video transcript

The pop art of Roy Lichtenstein. Works starting from the mid-1960's, when the American artist broke with abstract expressionism and turned to mass culture imagery. They're part of a retrospective exhibition at London's Tate Modern. SOUNDBITE: Sheena Wagstaff, Metropolitan Museum of Art's Chairman, Department of Modern and Contemporary Art, formerly Chief Curator of the Tate Modern in London, saying (English): "They were extraordinary for their moment - totally radical. I think they (the pop artworks) established Lichtenstein." Sheena Wagstaff of the Metropolitan Museum of Art believes Lichtenstein is the greatest modern painter of the twentieth century, surpassing peers like Andy Warhol or Jasper Johns. SOUNDBITE: Sheena Wagstaff, Metropolitan Museum of Art's Chairman, Department of Modern and Contemporary Art, formerly Chief Curator of the Tate Modern in London, saying (English): "What he's doing is very different from those artists. What he's doing is continuing a tradition in painting, but radically overhauling it." A signature method of the artist, hand-painted Benday dots contrasting with black outlines and bright solid colors, runs through the show. Lichtenstein was one of the central figures of American pop art but his work also divided critics and the public. But for him - it was better that people were over-familiar with his work than not familiar at all. And now London can get to know his art even more until May 27 at the Tate Modern.