Art: The Venerability of Pop

FIRST it seemed all Brillo boxes, hoked-up cartoon strips, billboard fragments—and met mostly loud guffaws. But after less than a decade Pop art has not only come of age; it has —such is the accelerated pulse of art movements today—almost become venerable. As a sure sign of esteem, New York's Guggenheim is now holding a retrospective of the comic-strip-inspired works of Roy Lichtenstein, and the saggy, baggy sculptures of Claes Oldenburg are on display at the Museum of Modern Art. The Whitney Museum, not to be outdone, will exhibit another major Pop artist,...