Roy Lichtenstein painted what is arguably his most celebrated image, “Whaam!” in 1963. By then he was well on his way to worldwide fame as a leading figure in the deliberately “disruptive” Pop Art movement, which also included Andy Warhol, Jasper Johns, James Rosenquist and others. His first paintings were inspired by comic strips and everyday objects in a style that blurred the boundaries between “high” art and “low” culture and dramatically challenged traditional ideas. In 1970, ready for some respite from his high-profile life as an art world celebrity, he purchased a carriage house on Gin Lane in Southampton where he worked quietly but productively throughout the seventies, and he continued to split his time between Southampton and Manhattan for the rest of his life.
