Many rank him among the most important artists of the 20th century. He is credited with him Andy Warhole, pinning pop art. His critics, however, point out that many of his paintings copy the work of some of the lesser-known comic book creators of the 1950s and 1960s. And while myself Roy Lichtenstein (1923-1997) certainly didn’t deny the fact that he used the ninth art in his work, the new documentary claims he did it in a way and to a degree not described by euphemisms like “integration”. , “ironic appropriation” or “elevation”.

“It’s called stealing. I worked like a dog for this damn page, and this guy made $ 20 million with it. If it weren’t tragic, it would be comical,” says American comedian Hy Eisman in documentary with the title “Bam! Blam! Roy Lichtenstein and the Art of Appropriation.which is available on Amazon Prime, Apple TV and Vimeo platforms.

After working for the publishing house for 75 years, Eisman, now 96, refers to a panel he drew in 1963 for a comic book titled “Personal Secretary,” which showed a laughing young woman with half-closed eyes and arms raised excitedly. The image, slightly different in colors, contours and hair of the girl, was presented in the same year by Roy Lichtenstein, as a painting. “I was paid very little per page, about $4,” Eisman told the Observer. “He managed to turn it into a painting and make millions.”

Iceman recently found out about all this. James Hussey, director of the documentary, told him about this, and, according to the latter, he was shocked. It is not a fact that if he had known, he could have demanded anything at that time. His co-creator Russ Heath (1926–2018), known for his war stories from DC comics, once stated that he could not sue Lichtenstein because his creations belonged to the company that published them and he did not want to be involved. problem. Two of Heath’s aerial combat panels published in the 1962 All-American Warriors series also became Lichtenstein paintings—one titled “Whaam!” is one of his most famous.

Similar allegations were made against Andy Warhol and in one case against Jeff Koons.

Designers reactions

Similar accusations have been made in the past against Andy Warhol and in one case against Jeff Koons. Comic-book celebrities such as Watchmen masterpiece creator Dave Gibbons and award-winning Mouse creator Art Spiegelman also spoke out against Lichtenstein’s artistic practice. Collector David Barsalu started in the 2000s an online project, “The Deconstruction of Roy Lichtenstein”, which records all the cases related to him, which number about three hundred – Barsalu’s presence in the documentary is strong.

However, director James Hussey also included the antithesis in the film. Not only art historian Nathan Dunn, who distinguishes art between high and mainstream, arguing that the affected comedians were just “designers” anyway, but also less elitist, like Professor Bradford Collins: “This is not plagiarism. , but appropriation,” says Collins. “In plagiarism, you steal someone’s work and use it for the same purpose. If Lichtenstein created comics, it would be a steal. But appropriation means taking something and reusing it for another purpose.”

Also, according to Hussey’s statements to Artnet News, the purpose of the documentary is not to force Liechtenstein to cancel culture. Artistic appropriation, it has been argued, has ethical, legal and human dimensions, so the purpose of the documentary is to “stimulate the relevant debate”.