The Arts and the Mass Media  

by 

Lawrence Alloway

Selected quote : "The definition of culture is changing as a result of the pressure of the great audience, which is no longer new but experienced in the consumption of its arts. Therefore, it is no longer sufficient to define culture solely as something that a minority guards for the few and the future (though such art is uniquely valuable and a precious as ever)." 

Note from the publisher and writer Gary Comenas :

Lawrence Alloway is often incorrectly credited with the first published use of the term "Pop Art" in the following article which first appeared in the February 1958 issue of Architectural Design & Construction. Note that although the article does contain references to "mass popular art," the actual term "Pop Art" is never used. gc.

Gary Comenas (2009) continues in an article Art vs. Life vs. Pop, A review of Andy Warhol (Icons of America series) by Arthur C. Danto:

But if Danto had read the actual article he would have noticed that the term "Pop art" does not actually appear in it. Alloway was partially responsible for the confusion. In an essay by him which first appeared in Auction magazine in February 1962 and was later reprinted in a collection of essays by Alloway titled Topics in American Art Since 1945 (NY: W.W. Norton & Co., 1975) as the chapter "Pop Art: The Words," Alloway wrote, "The term [Pop Art], originated in England by me, was meant as a description of mass communications, especially, but not exclusively, visual ones. By the winter of 1957-58 the term was in use, either as Pop Culture or Pop Art." The latter sentence is footnoted, "The first published appearance of the terms that I know is: Lawrence Alloway. 'The Arts and the Mass Media.' Architectural Design, February, 1958." (TA119) Alloway may be confusing his "Arts and the Mass Media" article with another article he wrote with a similar title, "Notes on Abstract Art and the Mass Media," which appeared in the February 27 - March 12, 1960 issue of the U.K. magazine, Art News and Review (now Art Review magazine), in which he did use the term "pop art" (in small letters) to refer to popular art such as Hollywood movies. It was not meant to designate an actual art movement. The article was a review of an exhibition by "The Cambridge Group" - Tim Wallis, James Meller, George Coral and Raymond Wilson. Alloway's claim that he originated the term "Pop Art" is curious because in an earlier article, "Development of British Pop" published in Lucy R. Lippard's 1966 book, Pop Art, he denied that he originated the term, writing "The term 'Pop Art' is credited to me, but I don't know precisely when it was first used." (LA27) The first time the term actually appeared in print (in small letters as "pop art") was in Peter and Alison Smithson's article "But Today We Collect Ads" published by the Royal College of Art (London) in the November 1956 issue of Ark magazine. As Alloway stated in his 1966 essay, "sometime between the winter of 1954-55 the phrase acquired currency in conversation, in connection with the shared work and discussion among members of the Independent Group." The Smithsons and Alloway were both part of the group.

The complete article is here