Annabels research :)

Pop Art

By Annabel Sandri

 

Pop art is a form of art that emerged in Britain in the mid-1950s  and then in the United States in the late 1950s  . As it used images from modern culture such as news and advertising, pop art presented a challenge to traditions of fine art. It is usually created by making a picture of something (e.g. a famous person or an advertisement) and using bright colours and different words to make it interesting.

 

Pop art’s concept is to look at the attitudes that led to the art rather than look at the art itself. It also is used in many modern everyday things such as comic books. Pop art is used as a way of expressing what you are feeling and what your attitude is by putting it in a painting or other form of art. But pop art is different because it is a more modern and interesting way of expressing yourself than doing normal art.

 

              Andy Warhol

Andy Warhol was a leading figure in pop art who, as an artist, explored the relationship between artistic expression, celebrity culture and advertisement. His art included many forms of media, including hand drawing, painting, printmaking, photography, silk screening, sculpture, film, and music. Andy Warhol’s most famous piece of art was when he painted a picture of Campbell’s soup. This was said to be based on Andy eating Campbell’s tomato soup every day for lunch.

The Mona Lisa

The Mona Lisa (La Gioconda in Italian) is a portrait of a woman named Lisa del Giocondo, by the Italian artist Leonardo da Vinci. The painting is 77cm x 53cm and it is in portrait form. It is an oil painting painted on poplar wood panels.It was said to be painted in Florence between 1503 and 1506. The Mona Lisa has been described as the best known, the most visited, the most written about, the most sung about and the most parodied work of art in the world.

The painting has been restored 5 times. In 1809 it got wash and revarnished. In 1906 watercolour was used to retouch cracks in the paint and the varnish around the edge. In 1913 It was recovered after it was stolen. The layer of varnish in the background was touched up in 1952. The most recent was in 1956 when vandals damaged it slightly but it was soon touched up.

The painting is kept in the Musée du Louvre in Paris where it has been since 1797 and it is there permanently. It is also shielded by bulletproof glass to keep anything from destroying it. This is because the painting is priceless and it has remained in the same condition as when it was painted and everyone would like to keep it that way.

On the 21^st of August 1911 the Mona Lisa was stolen. The painting was believed to be lost forever but two years later the painting was found and the thief was caught. An employee at the Louvre named Vincenzo Peruggia had entered the museum during day hours and stolen it by hiding in a broom closet and walking out with it hidden under his coat after the museum had closed. In 1956 the painting was damaged after a vandal threw acid at it. Later that year a man damaged the painting on the left elbow by throwing a rock at it.

Through time there have been a lot of interests in The Mona Lisa’s smile. It has been found that at one moment she is smiling and radiant and the next she is stern and serious. This happens because our eyes are sending mixed signals to our brains about her smile. How you see her smile depends on what you are picturing her thinking about. It also depends on what mood you picture her being in.