top of page

Cigars, Pop Art and Mel Ramos

There is hardly anyone who has not heard of Andy Warhol, who has recently been exhibited at Pera Museum and named as the number one of Pop Art. Even though the name does not immediately evoke an association, you will surely remember the famous Marilyn Monroe's Pop Art painting on the side, which is his work.

Pop Art, which was a very influential movement from the mid-1950s to the 60s, of course, besides Andy Warhol, also followed other artists. Along with Roy Liechtenstein, who is considered another important representative of Warhol and Pop Art, Mel Ramos, who was born in Sakramento in 1935 and taught as an art professor, is one of the first to make art using elements and figures in comic books. There is even an exhibition that the three of them opened jointly in 1963.

Mel Ramos is also an artist known for her paintings and sculptures of nude women, who, in the later years of her art life, emerged from among the different objects brought by popular culture - the most famous of which are bananas and martini glasses. In fact, the person he portrayed in the early days was his own wife, Leta Ramos. However, some circles criticize these works for both their sexist approach to women and their overly commercial feel.

Although the most well-known works above are quite interesting to the eye, my main interest in Mel Ramos's art is his works with cigars. Of course, it would be wrong to expect something different when someone who has nudes in every piece of work does it with a cigar. Come if you want, let's stop now and enjoy the art of Mel Ramos. By the way, I recommend you to light a cigar to increase your enjoyment.

In the meantime, try not to let the artifacts affect your future cigar choices.

For more detailed information about Mel Ramos and his works: www.melramos.com

Enjoyable smoking ...

bottom of page