October 27, 1923

Roy Fox Lichtenstein (October 27, 1923 to September 29, 1997) was raised in a affluent Manhattan setting. His famous pop art style developed about the same time as that of other artists like Andy Warhol.

His distinctive art he defended this way against detractors:

Rather than attempt to reproduce his subjects, his work tackled the way mass media portrays them. Lichtenstein would never take himself too seriously however: "I think my work is different from comic strips- but I wouldn't call it transformation; I don't think that whatever is meant by it is important to art". When his work was first released, many art critics of the time challenged its originality. More often than not they were making no attempt to be positive. Lichtenstein responded to such claims by offering responses such as the following: "The closer my work is to the original, the more threatening and critical the content. However, my work is entirely transformed in that my purpose and perception are entirely different. I think my paintings are critically transformed, but it would be difficult to prove it by any rational line of argument". His most famous image is arguably Whaam! (1963, Tate Modern, London).

It may be hard to parody cats, but here is his try. "Laughing Cat"  is part of a seriograph limited edition and dated 1987.  Even in this thumbnail version his style is apparent. You can see a larger version here