Roy Lichtenstein

Overview
Roy Lichtenstein (1923–1997) is a leading artist of the hugely influential Pop Art movement. His appropriation and manipulation of commercial materials – comic strips, newspaper ads – marks a bold and incisive reaction against the exalted status of fine art.

With a signature painterly technique that replicates the iconic Ben-Day dots of mass-print media, Lichtenstein painstakingly reproduced – and subtly altered – commercial images, often blowing them up to a huge canvas size. 

Despite such provocations he quickly garnered critical acclaim, becoming the first American to exhibit at London’s Tate Gallery in 1966. By both exalting and parodying mass-print media, using laborious techniques to replicate what print could reproduce almost instantly, Lichtenstein exposed the cracks in the boundary between the commercial and non-commercial. Lichtenstein exemplifies the ability of the artist to provoke and critique contemporary culture.
Works
  • Roy Lichtenstein, Two Paintings (Corlett 205), 1984
    Two Paintings (Corlett 205), 1984
  • Roy Lichtenstein, Entablature II, 1976
    Entablature II, 1976
  • Roy Lichtenstein, Still Life with Lobster, 1974
    Still Life with Lobster, 1974
  • Roy Lichtenstein, Modern Head #2 (Corlett 92), 1970
    Modern Head #2 (Corlett 92), 1970
  • Roy Lichtenstein, Haystack #4, 1969
    Haystack #4, 1969
  • Roy Lichtenstein, Real Estate, 1969
    Real Estate, 1969
  • Roy Lichtenstein, Sandwich and Soda, 1964
    Sandwich and Soda, 1964