The Westport Public Art Collections grew rapidly during the 1960's, just as the American Pop Art movement emerged in New York City and flourished throughout the country. In 1964, Burt Chernow — an educator and art historian — founded the Westport Schools Permanent Art Collection (now under WestPAC's umbrella), with the vision that original art be a daily part of the educational environment of every student.
Through gifts by artists and collectors, WestPAC holds significant works by artists associated with the Pop movement, including Tom Wesselmann, Jim Dine, George Segal, Robert Indiana, and prints after Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein. This virtual exhibition introduces you to some of these works!
Cover photo (above): Jim Dine, poetry by Walasse Ting, Untitled (from One Cent Life Portfolio) (1964), lithograph
Andy Warhol (1928-1987), perhaps the artist most closely associated with the Pop art movement, began his career as a successful commercial illustrator. He originally painted his Campbell’s soup can series in 1962, noting that he was inspired by the soup that he ate every day for lunch.
What do you like to eat every day? Draw a picture of it!
For more Warhol Pop Art activities, visit the Tate Kids site: https://www.tate.org.uk/kids/make/paint-draw/make-pop-art-warhol
Using the silkscreen process in his workshop, called The Factory, Warhol elevated an ordinary object to the status of an icon. The later Sunday B. Morning prints use the same process and photo negatives as Warhol’s original 1968 soup can silkscreens.
The Pop Art movement questioned and rebelled against traditional definitions of “high art,” drawing on popular imagery for its subject matter, and assimilating the styles and techniques of commercial mass-media.
Nicholas Krushenick (1929-1999) developed his signature "abstract pop" style working in New York in the 1960's, eschewing the representational style of many of his Pop contemporaries. He painted large, abstract canvases with bold colors dynamically outlined with black lines that recall cartoon graphics, but were also influenced by the cutouts of Matisse.
Anticipating and influencing the style of Pop artists, Alex Katz (b. 1927) established his career in New York in the 1950’s, turning to figurative paintings and portraits when most of his peers were working in abstraction. His use of broad areas of flat color and monochrome backgrounds in monumental-scale paintings took inspiration from commercial art and billboards.
George Segal (1924-2000) is best known for his life-size white cast plaster figures, arranged in poses and tableaus of everyday life. He has been commissioned to produce many public monuments. Although associated with the Pop movement, his work relies more on personal experience and human values than other Pop artists. This print is considered a study for a wall-hanging box sculpture Segal made in 1970.
Jim Dine (b. 1935) does not consider himself a Pop artist. Although he worked alongside Andy Warhol and Claes Oldenburg in the 1960’s heyday of Pop, his works lack his peers’ ironic commentary on consumer culture. Dine’s hearts — one of his most frequently used motifs — serve as vehicles for exploring texture and form, and for introspection. This limited edition print was commissioned by the Friends of the Philadelphia Museum of Art
Use hearts as a motif to make your own artwork!
Along with Warhol, Tom Wesselmann (1931-2004) remains one of the artists most closely associated with the Pop art movement, even if he personally disliked the label. He once wrote, “The prime mission of my art...is to make figurative art as exciting as abstract art.” Wesselmann began making large molded plastic still-life compositions in the early 1960's, turning everyday objects like a radio and an apple into larger-than-life icons. (See another still life composition by Wesselman in the One Cent Life Portfolio below.)
The "One Cent Life Portfolio" of 1964 is a landmark collaborative publication that features poetry by Chinese-born poet and painter Walasse Ting (1929-2010) and original lithographs by major American and European artists, spanning expressionism and pop art. Published in a limited edition of 2000, it is now a rare portfolio housed in major public institutions and collections. WestPAC recently received a donation of 42 original lithographs from "One Cent Life", along with accompanying pages of Ting’s creative and dynamic verse.
A DREAM
GREEN IN THE MORNING, BIG GIRL DON'T CRY
green sky drop green rain; i open green umbrella under green water; i wait a green eyed girl; she not come; i don't know
poem by Walasse Ting
TAKE GOOD CARE OF SELF LONG JOURNEY AHEAD KEEP STRENGTH GOOD IDEAS LOVE IN HEART HATRED BURY IN DEEP EARTH SPREAD SELF LIKE GIANT TO FOUR WINDS
poem by Walasse Ting
Here are some ways WestPAC's Pop art has been used in the Westport Public Schools art curriculum and in PTA ArtSmart projects, fulfilling Burt Chernow's original mission.
Thank you for exploring with us!
To learn more about the Westport Public Art Collections (WestPAC) and to Search the collections visit westportarts.org
Please make sure to FOLLOW US on Facebook and Instagram @westportpublicart too #westportpublicart #WestportCT
Please consider making a donation to Friends of WestPAC via PayPal to help us to care for our artworks and to create programs like this for you.