Virtual Art Tour

Roy Lichtenstein, American, 1930 - 1987

Inaugural Print

Renowned American painter, Roy Lichtenstein was born in New York City, NY, where he studied art with Reginald Marsh at the Art Students League. After earning his BFA and MFA at Ohio State University, Lichtenstein went on to teach there. In 1962, his first one-man show was held at Leo Castelli Gallery, where he continued to have shows until he passed away. Lichtenstein began painting in an Abstract Expressionist style, which was followed by his Pop Art style, derived from his interest in the comic strip. He often used irony in his work as a method of attacking myths and masterpieces. His works depict characters in tense, dramatic situations to comment on modern man’s plight, in which mass media -magazines, advertisements, television- shape our emotions and express his fascination with the reproduction of images. Lichtenstein was not only a painter, but also a graphic artist and sculptor. He used the dots of the printing process, (Ben Day dots, used to add tone to printed images), found in the original printed works and reproduced them by hand in his paintings.

Ex-President Carter, when speaking of this piece stated, “This is an exuberant work that is full of symbols of a new beginning: The sunrise (inspired by my early-morning appearance in Plains the day after the election); the hand raised to take the oath (it’s shape echoed by the cactus in the middle of the picture): and, most important of all, the scroll overlapping the temple of government--symbolizing the fact that ours is a system in which institutions are governed by the Constitution and the laws.”