Biography roy liechtenstein inspired artist

In the s, Roy Lichtenstein became a leading figure of the new Pop Art movement. Inspired by advertisements and comic strips, Lichtenstein's bright, graphic works parodied American popular culture and the art world itself. As a boy growing up on Manhattan's Upper West Side, Lichtenstein had a passion for both science and comic books.

In his teens, he became interested in art. He took watercolor classes at Parsons School of Design in , and he took classes at the Art Students League in , studying with American realist painter Reginald Marsh. His college studies were interrupted in when he was drafted and sent to Europe for World War II. After his wartime service, Lichtenstein returned to Ohio State in to finish his undergraduate degree and master's degree — both in fine arts.

What was roy lichtenstein famous for

He briefly taught at Ohio State before moving to Cleveland and working as a window-display designer for a department store, an industrial designer and a commercial-art instructor. In the late s, Lichtenstein exhibited his art in galleries nationwide, including in Cleveland and New York City. In the s, he often took his artistic subjects from mythology and from American history and folklore, and he painted those subjects in styles that paid homage to earlier art, from the 18th century through modernism.

Lichtenstein began experimenting with different subjects and methods in the early s, while he was teaching at Rutgers University. His newer work was both a commentary on American popular culture and a reaction to the recent success of Abstract Expressionist painting by artists like Jackson Pollock and Willem de Kooning.

Where did roy lichtenstein study art

Instead of painting abstract, often subject-less canvases as Pollock and others had done, Lichtenstein took his imagery directly from comic books and advertising. Rather than emphasize his painting process and his own inner, emotional life in his art, he mimicked his borrowed sources right down to an impersonal-looking stencil process that imitated the mechanical printing used for commercial art.

Lichtenstein's best-known work from this period is "Whaam! Other works of the s featured cartoon characters like Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck and advertisements for food and household products.