| By :
Mark Etinger
The pop art movement is one the most important and enduring artistic movements of American art. It revolutionized both the art world and the cultural mainstream. Many pop artists were Jewish artists but they did not make work that spoke specifically to their Judaism. Only recently have painters begun exploring the overlap between pop art and Jewish art. This would not be possible without the pop artist that came before. Alex Katz is a great pop artist with many wonderful portraits and figure drawings. Unlike some pop artists who used pop art subject matter, Katz stuck to more traditional subjects throughout most of his career. His simple style and bold use of color, however, make his work at home with works of more well-known pop artists like Andy Warhol. Alex Katz did many portraits of his wife and son, most of which are truly lovely. Although Katz was one of many Jewish artists working in the pop art field, none of his works is explicitly Judaic art. Another great pop artist was Wayne Thiebaud. Wayne Thiebaud's most well-known pieces feature tasty candies and cakes. Sweet treats are a great subject matter for pop art; their bright colors and carefree nature makes them appealing to the eyes and the taste buds. Even some of his landscapes and portraits seem to be candy colored. It is hard to look at a Wayne Thiebaud work and not smile. Tom Wesselmann was another of the Jewish artists of the pop art movement. His works, like those of Katz, are not Jewish art paintings in their style or subject matter. Wesselmann's subjects often included pop art imagery like TV stills, soda bottles, alcohol bottles and other mass culture items. Wesselmaan was, however, something of an artist chameleon. Some of his paintings are verging on the photo-realistic while others are abstract or cubist. He often incorporated the work of other artists into his own works. Wesselmann's body of work is so interesting because he did so much in his career and he did it all so well. One of the most famous Jewish pop artists was Roy Lichtenstein. His works are some of the most easily recognizable of the pop art movement. Lichtenstein's was one of the earliest pioneers of the pop art movement and helped bring it to the forefront of American art. His comic style paintings can be seen in the MOMA, as well as other fine art galleries. Some of his works have sold for millions of dollars.
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