Roy Lichtenstein

ROY LICHTENSTEIN GROUNDED HIS PROFOUNDLY INVENTIVE CAREER IN IMITATION—BEGINNING BY BORROWING IMAGES FROM COMIC BOOKS AND ADVERTISEMENTS IN THE EARLY 1960S, AND EVENTUALLY ENCOMPASSING THOSE OF EVERYDAY OBJECTS, ARTISTIC STYLES, AND ART HISTORY ITSELF. COMPOSED USING BEN-DAY DOTS—THE METHOD USED BY NEWSPAPERS AND COMIC STRIPS TO DENOTE GRADIENTS AND TEXTURE—LICHTENSTEIN’S WORK MIMICKED THE MECHANICAL TECHNIQUE WITH HIS OWN HAND ON A MUCH LARGER SCALE. HE WAS A LEADING FIGURE IN ESTABLISHING THE POP ART MOVEMENT, ALONG WITH CLAES OLDENBURG, ANDY WARHOL, AND JASPER JOHNS. TODAY, HIS WORKS ARE HELD IN THE COLLECTIONS OF THE ART INSTITUTE OF CHICAGO, THE MUSEUM OF MODERN ART IN NEW YORK, THE NATIONAL GALLERY OF ART IN WASHINGTON, D.C., AND THE TATE MODERN IN LONDON.