Roy Fox Lichtenstein (born October 27, 1923 – died September 29, 1997) was an American painter, sculptor, and graphic artist of the second half of the 20th century who worked in the pop art style based on the visual language of mass communication: storytelling in pictures. Roy Lichtenstein’s work is characterized by massive lines, dotted backgrounds, and bright color contrasts. His paintings, executed using printing techniques, are characterized by a sense of optimism and reflect the consumer culture of society.

Biography of Roy Lichtenstein

Roy Lichtenstein, the son of a Jewish broker, was born on October 27, 1923, in the capital of the United States. Until the age of twelve, he studied at a simple school, and then was enrolled in the elite Franklin School. Even then, the young man showed interest in drawing and artistic design, and loved visiting museums. In 1940, the future artist entered the third largest university in the United States, located in the state of Ohio in the city of Columbus.

The university’s art history department was famous far beyond the country’s borders. Roy Lichtenstein, while studying at the university, persistently tried to develop a unique style of writing, looking for his own style in painting. His early works, reminiscent of the style of Georges Braque and Pablo Picasso, amazed with bold color contrast.

The war interrupted the artist’s studies. From 1943 to 1946, Lichtenstein served as an infantryman, and during military training, he took part in anti-aircraft exercises. The master managed to complete his master’s degree only in 1949. A classical education allowed him to take up teaching. Three years later, a solo exhibition of Roy Lichtenstein was ceremoniously opened at the Carlebach Gallery. Critics noted the features of two art movements at once – Cubism and Expressionism.

That same year, the artist moved to Cleveland. There he became interested in painting portraits of Indians and cowboys, and earned extra money by making engineering drawings. At that time, the artist invented an easel that could unfold the canvas during the work. This made it technically possible to work on the work from any angle. The first large-scale success was the work “Look, Mickey!”, which became a kind of breakthrough. Thanks to it, Lichtenstein gained fame as the founder of American pop art.

In 1966, the famous London gallery Tate Britain bought the diptych “Boo-hoo!”, which provoked public discontent – the painting did not raise the fundamental ideological problems of art. This event contributed to the active growth of Roy Lichtenstein’s popularity among the younger generation of Americans. Paintings reflecting fragments of life stories understandable to the average person quickly grew in price.

Lichtenstein sought to make his works look as if they were printed. He used typographic colors, lines of varying thickness and direction, arrays of dots. Superheroes, emotional blondes, cartoon characters seemed to be created by means of a universal code known to one author.

Since the 1970s, the master has been engaged in sculpture and monumental painting. In recent years, he gravitated toward abstract expressionism, allowing the viewer to experience space in a new way, to feel its reality. On September 29, 1997, the world lost a talented graphic artist, whose creative legacy includes about 5,000 art objects.