Introduction
This article will compare and contrast two pop arts by different artists. The first art is by Andy Warhol with his art soup cans which was produced in 1962. This artist was from New York and was also a filmmaker and print maker. The other is by Roy Lichtenstein called the drowning girl produced in 1963. The artist was from New York and was very famous for his comic book style and popular advertising. The article will compare and contrast the styles used in the two arts (Green, 179). The styles include impressionism, pointillism, expressionism, realism, constructivism, primitivism, symbolism and fauvism.
Impressionism style
This is a way of painting concerned with creating impression with the impact of light. Colour is used to create an effect on the eyes about the subject. The art by Andy Warhol, the soup can used this style to create attention (Osterwold, p. 114). The artist used two contrasting colours red and white to attract attention. By using these colors also the artist wanted to display some culture where the two colours were very famous in the past. The art by Roy Lichtenstein, the drowning girl has also used this style to create some difference of the distance. The water at the fore ground has a brighter colour compared to the one at the back ground thus bring to our attention that the girl was drowning in a large mass of water. The colour has also been used to clearly show how deep the girl is immersed in the water by using different colours for the girl and the water to show the difference between the two.
Expressionism style
This style uses exaggeration and distortion in order to show emotions and feelings to the world. The art by Roy Lichtenstein the drowning girl has used this style to show the feelings and emotions of this girl. Paint has been used to show how the girl is crying and screaming after she drowned but on the other hand one can see that she is not worried and would prefer to die rather than call Brad to help her. On the other hand, the art by Andy Warhol, soup cans has not used this style of expressionism in his art because his art more attention creating rather than showing feelings or emotions.
Fauvism style
This style is used to show how violent the paintings are and it is mostly used on landscapes and people. This style is most used in two dimension surfaces and not three dimension spaces (Osterwold, p. 114). The art by Roy Lichtenstein, the drowning girl has used this style to show the violent movement of the water mass that the girl was drowning in. This artist used this style to show how rough the water was. This picture is also a two dimension surface and that’s why it was possible for the artist to use this style. On the other hand, the art by Andy Warhol did not use this style but rather it used some cool paintings which were meant to indicate how good the soup inside the can was.
Constructivism style
This art style lays it emphasis on geometrical shapes and does not show emotions in any way. Andy Warhol has used this style in his soup of cans art. The artist has used this style to create some liking of his work since that was his aim (Green, p.179). It is also used to show how he likes the soup and how it tastes the same whether taken by a king or a pauper. On the other hand Roy Lichtenstein in his art the drowning girl did not use this style because his was meant to show some emotions and feelings which could not be shown by this style.
Symbolism style
This style is used in evocative, stylized and decorative images. Andy Warhol used this style in his art of soup can which showed the decorated images of can which were painted in red and white. These colors mage the art look good and styled and anybody is deemed to like it since it is creating attention. On the other hand, Roy Lichtenstein did not use this style in his art work of the drowning girl. The art does not look decorative because it is not meant to create attention or for advertisement purpose but it is used to show emotional feelings by the drowning girl.
Realism style
This style shows things as they appear in the real life (Osterwold, p. 114). The two artists have used this style in their arts where Roy Lichtenstein in the drowning girl has used this style to bring some reality because drowning is very real. This artist though, does not use the real colours of the objects because in the case of the girls hair its painted blue which is not the real hair colour. Andy Warhol has also used this style in his soup can because in the real life there are such cans. By using this style he brought some reality
Primitivism style
This style is very simple and makes the art look like it was done by a child. Roy Lichtenstein in his art has used this style by making it simple and a two dimension painting. The art looks so simple but it brings out clearly the message which the artist wanted to share. Andy Warhol on the other hand did not use this style in his art. He did not use the simple paintings of this style but rather his art was a little more complex and a three dimension one.
Pointillism style
In this style the artist use dots to create a picture (Green, p. 179). These dots are put together to create a picture and also to show a different colours. Roy Lichtenstein used this aspect in his drowning girl art where he used dots to create the hair of the drowning girl. This made the hair look full and of different colour. On the other hand Andy Warhol did not use this style in his art of soup can but rather he used clear lines to make his art.
Andy Warhol in his art, soup cans represent the can as a piece of art which could be admired and enjoyed by many people because he was very much aware of the aesthetics culture in New York which was popular. The soup can according to Andy Warhol showed the parallelism between religion and consumerism in New York. Roy Lichtenstein his art of the drowning girl displayed a comic culture. According to him, when doing his painting, he does not base it on any subject but after completing it, people gave a subject to his art.
Conclusion
This article has clearly compared and contrasted two types of pop art by Andy Warhol, the soup can and Roy Lichtenstein the drowning girl. Different art styles have been used to show the similarities and differences of the two arts.
Works cited
- Greene, David. Styles in art that suddenly disappear: an unanswered problem in art. Michigan: Edwin Mellen Press, 2008.
- Osterwold, Tilman. Pop Art. New York: Taschen, 2003.