Whaam!
Sign in to saveWhaam! is a 1963 diptych painting by the American artist Roy Lichtenstein. It is one of the best-known works of pop art, and among Lichtenstein's most important paintings. Whaam! was first exhibited at the Leo Castelli Gallery in New York City in 1963, and purchased by the Tate Gallery, London, in 1966. It has been on permanent display at Tate Modern since 2006.
Described at
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Wikidata facts
- Image
- Roy Lichtenstein (1967).jpg
- Height
- 406.4
- Width
- 272
Show 6 more facts
- inception
- 1963-01-01
- inventory number
- T00897
- Commons category
- Whaam!
- described at URL
- www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/lichtenstein-whaam-t00897
- title
- Whaam!
- catalog code
- RLCR 808
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Article
10 sectionsContents
- Background
- History
- Description
- Reception
- Analysis and interpretation
- Legacy
- See also
- Notes
- References
- External links
Whaam! is a 1963 diptych painting by the American artist Roy Lichtenstein. It is one of the best-known works of pop art, and among Lichtenstein's most important paintings. Whaam! was first exhibited at the Leo Castelli Gallery in New York City in 1963, and purchased by the Tate Gallery, London, in 1966. It has been on permanent display at Tate Modern since 2006.
The left-hand panel shows a fighter plane firing a rocket that, in the right-hand panel, hits a second plane which explodes in flames. Lichtenstein adapted the image from several comic-book panels, with the primary source being a panel illustrated by Irv Novick from a 1962 war comic book. Lichtenstein transformed the source by presenting it as a diptych while altering the relationship of the graphical and narrative elements. Whaam! is regarded for the temporal, spatial and psychological integration of its two panels. The painting's title is integral to the action and impact of the painting, and displayed in large onomatopoeia in the right panel.