Roy Lichtenstein - The American Pop Artist

One of the major American Pop artists of his time, Roy Lichtenstein was born on 27th October, 1923 in New York City to an upper-middleclass family. He began to draw and paint for a hobby in his childhood, with his subject frequently being jazz musicians in the act of playing musical instruments as he was intensely passionate about jazz music.

After his schooling Lichtenstein was off to Ohio State University to enroll at the School of Fine Arts, though he had to discontinue his education in between on account of World War II. Following the war, he was right back at the Ohio State University to complete his Bachelor of Fine Art degree in June 1946. After gaining his Master of Fine Arts in 1949, he held his first solo exhibition at the Ten Thirty Gallery in Cleveland, Ohio.

Lichtenstein's paintings during this period could be classified under Geometric Abstraction and Cubism. It was not until 1956 that he created his first example of Pop art - a depiction of a dollar bill. Following his appointment as Assistant Professor at Douglas College at Rutgers University, New Jersey, Lichtenstein made contact with Allan Kaprow which made a significant contribution to reviving his interest in Pop art and imagery.

In 1961 appeared "Look, Mickey", an early example of his pop art paintings that were created employing images from cartoons and comics, as well as techniques that were a derivative of the aesthetics of commercial printing. Lichtenstein created six paintings depicting characters from comic-strip frames while bringing about only minor color changes from the source. He also began employing certain devices that would become representative of his work such as lettering and speech balloons (as would appear in comics) and Ben-Day dots.

His next most representative Pop art painting appeared in 1963, "Drowning Girl." Employing oil and Magna paint on canvas, Lichtenstein appropriated the figure from the lead story in DC Comics' "Secret Hearts" issue no. 83. In that same year appeared his famous painting, an adaptation of a comic book panel from a 1962 issue of "All-American Men of War" from DC Books, "Whaam!"

The 1970s and 1980s saw Lichtenstein expanding on his earlier works through a series of paintings known as "Artists Studios" that included parts of his earlier works. "Pow Wow" (1979) is an example of the surreal works he was involved in the late 1970s. Apart from the numerous awards received and exhibitions held that confirm his popularity and the recognition he received, his "Torpedo...Los!" painting sold at Christie's for $5.5 million in 1989 which was a record sum then. He achieved the record of being one of only three living artists to command such large prizes.

Lichtenstein also created the DreamWorks Records logo before he died in 1997 of pneumonia.

The Roy Lichtenstein Foundation was established in accordance with his wishes in 1999 in order to support and encourage an appreciative understanding of the art of Roy Lichtenstein and other contemporary artists of his time.