Mel Ramos (1935-2018) was one of the most important representatives of American Pop Art, and his name is mentioned in the same breath as, for example, Andy Warhol, Robert Rauschenberg, and Roy Lichtenstein. In his works, Ramos celebrates the pop culture staged in the mass media and combines consumer goods from advertising with greats from show business.

Mel Ramos became known in the early 1960s for his paintings of superheroes and comic book characters. His trademark later became pin-up girls in connection with branded articles, which helped him to worldwide fame. In these works, sometimes a naked beauty peeks out from behind a Coke bottle, others ride on cigars, peel themselves out of chocolate bar wrappers or loll on donuts.