Pop Art Still-life Paintings
Perhaps one of the most influential contemporary art movements, Pop art emerged in the 1950s. In stark contrast to traditional artistic practice, its practitioners drew on imagery from popular culture — comic books, advertising, product packaging and other commercial media — to create original Pop art paintings, prints and sculptures that celebrated ordinary life in the most literal way.
ORIGINS OF POP ART
- Started in Britain in the 1950s, flourished in 1960s-era America
- “This is Tomorrow,” at London's Whitechapel Gallery in 1956, was reportedly the first Pop art exhibition
- A reaction to postwar mass consumerism
- Transitioning away from Abstract Expressionism
- Informed by neo-Dada and artists such as Jasper Johns and Robert Rauschenberg; influenced postmodernism and Photorealism
CHARACTERISTICS OF POP ART
- Bold imagery
- Bright, vivid colors
- Straightforward concepts
- Engagement with popular culture
- Incorporation of everyday objects from advertisements, cartoons, comic books and other popular mass media
POP ARTISTS TO KNOW
- Richard Hamilton
- Andy Warhol
- Marta Minujín
- Claes Oldenburg
- Eduardo Paolozzi
- Rosalyn Drexler
- James Rosenquist
- Peter Blake
- Roy Lichtenstein
ORIGINAL POP ART ON 1STDIBS
The Pop art movement started in the United Kingdom as a reaction, both positive and critical, to the period’s consumerism. Its goal was to put popular culture on the same level as so-called high culture.
Richard Hamilton’s 1956 collage Just what is it that makes today’s homes so different, so appealing? is widely believed to have kickstarted this unconventional new style.
Pop art works are distinguished by their bold imagery, bright colors and seemingly commonplace subject matter. Practitioners sought to challenge the status quo, breaking with the perceived elitism of the previously dominant Abstract Expressionism and making statements about current events. Other key characteristics of Pop art include appropriation of imagery and techniques from popular and commercial culture; use of different media and formats; repetition in imagery and iconography; incorporation of mundane objects from advertisements, cartoons and other popular media; hard edges; and ironic and witty treatment of subject matter.
Although British artists launched the movement, they were soon overshadowed by their American counterparts. Pop art is perhaps most closely identified with American Pop artist Andy Warhol, whose clever appropriation of motifs and images helped to transform the artistic style into a lifestyle. Most of the best-known American artists associated with Pop art started in commercial art (Warhol made whimsical drawings as a hobby during his early years as a commercial illustrator), a background that helped them in merging high and popular culture.
Roy Lichtenstein was another prominent Pop artist that was active in the United States. Much like Warhol, Lichtenstein drew his subjects from print media, particularly comic strips, producing paintings and sculptures characterized by primary colors, bold outlines and halftone dots, elements appropriated from commercial printing. Recontextualizing a lowbrow image by importing it into a fine-art context was a trademark of his style. Neo-Pop artists like Jeff Koons and Takashi Murakami further blurred the line between art and popular culture.
Pop art rose to prominence largely through the work of a handful of men creating works that were unemotional and distanced — in other words, stereotypically masculine. However, there were many important female Pop artists, such as Rosalyn Drexler, whose significant contributions to the movement are recognized today. Best known for her work as a playwright and novelist, Drexler also created paintings and collages embodying Pop art themes and stylistic features.
Read more about the history of Pop art and the style’s famous artists, and browse the collection of original Pop art paintings, prints, photography and other works for sale on 1stDibs.
21st Century and Contemporary Pop Art Still-life Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Pop Art Still-life Paintings
Acrylic, Acrylic Polymer
2010s Pop Art Still-life Paintings
Canvas, Paint, Cotton Canvas, Ink, Mixed Media, Oil, Spray Paint, Acryli...
21st Century and Contemporary Pop Art Still-life Paintings
Canvas, Linen, Acrylic, Screen
2010s Pop Art Still-life Paintings
Acrylic, Wood Panel
2010s Pop Art Still-life Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
2010s Pop Art Still-life Paintings
Cotton Canvas, Acrylic, Permanent Marker
2010s Pop Art Still-life Paintings
Canvas, Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Pop Art Still-life Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Pop Art Still-life Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Pop Art Still-life Paintings
Acrylic, Wood Panel
21st Century and Contemporary Pop Art Still-life Paintings
Canvas, Linen, Acrylic, Screen
21st Century and Contemporary Pop Art Still-life Paintings
Canvas, Linen, Mixed Media
2010s Pop Art Still-life Paintings
Canvas, Varnish, Mixed Media, Acrylic
2010s Pop Art Still-life Paintings
Acrylic, Wood Panel
21st Century and Contemporary Pop Art Still-life Paintings
Canvas, Linen, Acrylic, Screen
Early 2000s Pop Art Still-life Paintings
Canvas, Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Pop Art Still-life Paintings
Mixed Media, Acrylic, Canvas
2010s Pop Art Still-life Paintings
Acrylic, Polystyrene
21st Century and Contemporary Pop Art Still-life Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Pop Art Still-life Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
Early 2000s Pop Art Still-life Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
2010s Pop Art Still-life Paintings
Acrylic, Cardboard
2010s Pop Art Still-life Paintings
Cotton Canvas, Acrylic, Permanent Marker
21st Century and Contemporary Pop Art Still-life Paintings
Paper, Mixed Media, Acrylic
2010s Pop Art Still-life Paintings
Canvas, Lacquer, Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Pop Art Still-life Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Pop Art Still-life Paintings
Paper, Mixed Media, Acrylic
2010s Pop Art Still-life Paintings
Plastic, Acrylic, Wood Panel, Epoxy Resin, Oil, Graphite
21st Century and Contemporary Pop Art Still-life Paintings
Canvas, Mixed Media, Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Pop Art Still-life Paintings
Ink, Oil, Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Pop Art Still-life Paintings
Canvas, Mixed Media, Acrylic
2010s Pop Art Still-life Paintings
Plastic, Acrylic, Wood Panel
21st Century and Contemporary Pop Art Still-life Paintings
Canvas, Linen, Acrylic, Screen
21st Century and Contemporary Pop Art Still-life Paintings
Linen, Mixed Media, Canvas
21st Century and Contemporary Pop Art Still-life Paintings
Canvas, Mixed Media, Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Pop Art Still-life Paintings
Mixed Media, Canvas
Artist Comments
One of the vibrant sights of New York City's Chinatown is the wall of posters. Brightly colored layers overlap and peel away, revealing a dynamic mosaic of colors and images. In the painting, bold characters fading from yellow to orange spell out "BIG DISCOUNT," while the smaller text reads "EXCELLENT QUALITY FOOD."
About the Artist
Artist Leroy Burt paints playful, offbeat landscapes and portraits based on his experiences living in Milwaukee, New York, Costa Rica, and currently Rochester, Minnesota. "I think of my paintings as short stories," he says. As a young child, Leroy faced a number of obstacles. His parents divorced when he was four years old and he was raised by his grandparents in a three-room shack without running water or electricity. Leroy worked hard to pull himself out of poverty. He studied graphic design and painting, which led to a 30-year career in graphic design - five years at WMVS, the PBS television station in Milwaukee, fifteen years at city hall in Milwaukee, and ten years at WNET, the PBS station in New York. In 2015, Leroy retired to focus his energy on painting. Today, he works from a tiny studio filled with half-finished paintings stacked against every wall. "There are photos and sketches for future paintings taped everywhere," says Leroy. "My windows are filled with orchids. There are books, films and music CDs in every corner. And the room is dominated by a black and silver Andy Warhol silkscreen...
21st Century and Contemporary Pop Art Still-life Paintings
Acrylic
2010s Pop Art Still-life Paintings
Wood Panel, Plastic, Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Pop Art Still-life Paintings
Paper, Mixed Media, Acrylic
2010s Pop Art Still-life Paintings
Canvas, Paint, Cotton Canvas, Ink, Mixed Media, Oil, Spray Paint, Acryli...
21st Century and Contemporary Pop Art Still-life Paintings
Canvas, Mixed Media, Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Pop Art Still-life Paintings
Linen, Mixed Media
2010s Pop Art Still-life Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Pop Art Still-life Paintings
Canvas, Linen, Acrylic, Screen
21st Century and Contemporary Pop Art Still-life Paintings
Canvas, Mixed Media, Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Pop Art Still-life Paintings
Mixed Media, Acrylic, Paper
2010s Pop Art Still-life Paintings
Gold Leaf
2010s Pop Art Still-life Paintings
Spray Paint, Acrylic, Wood
2010s Pop Art Still-life Paintings
Cotton Canvas, Acrylic, Permanent Marker
2010s Pop Art Still-life Paintings
Acrylic, Wood, Spray Paint
Artist Comments
In a dimly lit room, a trumpet rests on a piano keyboard. The overhead light casts a brilliant glow, reflecting off the brass instrument and cutting sharp sha...
21st Century and Contemporary Pop Art Still-life Paintings
Acrylic
21st Century and Contemporary Pop Art Still-life Paintings
Canvas, Oil
21st Century and Contemporary Pop Art Still-life Paintings
Canvas, Oil
1970s Pop Art Still-life Paintings
Canvas, Oil
2010s Pop Art Still-life Paintings
Canvas, Mixed Media, Oil
Early 2000s Pop Art Still-life Paintings
Canvas, Acrylic
2010s Pop Art Still-life Paintings
Varnish, Acrylic, Panel