Roy

Lichtenstein

Who is Roy Lichtenstein?

born Oct. 27, 1923, New York, N.Y., U.S. died Sept. 29, 1997, New York City

American painter who was a founder and foremost practitioner of Pop art, a movement that countered the techniques and concepts of Abstract Expressionism with images and techniques taken from popular culture.

The road of his career

At the start of his artistic career, Lichtenstein painted themes from the American West in a variety of modern art styles; he dabbled in 1957 even in Abstract Expressionism, a style he later reacted against.

The road of his career

• His interest in the comic-strip cartoon as an art theme probably began with a painting of Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck he made in 1960 for his children. Although he was initially dissatisfied with his technique and uncomfortable with direct appropriation, he took great pleasure in presenting well-known comic-strip figures in a fine art format.

The road of his career He increased the size of his canvases and began

to manipulate to his own ends the graphic and linguistic conventions of comic strips dealing with such genres as romance, war, and science fiction.

In the style of comic strips, he used words to express sound effects. He developed a detached, mass-produced effect by outlining areas of primary colour with thick black lines and by using a technique that simulated benday screening (a dot pattern used by engravers).

The road of his career Lichtenstein’s first one-man show, held in New

York City in 1962, was a great commercial success, and his innovative work found an international audience.

Lichtenstein continued in this vein for much of his

career, and his artworks are readily identifiable by their comic-strip characteristics. Nevertheless he extended these techniques into clever and thought-provoking meditations on art and popular culture.

The road of his career

After the 1960s, Lichtenstein’s works began

to include still lifes and landscapes, and they were a dramatic departure from his earlier style in their use of brushstrokes as well as in their subject matter.

Roy Lichtenstein’s

paintingGirl with hair ribbonDrowning Girl

Roy Lichtenstein’s

paintingA simple, streamlined image and a single word detonate an explosive impact in Roy Lichtenstein’s large-than-life “Blam.”

Blam

Roy Lichtenstein’s

paintingPeace Through Chemistry

Reflection in Miror