"This important book revises our understanding of one of the key moments in American art: the beginnings of Pop art. A style celebrated for its use of mass-production, Pop art has conventionally been seen as constituting a complete break with the art movements that preceded it. Hand-Painted Pop: American Art in Transition, 1955-62 reevaluates this perception by considering Pop art's complex, layered period of evolution, focusing on its crucial seven years of development. Accompanying eight essays by distinguished art historians are 235 illustrations tracing Pop art's earliest beginnings. Many of the works shown have rarely been seen; others are among the most famous icons of our time. Hand-Painted Pop: American Art in Transition, 1955-62 places these works in the broader context of American culture. Among the topics covered are the formal links between New York School painting and early Pop art; the evolution of artists' choice of subject matter in the period; art education in the postwar era; the success and failure of the critical response to Pop; and gay iconography in the paintings of several Pop artists. This substantial revisionist history sheds considerable light on a central movement in art history." -- Publisher's description