Pop culture and art began by integrating popular items of our times into art forms. Most were either paintings or in the form of sculpture. The first items that were integrated into the pop art movement were tires, flags, maps, stuffed animals and even targets. The movement started as a way to get away from the dullness that modern abstract painting began to take on. It was a way of looking at pop culture sarcastically, a way of mocking our modern world.

Much later media advertisement and TV were integrated into the pop movement. Although pop culture and art became popular, it did not supplant the contemporary movement as its original plan was, but instead became an additional movement within modern painting. Today the pop art movement has become an important element of the modern painting era.

Adding a new meaning

Most oil painters (especially the famous ones) have become so because of their ability to add a deeper layer of meaning to a superficial object. It could be something as simple as a flower or a tree and yet it acts as an object of symbolism. In fact if you compare the oil portraitists of olden times with the modern artists, the depth of the painting is lost today. Today, modern oil painting artists need to showcase the personality and strength of an individual in their portraits, rather than just depict reality. Reality can in any case be showcased with a photograph and the reason people turn to oil portrait artists is because of the warmth and personal touch their works exude. Therefore, it’s important to reinforce the feelings and positive character of the subject in the painting to recapture the lost splendor of earlier works of art.