Roy Lichtenstein's public murals in the US, Europe and Asia

Roy Lichtenstein – Bauhaus Stairway Mural, 1989, Oil and Magna on canvas, 82.3 x 54.9 m, 324 x 216 in, Creative Arts Agency Building, Beverly Hills, California

As far as famous pop artists go, it truly does not get any better than Roy Lichtenstein. His style of comic art use made him one of the most well known and respected pop artists. His work has helped to inspire thousands of artists to hone their craft. His incredible pieces such as the Times Square Mural located in New York’s busiest subway station, as well as his 1986 mural titled Mural with a Blue Brushstroke, are some of his most prominent public murals.

Lichtenstein was in the front line of the Pop Art movement which was captivated by the manufacturing process and mass consumerism. Lichtenstein built a largely successful career based on deceivingly simple works that appropriated from popular comic book characters, pulp fiction, and advertisement. Lichtenstein was skilled at the art of separating, cropping and enlarging certain sections of a mural to make the composition more striking.

Lichtenstein’s first works were based on experimentation with abstract expressionism but his style begun to mature as he started to concentrate on a particular style. His paintings soon started to draw inspiration from the narrative drama of comic books. His works featured certain elements that were characteristically Lichtenstein such as the use of dots. Lichtenstein pieces exemplified pop art’s complex relationship with societal change and pop culture and the changes that came about in the 1960s.

As such, Lichtenstein’s paintings highlight society’s obsession with youth and beauty, the dictatorship of consumer objects and the excitement surrounding advertisement and the media. Although his murals were based on fictional characters, the message contained in them was deep and resounding. For example, in Whaam produced in 1963, the mural revealed the tensions that existed during the post-war Cold War period.

For this mural, he used an image from DC comic series in 1950. The dynamism of the composition and the images used made it easy for the audience to decipher the meanings in his murals. Mural with Blue Brushstroke may seem muddled with different elements; however, it offered a hedonistic perspective of earthly inconsequentiality.

Along with other popular pop artists such as Andy Warhol, Lichtenstein’s work helped to develop the market drastically in the 1960s. Because of his contributions to the movement, artists started being commissioned and actually receiving recognition for their works. Additionally, contemporary art began to fetch good prices which led to the hyper commoditization of art. Although it has been a while since the world was introduced to a Lichtenstein original, his works are still in very high demand today.

Minnesota – Weisman Art Museum

Roy Lichtenstein – New York World’s Fair Mural (Girl in Window), 1963, Oil and Magna on plywood, 6.30 x 4.88m, 248 x 192 in, Weisman Art Museum, University of Minnesota, Minnesota, Minneapolis

California – Creative Arts Agency Building

Roy Lichtenstein – In front of Bauhaus Stairway Mural, 1989, Oil and Magna on canvas, 82.3 x 54.9 m, 324 x 216 in, Creative Arts Agency Building, Beverly Hills, California

Israel – Tel Aviv Museum of Art

Roy Lichtenstein – Tel Aviv Museum of Art Mural, 1989, Oil and Magna on canvas, 7 x 17.4 m (overall), 275 9/16 x 669 5/16 in, Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Meshulam Riklis Hall

New York – AXA Equitable Center

Roy Lichtenstein – Mural with Blue Brushstroke, 1984–86, Oil and Magna on canvas, 816 x 384 inches; 20.73 x 9.75 m, AXA Equitable Center, New York City

New York – 42nd Street Station, Times Square Mural

Roy Lichtenstein – Times Square Mural, 1990 (fabricated 1994; installed 2002), Porcelain enamel on steel, 16 panels, 1.85 x 16.26 m (overall), 73 x 640 1/2 inches, NYCT Times Square, 42nd Street Station, New York City

Germany – Heinrich-Heine University Düsseldorf

Roy Lichtenstein – Brushstroke Mural, 1970, Magna on plaster, 4 walls, 36.6 x 10.67 m, 144 x 420 inches, Heinrich-Heine University Düsseldorf, Germany