Exclusive to SFMOMA.

Although trained as an abstract painter, Roy Lichtenstein (1923–1997) became a pioneer of Pop art famed for paintings based on generic romance books and war comics. Lichtenstein transferred the clichéd comic-book compositions to canvas with a projector and simplified them; the resulting paintings mimic the impersonal appearance of cheap four-color printing, despite being meticulously handmade. Characteristic of this work are the enlarged benday dots that would become Lichtenstein's signature mark.

Lichtenstein abandoned working on comics paintings by the mid-1960s, but he retained a lifelong interest in the mass media. His later work often addressed how an artwork's meaning changed when it was reproduced and distributed as a commercial image. 500 piece puzzle. Ages 12 and up. 19 x 19 in. assembled.

Roy Lichtenstein, Reflections: Whaaam!, 1990, oil and Magna on canvas, 70.25 x 76.625 in.; The Doris and Donald Fisher Collection at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; © Estate of Roy Lichtenstein / Licensed by VAGA, New York