Advertisements, comic strips, bold colours – and women: these are defining elements of Pop Art in the 1960s and early 1970s. The role of women in Pop Art was twofold, perhaps even ambiguous. They embodied a stereotypical, desirable ideal, while also emerging as symbols of liberation. Women were at once supermodels and role models. In POP MODELS, Museum MORE becomes the first museum to put women in Pop Art at centre stage. As both muses and makers. The exhibition focuses on Europe, where the movement was often more outspoken and socially engaged than its American counterpart. This major exhibition at MORE presents an extensive selection of paintings, collages and objects by well-known artists such as Niki de Saint Phalle, Yves Klein and Richard Hamilton, alongside exciting discoveries like Ketty La Rocca and Jana Želibská.
On display at Museum MORE in Gorssel from 22 June to 28 September 2025
Art or gimmick?
‘Popular (designed for a mass audience), transient (short-term solution), expendable (easily forgotten), low-cost, mass-produced, young (aimed at youth), witty, sexy, gimmicky, glamorous, and Big Business.’
These are the words that British artist Richard Hamilton used in 1957 to describe the art movement now known as Pop Art. Artists responded to a new reality, including the ‘American Dream’, which was beginning to ripple out across the globe. In their work, they offered a critique of the emerging mass media, post-war consumer society and the art movements that had preceded them. They considered abstract art to be passé; figuration returned, but in an entirely new form. Their own reality – everyday life – appeared as provocative, disruptive art. When Pop Art first emerged in Great Britain in the late 1950s, it was not even recognised as art.
Man's Game and feminism
Pop Art was anti-establishment, and had young artists at its helm. They wanted their art to resonate with the general public, using popular and everyday imagery. Women were a favoured subject. The so-called ‘seductive’ woman from advertisements, promoting cars and household goods; the ‘femme fatale’ from comic strips; Hollywood icons like Marilyn Monroe, whose identical likeness appeared endlessly in the work of American artist Andy Warhol. But to what extent did Pop Art’s depiction of women reflect modern society? Or were these images actually a critique of this new world? Was Pop Art tongue-in-cheek glamour, a subversive artistic device, or an artistic revolt? Was Pop Art a man’s game, or also a form of feminist expression?
Europe
This fascinating ambiguity invites a fresh look at Pop Art and the role played by both male and female artists in shaping the image of women in the 1960s and 1970s. European Pop Art is particularly compelling in this context. Compared to their American counterparts, European artists engage more explicitly with (Western) art history in their work. They merged high and low art, blending tradition, artisanal skill and provocation. Many European artists appear to be more personal and socially engaged in their practice. Some mock prejudices and stereotypes, while others are openly critical, using their art to challenge the status quo.
Shocking
It was above all female pop artists who made this stand, helping to spark the second wave of feminism in Europe with their art. The contraceptive pill had only just been introduced in 1964, and in some European countries, married women were still stripped of legal capacity. The reality faced by female artists in a predominantly male art world gave rise to personal statements – expressions of defiance against societal constraints and sexism.
‘There I was, an attractive girl (if I had been ugly, they would have said I had a complex and not paid any attention) screaming against men in my interviews and shooting with a gun’.
This is how the Franco-American artist Niki de Saint Phalle described the shocked response to her work and persona. Over time, as she created an indomitable army of monumental, voluptuous female figures (her now world-famous Nanas), De Saint Phalle steadily rose to become a feminist icon. But are we doing her a disservice by viewing her oeuvre solely through the lens of the female gaze?
Rediscover
For many years, female pop artists were overshadowed by their male counterparts. British-American artist Jann Haworth, for example, has only in recent years received recognition for her pioneering role in the movement, and her for her contribution to the creation of the legendary cover of the Beatles album Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. At the time, Haworth’s then husband, Pop Art celebrity Peter Blake, was credited as the main creator. To this day, the art world continues to (re)discover women in Pop Art, most recently the work of Italian artist Ketty La Rocca and Slovakian artist Jana Želibská.
Muze and maker, supermodel or role model: the meaning of women in Pop Art remains shrouded in ambiguity. The major survey POP MODELS at Museum MORE allows the public to decide for themselves whether – and how – the portrayal of women is stereotypical or layered. Sensual or sexist. Pretty or powerful. One thing’s for sure: the authenticity of European Pop Art easily stands its ground against the more commercial sheen of its American counterpart.
POP MODELS presents more than 70 works by nearly 60 artists from Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Great Britain, Iceland, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia and Spain, from both museum and private collections. The exhibition was curated by guest curator Feico Hoekstra, in collaboration with Julia Dijkstra, Curator at Museum MORE.
BOOK The accompanying illustrated publication contains a text by Curator Julia Dijkstra and guest curator Feico Hoekstra, an essay by Maaike Meijer (Professor of Gender Studies) and Rosemarie Buikema (Professor of Art, Culture and Diversity), and Julia Dijkstra’s interview with British-American artist Jann Haworth. The book is published by WBooks and designed by Studio Mayra & Sam: 160 pages, approx. 100 images, price: € 34.95.
Artists
Woody van Amen, Bettina von Arnim, Rainer Alfred Auer, Evelyne Axell, Werner Berges, Peter Blake, Pauline Boty, KP Brehmer, Fred Carasso, Mari Chordà, Christa Dichgans, Antony Donaldson, Sue Dunkley, Equipo Realidad, Erró, VALIE EXPORT, Émilienne Farny, Ferdi, Stano Filko, Giosetta Fioroni, Ángela García Codoñer, Claude Gilli, Robert Graham, Eulàlia Grau, Maja van Hall, Richard Hamilton, Jann Haworth, Alain Jacquet, Allen Jones, Kirsten Justesen, Jeff Keen, Per Kirkeby, Peter Klasen, Yves Klein, Kiki Kogelnik, Konrad Lueg, Teresa Magalhães, Pol Mara, Lucia Marcucci, Umberto Mariani, Albert Mertz, Jacques Monory, Edgard Naccache, Isabel Oliver, Panamarenko, Eduardo Paolozzi, Peter Phillips, Emanuel Proweller, Martial Raysse, Ketty La Rocca, Mimmo Rotella, Niki de Saint Phalle, Gérard Schlosser, Colin Self, Fernand Teyssier, Jana Želibská.
