Mel Ramos (1935-2018) was an American figurative painter who gained popularity as part of the Pop Art movement of the 1960s. Ramos is most well known for his paintings of pinup models, consumer products, and superheroes.

Born in Sacramento, California, Ramos received his B.A. and his M.A. from Sacramento State College and studied under Wayne Thiebaud. He received his first important recognition in the early 1960s. Along with Roy Lichtenstein and Andy Warhol, he was one of the first artists to make paintings of images from comic books.

Ramos was on the faculty of the California State College in Hayward for more than 30 years. In 2012, the Crocker Art Museum in Sacramento hosted a major retrospective, Mel Ramos: 50 Years of Superheroes, Nudes, and Other Pop Delights. Ramos�s works can be found in the collections of Albright- Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, NY; Guggenheim Museum, New York, NY; Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington D.C.; Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, CA; Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago; Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY; Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.; Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY; and many others.