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Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is a production of I

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Speaker 1: Heart Radio. Hello and welcome to This Day in History Class,

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Speaker 1: a show for those who can never know enough about history.

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Speaker 1: I'm Gabe Bluesier, and in this episode, we're looking at

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Speaker 1: the origins of pop art, including the turning point when

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Speaker 1: it appeared in the gallery of an American museum for

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Speaker 1: the first time. The day was September nineteen sixty two.

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Speaker 1: A new exhibit opened at the Pasadena Art Museum in

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Speaker 1: southern California, marking what's believed to be the very first

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Speaker 1: museum showing of pop art. Titled New Painting of Common Objects,

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Speaker 1: the exhibit featured eight up and coming artists Jim Dine,

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Speaker 1: Robert Dowd, Philip Hefferton, Roy Lichtenstein, Edward Rouche, Joe Good,

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Speaker 1: Wayne Tebow, and Andy Warhol. The art show was the

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Speaker 1: brainchild of the museum's curator, Walter Hopps. He noticed the

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Speaker 1: growing trend of paintings depicting everyday objects and decided to

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Speaker 1: showcase this new style of art by bringing together pop

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Speaker 1: artists from the East and West coasts. But what exactly

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Speaker 1: defined this new style of art and where had it

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Speaker 1: come from? The roots of pop art can be traced

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Speaker 1: back to the post war boom of the nineteen fifties,

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Speaker 1: when renewed optimism and rebounding economies led to the development

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Speaker 1: of a more consumerist culture in both the United States

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Speaker 1: and Western Europe. One result of this boom in manufacturing

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Speaker 1: and media was that people began to question the dominant

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Speaker 1: traditions that had shaped culture up to that point. For example,

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Speaker 1: in the world of contemporary art, abstract expressionism was the

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Speaker 1: dominant sty aisle of the day, characterized by sweeping brush

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Speaker 1: strokes and a sense of spontaneity. This new form of

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Speaker 1: abstract art was popularized around the world by artists such

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Speaker 1: as Jackson Pollock and Willem Dacooning. But as the Cultural

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Speaker 1: Revolution marched on, a new generation of artists began to

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Speaker 1: reject abstract expressionism in favor of a more figurative style,

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Speaker 1: soon to be known as pop art. The term pop

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Speaker 1: was derived from popular art and was first used in

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Speaker 1: the mid nineteen fifties to describe a group of British

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Speaker 1: artists who satirized the imagery of American consumerism, especially it's advertising.

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Speaker 1: By the early nineteen sixties, the term had become synonymous

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Speaker 1: with an American art movement that also focused on elements

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Speaker 1: from mass media and popular culture, but with a much

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Speaker 1: less critical eye. Unlike their British counterparts, American pop artists

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Speaker 1: were not viewing the world of American advertising from a distance.

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Speaker 1: They lived with it in their daily lives, and we're

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Speaker 1: mostly interested in presenting these common objects in bold, graphic

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Speaker 1: new ways, without the need for explicit social commentary. After all,

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Speaker 1: most American pop artists began their careers in commercial art.

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Speaker 1: For example, Andy Warhol found success as a graphic designer

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Speaker 1: and magazine illustrator, while James Rosenquist got his start as

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Speaker 1: a billboard painter. This commercial work not only gave the

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Speaker 1: artists a crash course in the visual language of mainstream culture,

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Speaker 1: it also helped them identify potential points of overlap between

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Speaker 1: the high art found in museums and the low culture

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Speaker 1: of consumer products and advertising. The result of this was

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Speaker 1: an art movement that sought to blur the line between

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Speaker 1: high and low. Pop artists employed a level of technical

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Speaker 1: skill and design ability that was comparable to traditional fine artists,

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Speaker 1: but the subjects of pop art were objects of mass

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Speaker 1: culture like soup cans or media stars like Marilyn Monroe.

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Speaker 1: These works were strongly inspired by product packaging and advertisements

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Speaker 1: of the day, as well as by the illustrations and

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Speaker 1: typefaces seen in television, movies, comic books, and magazines. The

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Speaker 1: pop movement seemed to be saying that art can emerge

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Speaker 1: from any source and should not be limited to an

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Speaker 1: accepted list of styles or subjects. But pop art wasn't

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Speaker 1: just rebellion for rebellion's sake, and it wasn't a ringing

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Speaker 1: endorsement of capitalism either. It was a way to hold

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Speaker 1: up a mirror to the trends and obsessions of modern

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Speaker 1: society and examine what the reflections say about the people

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Speaker 1: who value them. The pop art exhibit at the Pasadena

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Speaker 1: Art Museum closed after just three weeks, but that was

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Speaker 1: an to establish precedent, and it wasn't long until pop

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Speaker 1: art became an expected staple of art museums all over

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Speaker 1: the world. The styles popularity waned a bit in the

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Speaker 1: nineties seventies, when it was supplanted by the rise of

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Speaker 1: installation and performance art. It's gone through a few revivals

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Speaker 1: since then, and today you can find examples of contemporary

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Speaker 1: pop art and the work of artists like Shepherd Fairy,

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Speaker 1: Keetna Patel and banks E. Their work carries on the

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Speaker 1: pop art tradition by using bold graphic design and easy

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Speaker 1: to identify subjects to comment on or satirize the shape

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Speaker 1: of human society as we know it today. I'm Gay

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Speaker 1: Lousier and hopefully you now know a little more about

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Speaker 1: art history today than you did yesterday. If you enjoyed

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Speaker 1: the show, consider following us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram

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Speaker 1: at t d i HC Show, And if you have

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Speaker 1: any comments or suggest gent's for us, you can send

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Speaker 1: them to This Day at I heart media dot com.

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Speaker 1: Thanks as always to Chandler Mays for producing the show,

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Speaker 1: and thank you for listening. I'll see you back here

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Speaker 1: again tomorrow for another Day in History class. For more

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