Roy Lichtenstein (1923-1997)
1923 Roy Lichtenstein is born October 27 in New York.
1927 His sister Renee is born.
1937 Enrolls in watercolor classes at the Parsons School of Design.
1939 Sees Picasso’s Guernica at the Museum of Modern Art. Visits the World’s Fair in Flushing Meadows, Queens. Begins taking painting classes.
1940 After graduating from high school, he attends Reginald Marsh’s painting class at the Art Students’ League. Enrolls at Ohio State University where he studies under Hoyt L. Sherman.
1943 Is inducted into the U.S. Army.
1944 Serves in the Army as a draftsman and artist for Plans and Training.
1946 Is honorably discharged and returns to Ohio State University on the G. I. Bill, where he receives his B.F.A. His father dies.
1948 Begins exhibiting at the Ten-Thirty Gallery, Cleveland.
1949 Receives his M. F. A. from Ohio State University. Marries gallery assistant Isabel Wilson. His first group exhibition in New York is held at the Chinese Gallery.
1949-51 Teaches at Ohio State University.
1951 Returns to New York. His first New York solo exhibition is held at the Carlebach Gallery. He is included in the Brooklyn Museum’s “The Fifth National Print Annual Exhibition.” The museum acquires his work.
1954 His first son, David Hoyt Lichtenstein, is born.
1956 His second son, Mitchell Wilson Lichtenstein, is born.
1957-60 Teaches at New York State University, Oswego.
1957-61 Begins working in a non-figurative, Abstract-Expressionist style.
1960-63 Teaches at Rutgers University.
1961 While teaching at Douglass College, Rutgers University he is inspired by the work of Allan Kaprow and begins incorporating cartoon and comic-strip figures into his work. He also begins using the Benday dot system.
1962 The Leo Castelli Gallery, New York begins holding regular exhibitions of his work.
Mid-1960s Begins painting landscapes and sunsets.
1966 Participates in the Venice Biennale.
1967 His first museum retrospective is held at the Pasadena Art Museum, California. Solo exhibitions of his work are held in Amsterdam, London, Berne and Hannover.
1968 A solo exhibition is held at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York. He marries Dorothy Herzka, his second wife.
Early 1970s Produces his abstract Mirrors and Entablatures series.
1990s Executes Interiors, a series which reproduces his existing works as decorative elements within interiors.
1994 A major retrospective is held at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum.
1995 Is awarded the National Medal of Arts.
1997 Dies of pneumonia on September 30 in New York.