A useful if dense compilation of texts illuminating Pop Art's
historical origins, inception, rise to success, and legacy. Among
the materials Madoff, former executive editor of ARTnews, has
gathered is a terse, fascinating letter by the British artist
Richard Hamilton concerning the 1957 "This Is Tomorrow" exhibition,
regarded as the first Pop Art show. A 1958 article by Lawrence
Alloway, who coined the term "Pop," defiantly announces the
vitality and importance of the mass arts, as opposed to the old
elitist fine arts. Madoff next samples the critics' response to
America's outbreak of Pop (which was initially referred to as
Nco-Dada), including pieces on the "four-headed goliath" of the
movement, Warhol, Lichtenstein, Rosenquist, and Oldenburg. The
book's final section offers a handful of essays (by, among others,
Roland Barthes and Robert Hughes) written up to 30 years after
Pop's emergence. What comes through within this simple yet generous
framework is a good measure of skepticism and fear about Pop's
importance, mixed with some serious attempts to locate the meaning
of art that mimicked our fascination with the representational
image, an art nurtured by, in the words of Henry Geldzahler, the
"popular press, . . . the movie closeup, black and white,
technicolor and wide screen, the billboard extravaganzas, and
finally . . . television." There is clarity in Hamilton's analysis
(Pop Art is, he writes, "popular . . . transient . . .
expendable"), as well as in the later essays, where distance aids
the effort to define goals, impact, and meaning. But the bulk of
the material has to be waded through, congested as it is with the
struggle to process the onslaught of new media assailing the
public. Readers will have to distill their own meaning and context
for Pop Art from this anthology. It is not a cozy read, but a
necessary compendium to slip on and off of the shelf. (Kirkus
Reviews)
"Pop Art: A Critical History" chronicles one of the most
controversial art movements of the century. The anthology draws
from a great range of sources, from the leading art magazines and
art historical journals to newspapers and news magazines such as
the "New York Times, Life," and "Newsweek." What emerges from this
rich cross-section of critical and journalistic commentary is a
fascinating view of the tumultuous rise of Pop art and its
establishment as a major force in contemporary art. A broad
selection of articles traces the emergence of the movement itself
in England and America, as seen through the eyes of the working
critics of the day. The focus then narrows to present in-depth
writings on the four major Pop artists: Roy Lichtenstein, Claes
Oldenburg, James Rosenquist, and Andy Warhol, along with an
examination of many other artists involved in the movement. From
reviews of the very first shows of many of these artists to
interviews with them, to news stories about their collectors and
their lifestyles, "Pop Art: A Critical History "represents the most
complete and coherent record of Pop art yet published. The book
concludes with an invaluable chronology of the major '60s
exhibitions by Pop artists. Among the contributors are Lawrence
Alloway, John Coplans, Donald Judd, Max Kozloff, Gerald Nordland,
Peter Plagens, Barbara Rose, Robert Rosenblum, John Russell, Gene
Swenson, and Sidney Tillim.
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