Style & movement
Pop art
A movement drawing subjects and methods from advertising, mass media, consumer culture and everyday imagery.
- Category
- Style & movement
- Index letter
- P
Understanding the term
Pop art emerged around the middle of the twentieth century and turned everyday imagery into artistic material. Repetition, strong outlines and mechanical printing methods could both celebrate and critique the visual language of consumer culture.
When Pop art is used as a style label, it points to a family of formal qualities and ideas rather than a fixed recipe. Periods and movements overlap, and a single work may draw on several styles.
The label becomes more precise when considered alongside date, composition, colour, materials and historical context. A style can inspire work long after its original period, so appearance alone does not date an object.
Related entries
Continue through the glossary with terms from the same field.