Liechtenstein

Bursting onto a scene dominated by Abstract Expressionism in late 1950s New York and defining a new artistic lexicon , the American painter Roy Lichtenstein (1923–1997) ushered in a new era in American art.

Thanks to a pioneering style that mixed industrial production techniques with banal and ordinary images such as cartoons, comics and advertising , Lichtenstein joined the ranks of contemporary artists, including Andy Warhol and James Rosenquist, who mirrored and satirized American mass media and consumer culture . In works such as Look, Mickey! (1961), Drowning Girl (1963) and Whaam! (1963), the artist used mass production techniques (in particular, the Ben-Day dot printing method ) to create an explosive effect and that pixelated style with which Lichtenstein has become synonymous.

This volume provides an essential overview of Lichtenstein's career, from his early pop statements to his brushstroke responses to abstract expressionism and his reinterpretations of contemporary masterpieces in the following years, highlighting the Lichtenstein's pivotal role in mid-century modernism and the ways in which his works both critique and document twentieth-century America.