Tate Introductions: Lichtenstein

Book excerpt: Roy Lichtenstein is one of the best-known and accessible artists of the pop art generation of the 1960s. Taking much of his subject matter from comic strips and popular advertising, Lichtenstein produced large, rigorous and highly stylised paintings such as "Whaam!" and "Drowning Girl". Challenged on the originality of his work, Lichtenstein maintained that its purpose and presentation made it more than just reproduction, and with his characteristic playfulness argued that the purpose of his art was not to be original at all. Lichtenstein's imagery has endured through the decades and is still as iconic as it was fifty years ago, as this fascinating introduction to his life and work proves.This consice book, written by Nathan Dunne, a writer and the editor of Tarkovsky (2008), is the perfect introduction to the life and work of this pop artist and painter.