WHAT IS POP ART?
Pop art is an art movement that began in the early 1950's, most prominently in London, England.
Though there had been art work that was reminiscent of pop art or proto-pop art previously, the movement is considered to have truly arisen from a collaborative fellowship of artists in London called the Independent Group. Some of the most important artists to have founded the early pop art movement are Eduardo Paolozzi and Richard Hamilton, who were members of the Independent Group from 1952 to its closing in 1955. These early artists organized exhibitions in Britain that displayed some of the first true examples of modern pop art, and their work would later on influence the direction of the movement heavily, eventually producing a similar pop art movement in the United States later on in the 1960's.
ORIGINS OF POP ART
Small glimmers of what would eventually result in the pop art movement can be found in the works of artists such as Gerald Murphy and Charles Demuth in the 1920's, who created works that incorporated many aspects of the contemporary commercial artwork.
Charles Demuth " I Saw the Figure 5 in Gold "
Gerald Murphy " Razor "
TOP 10, POP ART'S MOST EXPENSIVE ARTWORKS
The work of pop artists, especially those of the mid-20th century, such as Andy Warhol (who you will find dominates this list), comprise some of the most celebrated and sought-after art pieces in the world, and thus many of the most famous works can be quite expensive.
10) Roy Lichtenstein's Woman with Flowered Hat ($56.1 Million)
Painted in 1963 by one of the most well-known pop artists, Woman with the Flowered Hat is reminiscent of a twisted, Picasso-esque version of a queen from a deck of cards. In fact, the painting is a reference to Picasso's own work Dora Maar au Chat, which itself is worth over $95m.
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9) Andy Warhol's Race Riot (in Four Parts) ($62.8m)
This painting was created in 1964 via silk screen technique, and depicts a photographic-quality scene of what the title suggests.
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8) Andy Warhol's Men In Her Life ($63.4m))
This piece was created in 1962 and features images of Elizabeth Taylor along with the most important men in her life.
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7) Andy Warhol's Four Marlons ($69.6m)
Created in 1966, Four Marlons is a painting that features four images of Marlon Brando in a checkered pattern in black and white. It was made using a silk screen method on linen.
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6) Andy Warhol's Green car Crash (Burning Green Car 1) ($71.7m)
Another silk screen painting, this piece was created in 1963, and features several prints of the same image of an upturned car with smoke billowing from it. It sold in 2007 for $71.7m.
5) Andy Warhol's Turquoise Marilyn ($80m)
In the piece The Shot Marilyns, which consists of four paintings, Warhol originally produced five paintings, each from the same image of Marilyn Monroe, but with different color schemes. An associate of his shot the stack of paintings with a revolver, leaving only one intact. This intact painting was the Turquoise Marilyn.
4) Andy Warhol's Triple Elvis [Ferus Type] ($81.9)
Made in 1963, Triple Elvis features three identical black and white, silk-screened images of Elvis side-by-side, comprising a single painting.
3) Roy Lichtenstein's Nurse ($95.4)
Nurse was created in 1964 and depicts a comic book style nurse, a style that was very typical to Lichtenstein.
2) Andy Warhol's Eight Elvises ($100 million)
Similar to Triple Elvis, Eight Elvises is a silk screen print painting created in 1963 that consists of eight photographic images of Elvis side by side on a long canvas, many of the images partially-superimposed. The image of Elvis used in this painting and in Triple Elvis is identical.
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#1. Andy Warhol's Silver Car Crash (Double Disaster) ($105 Million)
Not only the most expensive work of pop art, but one of the most expensive paintings of all time, Silver Car Crash (Double Disaster) was created in 1963 and consists of a black and white image of a crashed silver car wallpapered on a canvas many times. It broke the record for the most expensive Warhol ever sold in 2013.
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