Explaining Pop Art
Lichtenstein meets Boccioni
'Wham!' (1963)
Roy Lichtenstein (1923-97).
Magna on Canvas.
'Whaam!' is based on an image from 'All American Men of War' published by DC comics in 1962. Throughout the 1960s, Lichtenstein frequently drew on commercial art sources such as comic images or advertisements, attracted by the way highly emotional subject matter could be depicted using detached techniques. Transferring this to a painting context, Lichtenstein could present powerfully charged scenes in an impersonal manner, leaving the viewer to decipher meanings for themselves. Although he was careful to retain the character of his source, Lichtenstein also explored the formal qualities of commercial imagery and techniques. In these works as in 'Whaam!', he adapted and developed the original composition to produce an intensely stylised painting.
Unique Forms of Continuity in Space (1913)
Umberto Boccioni (1882-1916)
Bronze sculpture, cast 1972
Boccioni's work was in plaster, never cast into bronze in his lifetime. This cast was made in 1972.
In the early years of the twentieth century, industrialisation swept across Italy. The Futurist movement was founded by writers and artists such as Umberto Boccioni, who enthused about new inventions such as cars and electricity. In Unique Forms of Continuity in Space, the figure is aerodynamically deformed by speed. Boccioni exaggerated the body''s dynamism so that it embodied the urge towards progress. The sculpture may reflect ideas of the mechanised body that appeared in Futurist writings, as well as the ''superman'' envisaged by the philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche
[Tate website]
Explaining Pop Art
Lichtenstein meets Boccioni
'Wham!' (1963)
Roy Lichtenstein (1923-97).
Magna on Canvas.
'Whaam!' is based on an image from 'All American Men of War' published by DC comics in 1962. Throughout the 1960s, Lichtenstein frequently drew on commercial art sources such as comic images or advertisements, attracted by the way highly emotional subject matter could be depicted using detached techniques. Transferring this to a painting context, Lichtenstein could present powerfully charged scenes in an impersonal manner, leaving the viewer to decipher meanings for themselves. Although he was careful to retain the character of his source, Lichtenstein also explored the formal qualities of commercial imagery and techniques. In these works as in 'Whaam!', he adapted and developed the original composition to produce an intensely stylised painting.
Unique Forms of Continuity in Space (1913)
Umberto Boccioni (1882-1916)
Bronze sculpture, cast 1972
Boccioni's work was in plaster, never cast into bronze in his lifetime. This cast was made in 1972.
In the early years of the twentieth century, industrialisation swept across Italy. The Futurist movement was founded by writers and artists such as Umberto Boccioni, who enthused about new inventions such as cars and electricity. In Unique Forms of Continuity in Space, the figure is aerodynamically deformed by speed. Boccioni exaggerated the body''s dynamism so that it embodied the urge towards progress. The sculpture may reflect ideas of the mechanised body that appeared in Futurist writings, as well as the ''superman'' envisaged by the philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche
[Tate website]