Pop Art: A Colourful History

by Alastair Sooke

Pop Art by the BBC's Alastair Sooke - an essential but snappy new guide to our favourite art movement

Pop Art is the most important 20th-century art movement. It brought Modernism to the masses, making art sexy and fun with coke cans and comics. Today, in our age of selfies and social networking, we are still living in a world defined by Pop.

Full of brand new interviews and research, Sooke describes the great works by Warhol, Lichtenstein and other key figures, but also re-examines the movement for the 21st century and asks if it is still art? He reveals a global story, tracing Pop's surprising origins in 19th-century Paris to uncovering the forgotten female artists of the 1960s.

"A clear and lively outline of the history of pop art ... a pleasure to read" - Sunday Times

Genres: Art, Nonfiction, History

196 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 27, 2015

Reviews

[Nana · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book - I discovered it in the sale section of a local store and grabbed it because I am a big fan of pop art and art history books in general. This isn't what I'd call a complete overview of pop, but one certainly does not need to know a lot about the movement to learn and enjoy from it. Sooke chooses to structure his history around a few of the major players - not the MAJOR major ones (Warhol, Lichenstien etc), but ones he is able to get a meeting with, who are still pretty significant names, and most relevantly, are still alive. Sooke interestingly profiles these figures; Ed Ruscha, Peter Blake, Claes Oldenburg, Rosalyn Drexler etc, and weaves the history of the movement around his accounts of meeting them. These are readable, informative and interesting, and he does a good job of summing up the theory and philosophy and messages behind pop. He often goes to comparing the works of these artists to the above mentioned heavy weights, which can get clunky, but I understand that it would be difficult to write a book on pop without frequent mentions of these titans. I was particularly pleased to see that he devoted a whole chapter to discussing how overlooked women were in the movement; the chauvinistic history is too infrequently discussed in the mainstream. Rosalyn Drexler is one of my favorite pop artists and she is all but completely forgotten, in what I've seen, so glad to see Sooke profiling her.

[Sarah Wise · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’d love to expand more upon the “forgotten” artists featured in the fourth chapter. This book is a delightful read, part history, part journalistic story-telling, and part art critic.

[Mark Gee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nothing new here for me really, Theres plenty of books about pop art which are better.
This book is great if you don't know anything about pop art, it's great for beginners really.
There wasn't any art in here which I found that ground breaking either.
I am a fan of Warhol and Jeff Koons.
It was Warhol who made me want to be an artist.

Reading this book made me question is Pop even that relevant today?
Everything now is on social media and art on there seems to loose all meaning and all blends into one.

Do I even see myself as a pop artist any more or have I moved on?

[Josh · Rating 3 out of 5]

A helpful overview and appreciation of the Pop Art movement, focusing on some of the movement’s lesser-known figures. Makes me want to visit a gallery, or at least get a nice big collection of Pop photographs.

[Jakub · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must for lovers of Pop Art, but ensure you have your phone at hand to search for all the references.

[Rachael · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has transformed how I view Pop Art. I now have an appreciation for Pops domesticity, world reflection and impact. Great read.

[Nicole Cassidy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Engaging and well researched. I read this book with the intention to skim and pull out information relating to Andy Warhol for an assignment. I ended up reading every word as Sooke captured my attention from the first paragraph. An all-encompassing Polaroid of Pop Art that converses with the reader rather than preaching lofty criticism, which is often the default attitude in art history literature.

[Ruth Paszkiewicz · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very readable overview of Pop Art, the narrative focuses on discussions with four artists, yet manages to incorporate stories and critiques of the works and figures in the movement of Pop which gives an engaging overview of its achievements and impact on the art-world. This is by no means an extensive or thorough study, but it gives some very interesting insights.