Known for his comic book style with bold colors, Roy Lichtenstein propelled Pop art to the forefront of the public consciousness in the 1960s. Throughout the second half of the 20^th century, Lichtenstein not only defined a modern artistic movement, but he also appropriated, parodied, and experimented with existing styles. Before shipping off to France and Belgium to fight in Word War II, he studied art at the Art Students League of New York and began coursework at Ohio State University. He returned to Columbus, Ohio and completed his MFA while teaching at the university. After achieving minor success as an artist in Cleveland and New York, he accepted a teaching position at Douglass Residential College in New Jersey. There he began clipping comic strips and including such imagery into his painting.

It was in 1961–a pivotal year for the artist–that Lichtenstein presented his Ben-Day dotted comic strip paintings to Leo Castelli. Intrigued by Girl with a Ball (1961), Castelli agreed to represent Lichtenstein, beginning a career-spanning partnership. Shortly thereafter, Lichtenstein established a studio in New York and began exhibiting his work internationally, including exhibitions at the Venice Biennale in 1966 and the Guggenheim, New York in 1968. Using his signature Ben-Day dots to create a commercial yet unpretentious style, Lichtenstein depicted landscapes, comic book scenes, food items, and consumer packaging. Throughout the 1970s to 1990s, he experimented with a variety of mediums: ceramic, Plexiglas, serigraphs, and even tapestry–to examine what constitutes artistic style and genre. Cunning and punchy, he presented his own take on contemporary genres in works such as Brushstrokes (1967), Bull Head III (1973), and Modern Art I (1996). Immediately iconic, his imagery and style has been replicated and appropriated by a generation of artists.

“Chronology.” Lichtenstein Foundation. Roy Lichtenstein Foundation, 2012. Web. 24 Apr. 2012.
“Roy Lichtenstein.” Guggenheim. The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, 2012. Web. 24 Apr. 2012.