Roy Lichtenstein

About The Artist

Roy Lichtenstein, October 27, 1923 – September 29, 1997, was a prominent American pop artist. During the 1960s, his paintings were exhibited at the Leo Castelli Gallery in New York City and, along with Andy Warhol, Jasper Johns, James Rosenquist, and others he became a leading figure in the new art movement. His work defined the basic premise of pop art better than any other. Favoring the old-fashioned comic strip as subject matter, Lichtenstein produced hard-edged, precise compositions that documented while it parodied often in a tongue-in-cheek humorous manner. His work was heavily influenced by both popular advertising and the comic book style.

In 1949 Lichtenstein received an M.F.A. degree from the Ohio State University.

In 1996 the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. became the largest single repository of the artist’s work when Lichtenstein donated 154 prints and 2 books. The Art Institute of Chicago has several important works by Lichtenstein in its permanent collection. The personal holdings of Lichtenstein’s widow, Dorothy Lichtenstein, and of the Roy Lichtenstein Foundation number in the hundreds. In Europe, the Museum Ludwig has one of the most comprehensive Lichtenstein holdings. In total there are some 4,500 works thought to be in circulation.