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Why did critics initially describe Pop art as vulgar or sensational?

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Five Andy Warhol paintings of Campbell's soup cans, each labeled with a different soup variety, displayed in a row on a white wall at Museumsquartier in Vienna. — Pop art *Campbell's Soup Cans*, polymer paint on canvas by Andy Warhol, 1962; a selection of five on display in the Museumsquartier, Vienna.

Critics initially described Pop art as vulgar, sensational, non-aesthetic, and a joke because it rejected the established conventions of "high art" and the prevailing dominance of Abstract Expressionism.1

Instead of focusing on the highly personal and expressive qualities favored by the avant-garde of the time, Pop artists embraced the commercial and popular culture of the machine-industrial age. By utilizing commonplace objects—such as comic strips, soup cans, and advertising imagery—and employing the precise, impersonal techniques of mass production, the movement challenged traditional artistic values.12

While critics viewed these choices as a descent into kitsch or a lack of artistic seriousness, proponents of the movement argued that Pop art was democratic and nondiscriminatory, aiming to bridge the gap between connoisseurs and the general public by reflecting the reality of a commodity-driven, mass-media-oriented society.12