Realism versus Pop Art
In this life, there are many forms of art or art “movements” to speak of. How we interpret art is a very subjective thing. What a person sees and feels when looking at art greatly depends on their upbringing, their values, and even their mood at the time of viewing. Could something dark and lacking color be art? What about a comic strip in the newspaper or the billboard down the street? Again, interpretation and taste in art is individual. I elected to explore into the two art movements I like the least to potentially better understand them, and to potentially link them together.
Realism was painted to depict real life situations. It was developed by artists to create an illustration of common people and
They are similar only because each is a depiction of a woman. They are vastly differing because Millets portrayal of a woman is that of a woman working in a field. It is a painting that maybe makes you feel sad for that time frame and is muted, painted in earthy tones. It is not of a woman whom is familiar. This is just a woman working in a field that could be anybody. Andy Warhol’s piece is bright and vibrant and may strike a person as a happy art piece. It depicts a life we are all very familiar with and a woman who was a household name. She is iconic and remembered to this day. The piece though, represents nothing of her, just her face, brightly shone in a surreal color scheme.
Historical Realism was a fight to do something new. It was frowned upon and considered to some as offensive because it depicted scenes we did not want to see, because it did not contain beauty. Beauty, however, is in the eye of the beholder. Today we consider it beautiful and photographic of times gone by. It became our first portraiture. It became popular and sought after. Continuing to fight for new and potentially obtuse but, in the end, desired is a part of everyday existence and it is a struggle all artists face, regardless of the genre.
Pop Art, however, opened the door for today’s artist to create art that is not really what historically would be considered art. Because of the Pop Art movement, art was reinvented, almost