American Pop Art Lecture with Ruth Grim

Wednesday, July 15, 2026 | 2:00 - 3:30pm

The work of both Isabella Losskarn and Jeff Schofield, on view in OMAM's main galleries, exhibit the lasting influence of late 20th Century American Pop Art. This lecture will look at the radical innovations of Robert Rauschenberg, Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein and the others that made up the American postwar Pop Art movement that flourished from the 1950s to the 1980s.

With the rise of consumerism in the boom years after WWII, these artists turned to imagery based on commonly found objects, popular graphic arts, and other mass-produced printed works. With his “Combines” and collages incorporating newspaper and magazine imagery with heavily painted sections, Robert Rauschenberg (1925-2008) provided the bridge from American Abstract Expressionism – the prevailing art form at mid-century – to commercial images such as Andy Warhol’s (1928-1987) famous Campbell’s Soup Cans from 1961. Warhol went on to make works glorifying movie stars and others in iconic graphic works such as his Marilyn and Pop Art became the most recognizable form of art in America in the latter half of the 20th Century.

Roy Lichtenstein (1923–1997) added his specific focus on comic strips and advertisements and Robert Indiana (1928-2018) made his name with over-sized numbers, letters and simple, monumental sculptures such as his “Love” in New York City. Jasper Johns (b. 1930) brought some of the most recognizable American Flag imagery of the last 100 years and Claes Oldenburg (1929-2022) aggrandized in giant form the most mundane of objects including a typewriter eraser, a cherry on a spoon and a badminton shuttlecock. The sheer daring and audacity of these artists is sure to impress as we look at one of the most impactful movements in the history of American art.

This 90-minute program is included with museum admission ($8 general; $5 seniors, college, and military with ID; $3 youth ages 6–17), but is completely FREE for current OMAM members and U.S. veterans. 

Registration is requested as seats are limited.

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About the Speaker

Ruth Grim has a Master of Arts from the New York University Institute of Fine Arts with a specialization in 18th and 19th century European art. Her museum career spans 32 years of curatorial work throughout the state including 18 years at the Bass Museum in Miami Beach, seven years at the Appleton Museum of Art in Ocala, and more than six years as chief curator at the Museum of Arts & Sciences in Daytona Beach.