Pop

by Hal Foster, Hal Foster (Summary)

From the late 1950s to the late 1960s the word Pop described art, film, photography and architectural design which engaged with the new realities of mass production and the mass media. Unlike books which present Pop art in isolation, this is a comprehensive survey of Pop in all its forms across America, Britain and Europe. In addition to the key artworks by Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, Claes Oldenburg, Ed Ruscha, Richard Hamilton, Sigmar Polke, Martial Raysse and many others the book includes works of photography and avant-garde film, as well as what the critic Reyner Banham defined as Pop architecture, ranging from Alison and Peter Smithson’s House of the Future to Archigram’s Walking City and Robert Venturi and Denise Scott Brown’s Learning from Las Vegas . Editor Mark Francis was former Founding Director of the Andy Warhol Museum and editor of ‘Les Années Pop’ (Centre Georges Pompidou, 2001). Survey author Hal Foster is Professor of Art at Princeton University, author of The Return of the Real and editor of the bestselling The Essays on Postmodern Culture and Art, Spectacle, Cultural Politics .

Genres: Art, Art History

204 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 2005

About the author

Hal Foster is a Professor of Art and Archaeology at Princeton University specializing in 20th century art.

Note: for the comic book artist, see Harold "Hal" Foster.

Reviews

[Alexander · Rating 4 out of 5]

Did you ever wonder where the pop in pop art came from? I always assumed that it was because it dealt with popular images like advertising, comics and soup cans. But that is because my image of pop art was ethno-centrically American. I did not realize that the Europeans especially the British got there first. The first important pop artwork was by a British artist, Richard Hamilton and featured a brawny body builder dressed in no more than underpants and a strategically placed giant Tootsie Pop. There you have it: Pop Art is descended from a Tootsie Pop.
Mark Francis is or was British based and Pop is a breath of fresh air. There are many fine coffee table books on Pop Art. This one is distinguished by its openness and its breadth. It places Pop Art within the history of European painting with Cubist Collages and many European contributors to Pop Art. In American it includes Joseph Cornell, Joseph Stella, the filmmaker Bruce Conner and Robert Indiana. As one who lived thru the sixties, this book brought back many long forgotten memories and gave context to the big names Warhol and Lichtenstein
If you like Pop Art but have not read anything on it recently, you will enjoy POP immensely.