‘It’s referred to as stealing’: new allegations of plagiarism towards Roy Lichtenstein | Roy Lichtenstein

Roy Lichtenstein by no means shied away from the truth that his paintings were based on copies of comic strips. However some critics of one of many founders of American pop artwork have lengthy argued that “copying” was too polite a term. Now, a brand new movie alleges that tons of of his items of labor might be traced to different artists.

“It’s referred to as stealing,” stated caricature artist Hy Eisman, who has simply turned 96 and solely lately found that Lichtenstein had reproduced one among his photos within the Sixties. “I labored like a canine on this silly web page and this man has $20m to indicate for it. If it wasn’t so tragic, it might be [funny].”

He vents his anger in a brand new documentary, titled WHAAM! BLAM! Roy Lichtenstein and the Artwork of Appropriation, which exhibits that the unique comedian artists had lived austere and even destitute lives. Whereas Lichtenstein’s work offered for tens of hundreds of thousands of {dollars}, their originals had earned them only a few {dollars}.

Eisman, who has labored for nearly 75 years on an enormous vary of publications, most lately the Popeye caricature, is amongst greater than 30 comedian artists “appropriated” by Lichtenstein and who consider that they have been cheated of recognition.

Recalling that his Personal Secretary comedian of 1963 was cribbed for Lichtenstein’s Woman in Window of the identical 12 months, he instructed the Observer: “I received paid little or no for the web page, one thing like $4. He was capable of flip it right into a portray and make hundreds of thousands. After I noticed that he did that to different folks, I believed it was a awful factor to do. However till now I by no means thought I used to be concerned.”

James L Hussey, the documentary’s director, stated: “Eisman was unaware that Lichtenstein had appropriated his work till I contacted him. He was very shocked.”

Lichtenstein, who died in 1997, is broadly considered one of many foremost artists of the twentieth century. Together with Andy Warhol, he created the pop artwork motion by appropriating imagery from trendy American tradition. His work now modifications palms for hundreds of thousands of {dollars}, with the costliest, a portray referred to as Masterpiece, reportedly selling for $165m.

The documentary options comedian guide professional David Barsalou, who has traced about 300 Lichtenstein works to different artists: “I believed, perhaps there’s solely 4, 5 or 6 work that he did near the originals. But it surely was laborious to explain my emotions as I began discovering increasingly more through the years that his photos have been like simply direct copies.”

They embody Lichtenstein’s Blam of 1962, through which a pilot ejects from an exploding airplane, similar to Russ Heath’s All-American Males of Struggle #89 of the identical 12 months.

Heath was appreciated for the prime quality of his work, however he struggled financially. He died in 2018, having ended his days counting on charity for his meals.

Michael Daley, a cartoonist, stated: “Comedian guide artists are rightly aggrieved. Apart from outright plagiarisms, technically and artistically, they’re typically much better draughtsmen than Lichtenstein, who couldn’t even accurately copy the correctly drawn ellipse of a jet engine’s air consumption. They have been additionally superior of their artfully dynamic and expressive compositions, each one being a grasp of the graphic efficiency of a cropped picture.”

However Bradford R Collins, writer of the guide Pop Artwork and professor of artwork historical past on the College of South Carolina, defended Lichtenstein: “It’s not plagiarism. It’s appropriation. With plagiarism, you’re stealing someone’s work and utilizing it for a similar objective they did. If Lichtenstein made comedian books out of it, that may be stealing. However appropriation means you’re taking one thing and reusing it for a really totally different objective, taking one thing out of a comic book guide and making it right into a portray.

“I can perceive why Eisman would really feel indignant. I’d really feel the identical approach. However artistically, it’s not plagiarism.”

Earlier than his demise, Heath had expressed frustration: “I couldn’t do something as a result of all of the characters that I did draw for comedian books have been, at the moment, owned by the comedian guide firm. So, in the event that they need to sue, they may sue and have a professional cause to sue. However they wouldn’t make sufficient to hassle having a go well with.”

Within the documentary, a lawyer argues that Lichtenstein’s work could be thought-about transformative as a result of in most cases he added new parts fairly than making a precise copy.

Lichtenstein himself stated: “My work has been accused of wanting just like the issues that I copy, and it definitely does appear to be the issues I copy… However it’s that high quality, no matter artwork is, that transforms the murals to be one thing totally different.”

Hussey stated: “When Lichtenstein did this within the Sixties, he was promoting these work for 1000’s of {dollars}. That was an irritant to a variety of these comedian artists. However the bitterness grew.

“Because the years glided by and as they moved into retirement, not solely have been they struggling financially, however they have been additionally watching these work rise dramatically in worth.”