At first glance, Lichtenstein and posters feel like an obvious match. His paintings already borrow the visual machinery of commercial printing: hard outlines, flat colour and those famous dots.
Roy Lichtenstein emerged as one of the defining figures of American Pop Art in the early 1960s, taking imagery associated with comic strips and advertising and rebuilding it at a scale where the mechanics of reproduction became part of the subject.
An Interesting Loop
That creates an interesting little loop when his work comes back onto a printed poster. An image that deliberately mimics mass printing is reproduced again to advertise an exhibition, museum or event. We find that much more interesting than treating an exhibition poster as merely a cheap version of a painting.
The collectible object is the poster itself: who issued it, what it advertised, when it was printed and how it relates to the exhibition or event. Some are beautifully simple pieces of graphic history in their own right.
Lichtenstein is also a good entry point for people who come to posters through modern art rather than advertising or cinema. The imagery is familiar, but the history of the sheet can still take a bit of detective work.
Poster Spotlight
Roy Lichtenstein - Drowning Girl - Museum of Modern Art New York
A MoMA exhibition poster built around one of Lichtenstein's most recognisable comic-strip images.
View Poster
Roy Lichtenstein - Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
A Guggenheim exhibition poster, useful for comparing how different major institutions presented his work.
View Poster
Roy Lichtenstein - Museum Ludwig Koln
A European museum poster, showing how Lichtenstein's Pop Art reach extended well beyond the United States.
View PosterA Note for Collectors
Do not confuse an original period exhibition poster with a fine-art print, and do not assume a poster is period merely because it carries Lichtenstein imagery. Issuer, event, date, printer and dimensions are key.
Exhibition poster or fine-art print?
A period exhibition poster was printed to promote a specific show and usually carries museum, gallery and date information printed directly on the sheet. A signed, numbered fine-art print is a different category of object and should never be described interchangeably with a promotional poster.
Explore More
Browse our Roy Lichtenstein collection and Art & Exhibition Posters, or continue with Keith Haring and Pablo Picasso.
Original Posters by Roy Lichtenstein
A live look at Roy Lichtenstein posters currently in the Printed Originals collection.
-
Roy Lichtenstein - Museum Ludwig Koln
-
Roy Lichtenstein - Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum
-
Roy Lichtenstein - Leo Castelli
-
Roy Lichtenstein - Jane Goodman Gallery
-
Roy Lichtenstein - Merton of the Movies
-
Roy Lichtenstein - Museum Ludwig Koln
-
Roy Lichtenstein - Drowning Girl - Museum of Modern Art New York
-
Jackson Pollock - The Met
