Tate Introductions: Lichtenstein

A contemporary of Andy Warhol and Jasper Johns, Roy Lichtenstein is one of the best-known and accessible artists of the Pop generation of the 1960s. Taking much of his subject matter from old-style comic strips and popular advertising, Lichtenstein produced large, rigorous and highly stylised paintings such as "Whaam!" 1963, "Drowning Girl" 1963, and "M-Maybe" 1965. Challenged at the time on the originality of his work, Lichtenstein maintained that its purpose and presentation made it more than just reproduction, although he still argued with his characteristic humour that his paintings weren't really important to art in general. However, Lichtenstein's imagery has endured through the decades and is still as popular and influential as it was fifty years ago, as this vibrant introduction to his life and work proves.