Looking Back at the Iconic 1960s Female Pop Artist Majorie Strider

Marjorie Strider was one of the few female pop artists to gain prominence in 1960s New York—an otherwise male-dominated arena. Her brightly painted works featured sensuous portrayals of women—often clad in swimsuits on the beach—and were a takeoff from images seen in popular men’s magazines of the time. Many of these seemingly jovial paintings incorporated sculptural elements, which created a clever juxtaposition with the flat application of color and form. For example, her 1963 Girl with Radish subject has a three-dimensional radish in her mouth. In 1964, Strider participated in the famous exhibition “First International Girlie Show”at Pace Gallery, a show that included Roy Lichtenstein, Tom Wesselmann, Andy Warhol, and Rosalyn Drexler. These artists would eventually become among the most iconic names of the Pop Art pantheon.

Only in the past decade has there been a re-examining of the importance of female artists in the Pop Art genre, as seen in the 2011 exhibition Seductive Subversion at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, which showed work exclusively by women. This new wave of recognition has spurred an increased demand among collectors, and the prices of these works have soared.

Black on Green, 2009, is an expression of color blocking in its truest form, with the most minimal of details. Photo: Courtesy of Michael Thomas Collection

Strider’s 2010 Big Bite referenced her most well-known work, the 1963 Girl with Radish, but without that painting’s sculptural element. Photo: Courtesy of Michael Thomas Collection