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       Roy Liechtenstein was born in New York on October 27, 1923, his mother a pianist exposed him to various forms of art as a young child sparking, his love for art. He painted, sculpted, and drew as a teenager and idolized artists such as Picasso, Daumier, and Rembrandt. Attended Ohio State University but was drafted into the War in 1943 which later inspired many of his artworks. After the war, he went back to Ohio State University finishing his education and becoming an instructor in OSU.  

       At the beginning of his art career, he mainly focused on mythology, American history, and folklore. In the early 1960’s he began combining cartoon characters from comic books and would add abstract backgrounds mimicking the cartoon. Benday dots became his trademark and would appear on several of his paintings to create the texture and gradations of color.

        Some of his first artworks included a rendition of a comic strip of Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck. Unfortunately, Lichtenstein was judged for not creating his own images. He often created his own rendition of famous comics and added ben-day dots and drastically changed the colors on these paintings mimiking the original artwork. For this, his art was called counterfeit and fake. Never the less he still created art pieces that would still be famous to this day.

       He is featured in this gallery due to creating art that would forever be known in the Pop art community. He and Andy Warhol are both seen as the fathers of this genre. They took art that already existed and made it their own.