How to Recognize Famous Pop Artists

Pop Art in America coincided with the wealth and materialism of the post-World War II era. All Pop artists borrowed from popular culture. Advertising, photography, comic strips and product packaging were all fair game. While there was a common denominator in the styles of famous Pop artists like Andy Warhol, David Hockney, James Rosenquist, Wayne Thiebaud, Claes Oldenburg and Roy Lichtenstein, one can easily recognize the works of these famous Pop artists because they each had their own unique style.

Instructions

Recognize Andy Warhol

1. Recognize the work of Andy Warhol by his use of a photo-realistic, mass production printmaking technique called serigraphy. He employed this method to create many of his pop-culture images such as Marilyn Monroe and Campbell's Soup cans.

2. Look for repetition in Warhol's work. He often put 20 objects of the same thing into one painting. "Marilyn green, pink, red, and gold" is an example.

3. Notice his use of garish colors. Warhol became famous partly because of his gold, green and orange "Marilyns."

Recognize David Hockney

1. Identify David Hockney's work by its subject matter. This famous Pop artist was known for his "swimming pool" paintings in the 1960s. The opening credits of the film "California Suite" showcase about a dozen of his California-themed paintings.

2. Look for strong homo-erotic content. Hockney was openly gay.

Recognize James Rosenquist

1. Look for large-scale, billboard-style paintings. Rosenquist worked as a commercial billboard painter before he became an artist and he applied those techniques to his work.

2. See how Rosenquist mixed various consumer items like the laundry detergent Oxydol and bright red, canned spaghetti sauce with ballet dancers and a picnic table. One example is his 1963 painting, "Nomad."

Recognize Wayne Thiebaud

1. Look for paintings of food items found in diners and cafeterias like cakes, pies and sandwiches.

2. Notice the use of heavy pigment and exaggerated colors. You will find this technique in one of his iconic paintings "Pie Counter."

Recognize Claes Oldenburg

1. Find plaster sculptures of food products and other domestic items.

2. Look for objects out of context. Oldenburg made hard objects soft, small objects big, typewriters saggy and lollipops from fake fur.

Recognize Roy Lichtenstein

1. Find the humor in Lichtenstein's comic strip-style paintings. He painted images borrowed from comics like damsels in distress and objects exploding in battle.

2. Take notice of his speech bubbles. Lichtenstein's use of speech bubbles containing words like "pow" and "blam" was revolutionary in its day.

Tips & Warnings

• Robert Rauschenburg and Jasper Johns created some early Pop paintings. Check out their work.