| Artist | Roy Lichtenstein |
|---|---|
| Year | 1963 |
| Type | Pop art |
| Dimensions | 170 cm × 400 cm (67 in × 160 in) |
| Location | Tate Modern, London |
Whaam! (1963) by pop artist Roy Lichtenstein. It is widely regarded as one of his finest and notable works. It follows the comic strip-based themes of some of his past paintings.
The painting, a diptych, is large in scale, measuring 1.7 x 4.0 m (5 ft 7 in x 13 ft 4 in). [1]
One of the earliest known examples of pop art, Whaam! adapted a comic-book panel by artist Russ Heath from a 1962 issue of DC Comics' All-American Men of War.[1] The painting depicts a fighter aircraft the Lockheed P-80 Shooting Star firing a rocket into an enemy plane, with a red-and-yellow explosion. The cartoon style is heightened by the use of the onomatopoeic lettering "Whaam!" and the yellow-boxed caption with black lettering, "I pressed the fire control... and ahead of me rockets blazed through the sky..."