Hopkins emphasizes that art during this period was rarely isolated from politics. The book tracks how major social shifts influenced the studio: After Modern Art 1945 2000 (Oxford History Of Art)
Figures like Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein bridged the gap between "high art" and mass consumer culture, using iconography from advertising and comics. After Modern Art 1945-2000 (Oxford History of Art)
These movements stripped art of its decorative functions. Donald Judd and Sol LeWitt questioned the very nature of authorship and the "art object". Hopkins emphasizes that art during this period was