Deconstructing Roy Lichtenstein

David Barsalou has taken the time to go back and track down the original comics of over 60 of Roy Lichtenstein’s works, he then compiled them next to the Lichtenstein prints and posted them online.

You get to see a comprehensive overview of Lichtenstein’s source materials and see how closely he interpreted/copied the originals. Some controversy has arisen over these early works as he never credited the original artists whose work he was copying. According to Wikipedia:

Jack Cowart, executive director of the Lichtenstein Foundation contests the notion that Lichtenstein was a copyist, saying “Roy’s work was a wonderment of the graphic formula and the codification of sentiment that had been worked out by others. The panels were changed in scale, color, treatment, and in their implications. There is no exact copy.”

On the flipside:

Artist Dave Gibbons said of Lichtenstein’s works: “Roy Lichtenstein’s copies of the work of Irv Novick and Russ Heath are flat, uncomprehending tracings of quite sophisticated images.” Lichtenstein’s obituary in The Economist noted these artists “did not think much of his paintings. In enlarging them, some claimed, they became static. Some threatened to sue him.”

This anger from the original artists could also stem from the lack of recognition they received for their work in its original form, devalued as just another piece of pop/trash culture, while Roy Lichtenstein was elevated to celebrity and received various awards and recognition for his work.

Now you can see his works next to the original panels and determine for yourself whether you think Lichtenstein was a genius or copyist.