--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Pop art: only possible in an affluent…" description: "\"“Pop art: only possible in an affluent society, where one can be free to enjoy ironic consumption.”\" — Susan Sontag" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/994/susan-sontag-332_art_pop-art-only-possible-in-an-affluent-soc_320357.jpg" --- # Pop art: only possible in an affluent society, where one… ![“Pop art: only possible in an affluent society, where one can be free to enjoy ironic consumption.” quote by Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/994/susan-sontag-332_art_pop-art-only-possible-in-an-affluent-soc_320357.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/994/susan-sontag-332_art_pop-art-only-possible-in-an-affluent-soc_320357.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/994/susan-sontag-332_art_pop-art-only-possible-in-an-affluent-soc_320357.jpg) > ““Pop art: only possible in an affluent society, where one can be free to enjoy ironic consumption.”” [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Pop art thrives where wealth allows ironic, detached consumption of culture. **In simple terms:** Affluence enables ironic art. Key Takeaway Recognize how economic context shapes artistic expression. Themes art culture irony consumerism Mood critical analytical Type interpretive theoretical When to use this quote - gallery exhibitions - advertising - media critique - fashion trends Key Concepts Postmodernism critical theory Questions to Reflect On - How does wealth influence artistic trends? - Can irony exist without consumer excess? A Different Perspective May overlook grassroots creativity in less affluent settings. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Artist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/artist/) [Pop art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pop-art/) ## Related quotes > [“In an affluent society there ought to be an income floor under every man below which society will not allow him to go –…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pierre-berton/in-an-affluent-society-there-ought-to-be-an-income-floor-under-every/) [Pierre Berton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pierre-berton/) > [Unfortunately, our affluent society has also been an effluent society.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hubert-h-humphrey/unfortunately-our-affluent-society-has-also-been-an-effluent-society/) [Hubert H. Humphrey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hubert-h-humphrey/) > [Things that come from the private sector are in abundant supply; things that depend on the public sector are widely a problem. We're a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-kenneth-galbraith/things-that-come-from-the-private-sector-are-in-abundant-supply/) [John Kenneth Galbraith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-kenneth-galbraith/) > [With breathtaking rapidity, we are destroying all that was lovely to look at and turning America into a prison house of the spirit. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-sevareid/with-breathtaking-rapidity-we-are-destroying-all-that-was-lovely-to/) [Eric Sevareid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-sevareid/) > [In the affluent society, no useful distinction can be made between luxuries and necessities.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-kenneth-galbraith/in-the-affluent-society-no-useful-distinction-can-be-made-between/) [John Kenneth Galbraith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-kenneth-galbraith/) > [The affluent society has built well in terms of economic progress, but has neglected the protection of the very water we drink as well…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-church/the-affluent-society-has-built-well-in-terms-of-economic-progress-but/) [Frank Church](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-church/) > [One of the advantages of being born in an affluent society is that if one has any intelligence at all, one will realize that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tenzin-palmo/one-of-the-advantages-of-being-born-in-an-affluent-society-is-that-if/) [Tenzin Palmo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tenzin-palmo/) > [The untalented are more at ease in a society that gives them valid alibis for not achieving than in one where opportunities are abundant.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-hoffer/the-untalented-are-more-at-ease-in-a-society-that-gives-them-valid/) [Eric Hoffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-hoffer/) > [“The Affluent Society not only changed the way the country viewed itself, but gave new phrases to the language: Conventional wisdom, the bland leading…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amartya-sen/the-affluent-society-not-only-changed-the-way-the-country-viewed/) [Amartya Sen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amartya-sen/) > [But most Canadians have recognized to a greater or lesser extent that despite much of the so-called progress of the affluent society, essential ingredients…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-campbell/but-most-canadians-have-recognized-to-a-greater-or-lesser-extent-that/) [Alex Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-campbell/) > [Kids are really tougher than adults, but we tend to forget this in an affluent society that lets kids indulge themselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cynthia-voigt/kids-are-really-tougher-than-adults-but-we-tend-to-forget-this-in-an/) [Cynthia Voigt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cynthia-voigt/) > [Only thanks to Pop Art, my painting has become understandable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/domenico-gnoli/only-thanks-to-pop-art-my-painting-has-become-understandable/) [Domenico Gnoli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/domenico-gnoli/) > [I've worked with jazz artists, country artists, classical artists, pop artists. I never wanted there to be categories, because when I was a kid…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-mcknight/i-ve-worked-with-jazz-artists-country-artists-classical-artists-pop/) [Brian McKnight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-mcknight/) > [One cannot live in society and be free from society.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-lenin/one-cannot-live-in-society-and-be-free-from-society/) [Vladimir Lenin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-lenin/) > [I want a society free of human trafficking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anuradha-koirala/i-want-a-society-free-of-human-trafficking/) Anuradha Koirala ## More by Susan Sontag > [the appetite for thinking must be regulated, as all sensible people know, for it may stifle one's life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/the-appetite-for-thinking-must-be-regulated-as-all-sensible-people/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [We are ruled by quotations.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/we-are-ruled-by-quotations/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [Unfortunately, moral beauty in art - like physical beauty in a person - is extremely perishable. It is nowhere so durable as artistic or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/unfortunately-moral-beauty-in-art-like-physical-beauty-in-a-person-is/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [Like the collector, the photographer is animated by a passion that, even when it appears to be for the present, is linked to a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/like-the-collector-the-photographer-is-animated-by-a-passion-that/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [ Anthropology has always struggled with an intense, fascinated repulsion towards its subject… \[The anthropologist\] submits himself to the exotic to confirm his own inner… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/anthropology-has-always-struggled-with-an-intense-fascinated/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [“Why not eliminate schooling between age 12-16? It’s biologically + psychologically too turbulent a time to be cooped up inside, made to sit all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/why-not-eliminate-schooling-between-age-12-16-it-s-biologically/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [To photograph people is to violate them, by seeing them as they never see themselves, by having knowledge of them that they can never…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/to-photograph-people-is-to-violate-them-by-seeing-them-as-they-never/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [One set of messages of the society we live in is: Consume. Grow. Do what you want. Amuse yourselves. The very working of this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/one-set-of-messages-of-the-society-we-live-in-is-consume-grow-do-what/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [Currently intellectuals in Western Europe and North America are extremely demoralized and shaken by the rise of a virulent conservative tendency (which some have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/currently-intellectuals-in-western-europe-and-north-america-are/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [With the modern diseases (once TB, now cancer) the romantic idea that the disease expresses the character is invariably extended to assert that the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/with-the-modern-diseases-once-tb-now-cancer-the-romantic-idea-that/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [As objects of contemplation, images of the atrocious can answer to several different needs. To steel oneself against weakness. To make oneself more numb.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/as-objects-of-contemplation-images-of-the-atrocious-can-answer-to/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [The creative phase of an idea coincides with the period during which it insists, cantankerously, on its boundaries, on what makes it different; but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/the-creative-phase-of-an-idea-coincides-with-the-period-during-which/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [Photographs objectify: they turn an event or a person into something that can be possessed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/photographs-objectify-they-turn-an-event-or-a-person-into-something/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [I'm not interested in giving aid and comfort to the neo­-Conservatives.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/i-m-not-interested-in-giving-aid-and-comfort-to-the-neo-conservatives/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [The feminist movement has been important to me because it's made me feel less odd and also because it has made me understand some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/the-feminist-movement-has-been-important-to-me-because-it-s-made-me/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) [Explore all 644 Susan Sontag quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) ## More Art quotes > [True works of art contain their own theory and give us the measurement according to which we should judge them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/true-works-of-art-contain-their-own-theory-and-give-us-the/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [Before Noah, men having only water to drink, could not find the truth. 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You treat ideas like cats: you make them follow you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/that-s-the-great-secret-of-creativity-you-treat-ideas-like-cats-you/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [“So, really," continued Jacob as if this were perfectly normal to expound on art in these circumstances, "when you think about it, the artists…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justina-chen-headley/so-really-continued-jacob-as-if-this-were-perfectly-normal-to-expound/) [Justina Chen Headley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justina-chen-headley/) > [“There are two options in art; either to adopt philosophical life by dissecting art, or to write your own philosophical life and claim it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taf-teh/there-are-two-options-in-art-either-to-adopt-philosophical-life-by/) Taf Teh > [The house has to serve comfort. The work of art is revolutionary; the house is conservative.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adolf-loos/the-house-has-to-serve-comfort-the-work-of-art-is-revolutionary-the/) [Adolf Loos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adolf-loos/) > [During human progress, every science is evolved out of its corresponding art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/during-human-progress-every-science-is-evolved-out-of-its/) [Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/) > [In literature and art memory is a synonym for invention. It is the life-blood of imagination, which faints and dies when the veins are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-aris-willmott/in-literature-and-art-memory-is-a-synonym-for-invention-it-is-the/) [Robert Aris Willmott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-aris-willmott/) > [I think a business guy is different from an artist. They walk different paths. Artists create the best outputs when they're having fun. 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