Roy Lichtenstein
American, 1923-1997
Roy Lichtenstein is one of the principal figures of the American Pop art movement, along with Andy Warhol, James Rosenquist, Claes Oldenburg and Robert Rauschenberg.
Drawing inspiration from comic strips, Lichtenstein appropriated techniques commercial printing in his paintings, introducing a vernacular sensibility to the visual landscape of contemporary art. He employed visual elements such as the halftone dots that comprise a printed image, and a comic-inspired use of primary colors gave his paintings their signature “Pop” palette.
Born and raised in New York City, Lichtenstein enjoyed Manhattan’s myriad cultural offerings and comic books in equal measure. He began painting seriously as a teenager, studying watercolor painting at the Parsons School of Design in the late 1930s, and later at the Art Students League, where he worked with American realist painter Reginald Marsh. He began his undergraduate education at Ohio State University in 1940, and after a three-year stint in the United States Army during World War II, he completed his bachelor’s degree and then his master’s in fine arts. The roots of Lichtenstein’s interest in the convergence of high art and popular culture are evident even in his early years in Cleveland, where in the late 1940s, he taught at Ohio State, designed window displays for a department store and painted his own pieces.
Working at the height of the Abstract Expressionist movement in the 1950s, Lichtenstein deliberately eschewed the sort of painting that was held in high esteem by the art world and chose instead to explore the visual world of print advertising and comics. This gesture of recontextualizing a lowbrow image by importing it into a fine-art context would become a trademark of Lichtenstein’s artistic style, as well as a vehicle for his critique of the concept of good taste. His 1963 painting Whaam! confronts the viewer with an impact scene from a 1962-era issue of DC Comics’ All American Men of War. Isolated from its larger context, this image combines the playful lettering and brightly colored illustration of the original comic with a darker message about military conflict at the height of the Cold War. Crying Girl from the same year featured another of Lichtenstein’s motifs — a woman in distress, depicted with a mixture of drama and deadpan humor. His work gained a wider audience by creating a comic-inspired mural for the New York State Pavilion of the 1964 World's Fair, he went on to be represented by legendary New York gallerist Leo Castelli for 30 years.
In the 1970s and ’80s, Lichtenstein experimented with abstraction and began exploring basic elements of painting, as in this 1989 work Brushstroke Contest. In addition to paintings in which the brushstroke itself became the central subject, in 1984 he created a large-scale sculpture called Brushstrokes in Flight for the Port Columbus International Airport in Ohio. Still Life with Windmill from 1974 and the triptych Cow Going Abstract from 1982 both demonstrate a break from his earlier works where the subjects were derived from existing imagery. Here, Lichtenstein paints subjects more in line with the norms of art history — a pastoral scene and a still life — but he has translated their compositions into his signature graphic style, in which visual elements of printed comics are still a defining feature.
Lichtenstein’s work is represented in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, Tate Modern, and many others. He was awarded National Medal of Arts in 1995, two years before he passed away.
Find a collection of Roy Lichtenstein prints, drawings and more on 1stDibs.
| Average Sold Price |
| $1,923 |
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"I Know How You Made Me Feel, Brad!", VIP invite to MoMA show HAND SIGNED Framed
By Roy Lichtenstein
Located in New York, NY
Historically scarce -- hand signed museum invitations by Lichtenstein from MoMA, where the artist attended himself, rarely surface, especially when framed and preserved at this level...
Category
1980s Pop Art Roy Lichtenstein
Materials
Lithograph, Offset
Roy Lichtenstein Girl from 1¢ Life
By Roy Lichtenstein
Located in Washington, DC
Artist: Roy Lichtenstein
Title: Girl
Portfolio: 1¢ Life
Medium: Lithograph on white wove paper
Date: 1964
Edition: 2000
Frame Size: 20 3/4" x 18 5/8"
Sheet Size: 16 1/4" x 11 1/2"
Im...
Category
1960s Pop Art Roy Lichtenstein
Materials
Lithograph
Nude With Blue Hair
By Roy Lichtenstein
Located in Washington, DC
Artist: Roy Lichtenstein
Title: Nude With Blue Hair
Medium: Relief print on Rives BFK mold-made paper
Date: 1994
Edition: 28/40
Sheet Size: 57 7/8" x 37 5/8"
Image Size: 51 5/16" x 3...
Category
1990s Pop Art Roy Lichtenstein
Materials
Woodcut
Kiss By Roy Lichtenstein
By Roy Lichtenstein
Located in Dubai, Dubai
Kiss
By Roy Lichtenstein
Roy Lichtenstein was a prominent American pop artist known for his bold, comic strip-inspired paintings. Emerging in the 1960s, his work featured bright co...
Category
1960s Contemporary Roy Lichtenstein
Materials
Paper, Screen
American Indian Theme VI
By Roy Lichtenstein
Located in Washington, DC
Artist: Roy Lichtenstein
Title: American Indian Theme VI
Medium: Woodcut on handmade Suzuki Paper
Date: 1980
Edition: 24/50
Frame Size: 40" x 53"
Sheet Size: 37 3/4" x 50 5/16"
Image...
Category
1980s Pop Art Roy Lichtenstein
Materials
Woodcut
Merton of The Movies-ORIGINAL POSTER
By Roy Lichtenstein
Located in Brooklyn, NY
This original poster, titled Merton of the Movies, was published by List Art Posters and printed by Fine Creations Inc. It was the first poster published by HKL, Ltd., a nonprofit or...
Category
20th Century Pop Art Roy Lichtenstein
Materials
Screen
$200 Sale Price
20% Off
H 30 in W 20 in D 0.1 in
Roy Lichtenstein, Sandwich and Soda, from Ten Works by Ten Painters, 1964
By Roy Lichtenstein
Located in Southampton, NY
This exquisite silkscreen by Roy Lichtenstein (1923–1997), titled Sandwich and Soda, originates from the landmark 1964 folio X + X (Ten Works by Ten Painters). Published by the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Hartford, and printed by Sirocco Screenprints, Inc., North Haven, in Sandwich and Soda, Lichtenstein translates his signature Pop Art vocabulary—bold outlines, flat commercial color, and Ben-Day dot structure—into a crisp, iconic composition that reimagines everyday consumer imagery with graphic intensity and conceptual clarity.
Executed as a silkscreen on Mylar over Mohawk Superfine Bristol paper, this work measures 20 x 24 inches. Unsigned and unnumbered as issued. Printed by Sirocco Screenprints, Inc., North Haven, one of the most capable American screenprinting ateliers of the mid-20th century.
Artwork Details:
Artist: Roy Lichtenstein (1923–1997)
Title: Sandwich and Soda, from X + X (Ten Works by Ten Painters), 1964
Medium: Silkscreen on Mylar over Mohawk Superfine Bristol paper
Dimensions: 20 x 24 inches (50.8 x 60.96 cm)
Inscription: Unsigned and unnumbered as issued
Date: 1964
Publisher: Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Hartford
Printer: Sirocco Screenprints, Inc., North Haven
Edition: D
Catalogue raisonne reference: Corlett, Mary Lee, and Roy Lichtenstein. The Prints of Roy Lichtenstein: A Catalogue Raisonne 1948–1997. 2nd rev. ed., Hudson Hills Press in association with the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; Distributed in the U.S. by National Book Network, 2002, No. 35.
Condition: Well preserved, consistent with age and medium
Provenance: From the 1964 folio X + X (Ten Works by Ten Painters), published by the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art, Hartford
Notes:
Excerpted from the folio, This portfolio was commissioned and printed in an attempt to extend as much of the visual impact as possible of ten artists to paper and to make these prints available to collectors who might not otherwise have such a vivid slice of the artist. The dry surface of screening seemed to be most apt to translate the effect of their painting, both the flatness which is the unifying bond between the ten, and the insistance of paint on the surface of canvas so like the visible heft of ink on paper here. Samuel J. Wagstaff, Jr., Curator of Printings.
About the Publication:
X + X (Ten Works by Ten Painters), published in 1964 by the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art in Hartford, stands as one of the most ambitious and influential printmaking endeavors of postwar American art. Conceived under the direction of curator Samuel J. Wagstaff, Jr., the project sought to capture and translate the defining visual languages of ten leading American painters of the era—Stuart Davis, Ellsworth Kelly, Robert Indiana, Adolph Gottlieb, George Ortman, Larry Poons, Richard Anuszkiewicz, Frank Stella, Andy Warhol, and Roy Lichtenstein—into original silkscreens. Each artwork was created as an autonomous work that embodied the formal, chromatic, and conceptual principles of its respective artist. The choice of silkscreen printing, executed by Sirocco Screenprints, Inc., was central to the portfolio’s purpose: its dry, matte surface and capacity for crisp, saturated color allowed for a faithful translation of the painters’ flatness, surface tension, optical effects, and graphic precision. Organized and published by a major American museum at a moment of seismic change in contemporary art, X + X marked a turning point in institutional engagement with editioned works, representing one of the first concerted efforts by a museum to commission an ensemble of original graphics from the leading figures of its time. The portfolio captured the pulse of 1960s American painting—from Hard-Edge abstraction to Pop, Op, and Color Field—offering both a curated snapshot of artistic innovation and an accessible format that expanded the audience for contemporary art. Today, X + X is widely regarded as a landmark in American printmaking, celebrated for its curatorial vision, technical accomplishment, and its role in defining the dialogue between museum patronage and the burgeoning print culture of the 1960s.
About the Artist:
Roy Lichtenstein (1923–1997) was an American painter, printmaker, and sculptor whose revolutionary elevation of comic-book graphics, Ben-Day dots, commercial illustration, and mass-media visual language into the realm of fine art made him one of the founding giants of Pop Art, drawing on the breakthroughs of Pablo Picasso, Alexander Calder, Alberto Giacometti, Salvador Dali, Joan Miro, Wassily Kandinsky, Marcel Duchamp, and Man Ray to synthesize Cubist fragmentation, Surrealist wit, Modernist experimentation, and Duchampian conceptualism into an unmistakable style defined by bold outlines, flat industrial color, graphic reduction, and the now-iconic Ben-Day dot technique; emerging in the 1960s alongside Andy Warhol, Claes Oldenburg, James Rosenquist, Jasper Johns, and Robert Rauschenberg, Lichtenstein shifted American art away from Abstract Expressionism toward a cool, analytical investigation of consumer culture, mass reproduction, advertising, and the manufactured image, creating paintings, prints, sculptures, and monumental public works that reimagined romance comics, war scenes, cartoons, brushstroke parodies, landscapes, and art-historical citations while offering a humorous yet incisive commentary on how images shape contemporary life; his influence is immense, shaping artists such as Jeff Koons, Takashi Murakami, Damien Hirst, Julian Opie, KAWS, Banksy, and numerous contemporary painters, designers, fashion houses, and digital creators, while his works are held in major institutions including the Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, the Art Institute of Chicago, the National Gallery of Art, Tate, Centre Pompidou, SFMOMA, the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, and LACMA, with his highest auction record achieved when Nurse (1964) sold for 95,365,000 USD at Christie's New York on November 9, 2015.
Roy Lichtenstein silkscreen...
Category
1960s Pop Art Roy Lichtenstein
Materials
Screen
$31,996 Sale Price
20% Off
H 20 in W 24 in
Modern Print /// Roy Lichtenstein Pop Art Abstract Geometric MoMA Gemini G.E.L.
By Roy Lichtenstein
Located in Saint Augustine, FL
Artist: Roy Lichtenstein (American, 1923-1997)
Title: "Modern Print"
*Numbered, signed, and dated by Lichtenstein in pencil lower right
Year: 1971
Medium: Original Lithograph and Scr...
Category
1970s Pop Art Roy Lichtenstein
Materials
Lithograph, Screen
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| $1,923 |
Average sold price of items in the past 12 months |
| $53-$60,500 |
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Artists Similar to Roy Lichtenstein
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Find a wide variety of authentic Roy Lichtenstein art available for sale on 1stDibs. If you’re browsing the collection of art to introduce a pop of color in a neutral corner of your living room or bedroom, you can find work that includes elements of orange, yellow, blue and other colors. You can also browse by medium to find art by Roy Lichtenstein in screen print, lithograph, offset print and more. Much of the original work by this artist or collective was created during the 20th century and is mostly associated with the Pop Art style. Not every interior allows for large Roy Lichtenstein art, so small editions measuring 3 inches across are available. Customers who are interested in this artist might also find the work of James Rosenquist, Jim Dine, and Ed Ruscha. Roy Lichtenstein art prices can differ depending upon medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $250 and tops out at $1,500,000, while the average work can sell for $20,500.
Questions About Roy Lichtenstein
David Brooker Fine ArtMay 13, 2021large oils are worth many millions of dollars. The value would depend on the size, composition and importance of the piece.- Is Roy Lichtenstein still alive?1 Answer1stDibs ExpertFebruary 22, 2021No, Pop artist Roy Lichtenstein is not alive. He died at the age of 73 in 1997. You can find Roy Lichtenstein's art on 1stDibs.
- Where is Roy Lichtenstein from?1 Answer1stDibs ExpertMarch 22, 2022Roy Lichtenstein is from New York City, New York. He was born in Manhattan on October 27, 1923, and he died in the city on September 29, 1997. Lichtenstein attended Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio. On 1stDibs, find a range of Roy Lichtenstein art.
- Who is Roy Lichtenstein?1 Answer1stDibs ExpertMarch 22, 2022Roy Lichtenstein is an American artist who helped to shape the Pop art movement. He was born on October 27, 1923 in New York City, and he died there on September 29, 1997. Some of his most famous works include Whaam!, Drowning Girl and two different pieces titled Crying Girl. On 1stDibs, find a selection of Roy Lichtenstein art.
- 1stDibs ExpertMarch 22, 2022To pronounce Roy Lichtenstein, say, "Roy LICK-ton-stine." The artist's last name is of German origin. He was a leader of the Pop art movement who lived from 1923 to 1997. On 1stDibs, you can shop a variety of Roy Lichtenstein art.
- 1stDibs ExpertMarch 22, 2022Roy Lichtenstein influenced a number of contemporary artists, including Richard Bell, Grégoire Guillemin and Douglas Coupland. During his lifetime, he also inspired other Pop art artists like Andy Warhol, James Rosenquist and Claes Oldenburg. Shop a variety of Roy Lichtenstein art on 1stDibs.
- 1stDibs ExpertApril 5, 2022To authenticate Roy Lichtenstein art, consult the help of a licensed art appraiser with experience identifying Pop art. Due to the number of high quality giclée prints available, it is very difficult to verify that an artwork is real and not a reproduction. Shop a collection of expertly vetted Roy Lichtenstein art on 1stDibs.
- What inspired Roy Lichtenstein?1 Answer1stDibs ExpertMarch 22, 2022Advertising and comic books inspired Roy Lichtenstein to create art. In fact, many of his pieces appropriated images from these sources, transforming them into commentaries on geopolitics and social issues. On 1stDibs, you can shop a collection of Roy Lichtenstein art.
- Why was Roy Lichtenstein famous?1 Answer1stDibs ExpertApril 5, 2022Roy Lichtenstein was famous for his remarkable work in pop art, perhaps most notably, his comic book-style paintings. His work is renowned for its sense of parody. Shop a collection of Roy Lichtenstein pieces and prints from top sellers around the world on 1stDibs.
- 1stDibs ExpertMarch 22, 2022Roy Lichtenstein was important to the art world because he helped pioneer Pop art. This movement focused on incorporating images from pop culture and mass media into fine art. His work continues to influence contemporary artists like Richard Bell and Grégoire Guillemin to this day. Shop a collection of Roy Lichtenstein art on 1stDibs.
- 1stDibs ExpertJune 6, 2024Roy Lichtenstein's art style was Pop art. In fact, he is one of the principal figures of the American Pop art movement, along with Andy Warhol, James Rosenquist, Claes Oldenburg and Robert Rauschenberg. Drawing inspiration from comic strips, Lichtenstein appropriated techniques of commercial printing in his paintings, introducing a vernacular sensibility to contemporary art. He employed visual elements such as the halftone dots that comprise a printed image and a comic-inspired use of primary colors to give his paintings their signature "Pop" palette. On 1stDibs, shop a selection of Roy Lichtenstein art.
- 1stDibs ExpertApril 5, 2022Yes, Roy Lichtenstein did indeed use appropriation in his art. In this case, ‘appropriation’ in art is the use of existing objects or images with little or no transformation applied to them. One of Lichtenstein’s most famous pieces is ‘Look Mickey’ featuring Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck. Shop a selection of Roy Lichtenstein’s pieces from some of the world’s top art dealers on 1stDibs.
- 1stDibs ExpertMarch 22, 2022Roy Lichtenstein has a large number of famous paintings. The most famous include Whaam!, Drowning Girl, Look Mickey, M-Maybe, In the Car, Masterpiece, Crak!, and two separate works titled Crying Girl. You'll find a selection of Roy Lichtenstein art on 1stDibs.
- 1stDibs ExpertMarch 22, 2022Roy Lichtenstein used patterns of dots to give his Pop art paintings the look of mass-printed graphics. To create this effect, he placed a stencil covered with perforated dots and brushed paint over the back. On 1stDibs, shop a collection of Roy Lichtenstein art.
- 1stDibs ExpertApril 5, 2024Roy Lichtenstein made his art by using comic books and advertisements as sources. He took images from pop culture and then painted them using Magna acrylic paints that had a flat finish that mimicked the look of printing inks. The Pop artist worked mostly in primary colors and employed thick lines and Ben-Day dots to give his work a cartoon-like quality. Shop a selection of Roy Lichtenstein art on 1stDibs.
- 1stDibs ExpertMarch 22, 2022Roy Lichtenstein studied art at Ohio State University. He received both Bachelor and Master of Fine Arts degrees from the university. For 10 years, he worked as an instructor at the institution. Find a range of Roy Lichtenstein art on 1stDibs.
- 1stDibs ExpertMarch 22, 2022No, Roy Lichtenstein did not paint Wonder Woman. However, other artists depicted the character in his style. Lichtenstein did use comic books for inspiration. For example, the 1962 issue of “All-American Men of War” from DC Comics was the source for his painting Whaam! Find a collection of Roy Lichtenstein art on 1stDibs.
- 1stDibs ExpertMarch 22, 2022Roy Lichtenstein started producing Pop art in the 1950s. His work drew inspiration from advertisements and comic books. In the 1960s, his work became widely known, and today, historians credit him with greatly influencing the Pop art movement. On 1stDibs, find a collection of Roy Lichtenstein art.
- 1stDibs ExpertMarch 22, 2022Roy Lichtenstein was a part of the Pop art movement. He and other pop artists like Andy Warhol and James Rosenquist elevated images from pop culture and mass media into fine art as a way of commenting on geopolitical and social issues. You'll find a variety of Roy Lichtenstein art on 1stDibs.
- 1stDibs ExpertMarch 22, 2022Roy Lichtenstein painted Pop art to comment on geopolitical and social issues of his time. He patterned his work off of mass media like advertising and comic books to help convey his messages. On 1stDibs, shop a range of Roy Lichtenstein art.
- 1stDibs ExpertApril 5, 2022Roy Lichtenstein painted The Crying Girl because he saw a similar image in the comic strip “Secret Hearts.” Throughout his career, Lichtenstein frequently drew inspiration from comic books, advertisements and other forms of mass media. Shop a variety of Roy Lichtenstein art on 1stDibs.
- 1stDibs ExpertAugust 26, 2024The difference between Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein is what inspired their art. While both artists were leading figures in the Pop art movement, they produced different types of work. Lichtenstein is famous for drawing inspiration from comic books and appropriating techniques of commercial printing in his paintings. Andy Warhol tended to produce paintings and prints depicting celebrities, such as Marilyn Monroe, and everyday objects like Campbell's soup cans. On 1stDibs, shop a variety of Pop art.