International holidays - Pop Art Day

A week after the tragic death of style icon Marilyn Monroe in August 1962, the extravagant American artist Andy Warhol began work on his new art project, which in the future would become a symbol of a new direction in art The master used screen printing and a famous photograph of the actress, taken back in 1953 during the filming process He applied fifty identical images to the canvas, but divided it into two parts On the left side of the diptych, twenty-five miniature photographs are painted in bright colors The pictures on the right side were black and white Some of them were deliberately blurred This painting, which the artist completed within a few months, contained Warhol's vision of Monroe's unstable, contrasting life Many years later, a popular British publication would compile a list of five hundred outstanding works of contemporary art, in which the painting by the American artist would take third place It will be copied many times, although the bright left part will become more popular Young artists will begin to create their works in this unique style Warhol's painting itself will have the honor of being included in the exhibition of the famous Tate Gallery in London, which houses the world's largest collection of British art The diptych with Marilyn Monroe will become a symbol of a new direction in art that will worship mass culture, called pop art In the middle of the last century, a new style in art - expressive abstractionism - was at the peak of popularity Born under the influence of the ideas of Andre Breton, it gained unprecedented scope with the assistance of Mark Rothko and Jackson Pollock Artists of this school used huge canvases, and their works were often decorated with sloppy spots of paint - a strong display of expression Those who did not support this style of work decided to create a different direction that could become a counterweight to expressive abstractionism Its supporters did not look for deep meaning in art Their main idol was mass culture, and their images were consumer products This was the beginning of the pop art era American artists ironically used impersonal, mundane reality to ridicule and parody the works of the masters of expressive abstractionism At the same time, pop art was actively developing in Great Britain, but here the direction took a completely different path The prerequisites for its appearance in European countries appeared in the 1920s, when artists used advertising and commercial products in their works Pop art was originally aimed at commerce and entertainment for a jaded public Trends, fashion, advertising, and style icons played a key role in the development of this direction British pop art has retained its academic quality The American version of this style completely excluded the philosophical component of art, and artists stopped searching for spiritual meaning Pop art is sometimes called one of the branches of avant-garde art An interesting story was connected with the appearance of the term itself It was first coined by the British critic Lawrence Alloway to refer to any commercial product that was related to the mass media The author did not plan to give a name to the new direction in art; instead, the public did it, who picked up the new word and put a slightly different meaning into it Although the development of pop art peaked in the middle of the last century, after which it was replaced by other styles, this cultural movement is still popular today One might even say that today it is experiencing its renaissance The direction has repeatedly been subjected to harsh criticism Artists of the pop art school were accused of vulgarity and a desire to please the broad masses The trend was compared with the art of advertising and no differences were found, but it continues to live and celebrates its birthday every year on January 28th