A Biography of American Artist Roy Lichtenstein (1923-1997)
FAIN: FZ-272133-20
Avis Ann Berman
Unaffiliated independent scholar
Preparation of a biography of American painter Roy Lichtenstein (1923-1997).
My project is the first biography of Roy Lichtenstein (1923-1997), one of the originators of Pop Art. Inspired by comic strips and advertisements, Lichtenstein’s punchy graphic style celebrated yet debunked the glorious dumbness of American things. He altered the course of modern art and how we see the world around us. No existing publication looks deeply into Lichtenstein's life and then consistently connects it with his work. An intelligently researched and elucidated biography, written in language accessible to the general reader, is needed to introduce new facts that will reveal the artist's early years of protracted struggle that lie below the myth of his supposedly facile fame. I will also portray Lichtenstein as a figure firmly in his time, experiencing situations common to other Americans by documenting his ancestors’ immigration and assimilation, his combat experience in World War II, his career as a teacher, and his role as a husband, father, and public man.
Associated Products
Becoming Roy Lichtenstein (Public Lecture or Presentation)Title: Becoming Roy Lichtenstein
Abstract: Illustrated by numerous slides of the artist's work from the 1940s to the 1960s, this lecture chronicled Roy Lichtenstein's path to Pop, from his birth in 1923 to his breakthrough in 1961. It was given in conjunction with the Rose Art Museum's exhibition on Pop Art, centering in its 1962 painting by Lichtenstein. Because his aesthetic concerns remained remarkably stable through six decades, I examined the underknown art and life that preceded the omnipresent oeuvre that everyone recognizes. Lichtenstein could not have formulated the art he invented in 1961 without what he learned in 1941 or attempted in 1951.
Author: Avis Berman
Date: 10/26/2024
Location: Rose Art Museum, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA
Primary URL:
http://https://www.brandeis.edu/rose/programs/2024/becoming-roy-lichtenstein.html