop art in America, it would be incomplete without mentioning its most famous artist, Andy Warhol. He lived from 1928 to 1987 and made it his mission to make pop art more than just art but a life style. He founded ‘The Factory’ which was a place where artist came together to create posters to be mass produced.

Figure 3: Campbell’s soup by Andy Warhol

His paintings unlike the British pop art often lacked emotion and human feelings. His most famous paintings are ‘Campbell’s soup’, ‘Gold Marilyn Monroe’, ‘Elvis’, and ‘The Last Supper’.

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