Drowning Girl is a 1963 American painting in oil and synthetic polymer paint on canvas by Roy Lichtenstein, based on original art by Tony Abruzzo. The painting is considered among Lichtenstein's most significant works, perhaps on a par with his acclaimed 1963 diptych Whaam!. One of the most representative paintings of the pop art movement, Drowning Girl was acquired by the Museum of Modern Art in 1971.
Drowning Girl
In 1961, Roy Lichtenstein's cartoon work advanced from animated cartoons to more serious themes such as romance and wartime armed forces.
Tony Abruzzo's splash page from "Run for Love!" in Secret Hearts no. 83 (November 1962) was the source for Drowning Girl.
Lichtenstein acknowledges that the wave is adapted from The Great Wave off Kanagawa, the famous woodblock print by Hokusai.
Roy Fox Lichtenstein was an American pop artist. During the 1960's, along with Andy Warhol, Jasper Johns, and James Rosenquist, he became a leading figure in the new art movement. His work defined the premise of pop art through parody. Inspired by the comic strip, Lichtenstein produced precise compositions that documented while they parodied, often in a tongue-in-cheek manner. His work was influenced by popular advertising and the comic book style. His artwork was considered to be "disruptive". He described pop art as "not 'American' painting but actually industrial painting". His paintings were exhibited at the Leo Castelli Gallery in New York City.
Lichtenstein in 1967
Cap de Barcelona, 1992 sculpture, mixed media, Barcelona
Drowning Girl (1963). On display at the Museum of Modern Art, New York
Van Gogh's Bedroom in Arles (1888)