Tiffany Butler

C04565891
ARTH 110-30F
Lichtenstein Paper
Is Roy guilty of plagiarism?
Roy Lichtenstein was a famous American Pop artist who was known for
his famous Pop art paintings from the 1960's. He was born in 1923 in New
York City and died there in 1997. He was a very educated artist who studied
at Ohio University where he received an undergraduate degree as well as a
master's degree in fine arts. Throughout his career a lot of people criticized
his work as being plagiarism of other artists. Many critics believed that he
used others artists work and creativity to make money for himself. These
critics also believed that instead of creating his own original idea he used
that of others and copied their work exactly while changing only small parts
of the artwork. I do not believe that he was a plagiarist. I believe that he was
a creative artist all on his own without being a copycat of other ideas.
During the 1960's Pop art was something new and upbeat compared to
the type of art that was being created at the time. A lot of people believed
that it was nonsense and that it was in no way a type of art. It created a lot
of argument and debate about if it could have been plagiarized from comic
book artists. According to Gateways to Art, "Pop art was a mid-twentieth-

century artistic movement inspired by commercial art forms and popular

culture" (Dewitte, Larmann, Shields, 2012. p. 438). Roy Lichtenstein played a
major role in this art movement. When he created his works of art he used
primary colors and painted over stencils of perforated dot patterns. Then he
would place the patterns together to make images. He painted in bold
outlines and used the tiny dots to make shadows and highlights to create
contrast in his paintings. He tried to make artwork that caught the eyes of
his audience and that appealed to the 1960's culture. During this time no
other artists used this style as a work of art.
Though some viewed Mr. Roy Lichtenstein as a plagiarist or a copy cat,
there were many things that he did as an artist that no other artist had the
idea to do. In 1983, Lichtenstein had the idea to paint a mural on a large wall
and then to destroy it after constructed. Then in December at Leo Castelli's
SoHo gallery this idea came to life as a 96 foot mural that was on display for
six weeks. Art viewers from everywhere came to view this masterpiece
before it was destroyed. Then just as Lichtenstein wanted it was then
destroyed after the six week view. This was not done by any other artists at
the time. This was a Roy Lichtenstein original.
As he became famous many critics thought that he copied other artists
paintings exactly and only changed some small parts. A lot of his artwork did
resemble comic strips that were popular at the time. In my opinion he only
referenced these comic strips. He used them as a reference point to elevate

them and make them into what he viewed as "art". He then manipulated
them and placed them into a different context. He elevated and expanded
these commercial mass produced images and made them into art that could
be viewed by a much wider audience. In a lot of these Pop art paintings he
changed them completely from the original reference points. He would take
images out, pull images in, and then create a whole new idea in the painting
as a whole.
In some ways Roy Lichtenstein paid his respects to different artists by
elevating their original work. There were some artist at that time that even
thanked him for using their work as a reference point. Though, there were
other artists that were completely offended and believed that he cashed in
on their ideas. Many critics throughout history firmly believe that Mr.
Lichtenstein was an all in all copy cat. I truly believe that he was an artist
that was just trying to make a mark in the world of art. In my opinion, he
transformed the art of the 1960's into something that people could
understand and relate to. He made art relevant again with his modern
paintings and upbeat ideas.

Bibliography

Battaglia, Andy. "The Resurrection-and Destruction-of a Roy

Lichtenstein Mural". 8, September, 2015. 18, September, 2015.
<http://www.wsj.com/articles/the-resurrectionand-destructionof-a-roylichtenstein-mural-1441740440>.
Barnett, Laura. "A Comic's Artist's View on Lichtenstein: A
Retrospective". The Guardian. 4, March, 2013. 20, September, 2015.
<http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2013/mar/04/comic-artist-viewroy-lichtenstein>.
Sooke, Alastair. "Is Lichtenstein a Great Modern Artist or a Copy Cat?".
21, October, 2014. 19, September, 2015.
<http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20130717-pop-artist-or-copy-cat>.
Dewitte, Debra J., Larmann, Ralph M., Shields, M. Kathryn. Gateways To
Art. Thames & Hudson Inc. New York, New York, 2012