Roy Lichtenstein

Along with Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein is considered the most important artist of the Pop Art movement. Lichtenstein’s work is easily recognizable, often consisting of translations of popular images and symbols such as comic strips and bank notes. Lichtenstein began studying art at the young age of fourteen, and continued his studies at New York’s Art Students' League. Like many artists of his generation, Lichtenstein found himself an involuntary member of the U.S. Army, posted in Europe during World War II. After the war he worked in the commercial graphic business for a number of years, and taught at the university level. Abstract Expressionism dominated the art world, and Lichtenstein did not gain any significant recognition as an artist until his late-thirties when he painted his first piece in the style of a comic strip, legend has it, as a reaction to a taunt from his children who unfavorably compared his work to their cherished comic strips.