Search
Art & Culture

7 Places to Experience the Brilliance of Roy Lichtenstein This Year

The Whitney blockbuster is but one possibility to appreciate the Pop master

By Rena Gross
Roy Lichtenstein art exhibition at the Whitney with colorful pop art paintings on gallery walls, featuring dynamic comic-inspired designs and vivid portraits.
Installation view of Roy Lichtenstein: Like New at the Whitney. Photo: Courtesy the Whitney Museum.

From his Whitney retrospective and two other exhibitions to non-traveling treasures worth seeking out in their home museums, Roy Lichtenstein is having a banner year. The artist, who died in 1997, is enjoying extraordinary popularity and visibility in museums worldwide. Here are seven places to appreciate Lichtenstein now.

1. “Roy Lichtenstein: Like New” | Whitney Museum, New York

The hotly anticipated Whitney show opened in October, and it is the shouldn’t miss starting point to take in Roy Lichtenstein this year, and it’s his first New York City retrospective since 1993. His 1960s comic-derived Pop Art works that stunned the world are brought together in abundance. All eight of the paintings from his celebrated 1962 Leo Castelli show are back together for the first time in 64 years. At the same time, the show is a full-career survey without being chronological.

Through May 10, 2027

Large white abstract sculpture inside art museum with skylights, next to a colorful rainbow painting on the wall.
Installation view of “Guggenheim Pop 1960 to Now” at Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. Photo: Courtesy Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum

2. “Guggenheim Pop 1960 to Now” | Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York

Lichtenstein is among the artists featured in the Guggenheim’s larger take on Pop Art over the decades, which places him within the broader context of artists in an ongoing movement. Here, he is central among over 20 other artists, with his bold imagery and dots serving as a defining chapter.

Though January 27, 2027.

Roy Lichtenstein comic-style artwork with a punch, text "SWEET DREAMS, BABY!" and "POW!" in bold letters, vibrant yellow background.
Roy Lichtenstein SWEET DREAMS BABY!, (1965). Photo: Courtesy Kunstmuseum Basel

3. “Roy Lichtenstein: Sweet Dreams, Baby!” | Kunstmuseum Basel, Switzerland

“Roy Lichtenstein: Sweet Dreams, Baby!” explores another dimension of the Pop Art pioneer’s career through approximately 50 works, many appearing in public for the first time. Spanning five decades, the exhibition traces Lichtenstein’s experiments with screen printing, etching, woodcuts, and linocuts, from his instantly recognizable comic imagery to playful reinterpretations of older masterpieces.

August 22, 2026–March 14, 2027

Colorful Roy Lichtenstein abstract art with geometric shapes, industrial elements, and bold outlines in red, yellow, blue, and black.
Roy Lichtenstein Preparedness, (1968). Photo: Courtesy National Gallery Singapore

Asia will have its own Roy Lichtenstein-related exhibit just in time for the New Year. The National Gallery Singapore will premiere “Pop after Pop: Art Around Us”, where his work will sit alongside a mix of contemporaries and spiritual descendants such as Keith Haring, Roy Lichtenstein, Andy Warhol, Barbara Kruger, Ming Wong, Manit Sriwanichpoom, and Ronald Ventura, in what is said to be the largest group exhibition of Pop Art in Southeast Asia.

December 11, 2026–April 4, 2027

Artist Roy Lichtenstein in red turtleneck sweater standing in front of colorful abstract mural with geometric shapes and patterns.
Roy Lichtenstein. Photo: Bernard Gotfryd / Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division.

5. “Roy Lichtenstein: Beyond Reality” | Powers Art Center, Colorado

At the Powers Art Center in Carbondale, Colorado, “Roy Lichtenstein: Beyond Reality” offers yet another perspective on the Pop Art pioneer’s distinct visual language. Curated by museum director Sonya Taylor Moore, the exhibition explores how Lichtenstein transformed familiar imagery through saturated primary colors, thick black outlines, and Ben-Day dots. The show also honors Lichtenstein’s longstanding relationship with collectors John and Kimiko Powers, whose holdings of modern and contemporary art form the foundation of the museum.

Through May 1, 2027

Roy Lichtenstein sculpture of a yellow house with red chimney and windows, set on a grassy area with trees in the background.
Roy Lichtenstein House I. Photo: Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

MoMA’s iconic Drowning Girl is currently on loan to the Whitney retrospective, but the National Gallery in Washington, D.C. has a Lichtenstein that stays in one place—House I. Standing nearly ten feet tall, the whimsical aluminum structure looks liks a cottage with sunny yellow walls, crimson shutters, and a slate-gray roof, all framed by the artist’s standard thick black outlines. But the special thing here is that Lichtenstein created an optical illusion that makes the house appear to change shape as visitors move past it.

Permanent collection

Roy Lichtenstein pop art piece with bright colors, featuring a central burst pattern with sharp, radiating spikes surrounded by blue dots.
Wall Explosion II, Roy Lichtenstein. Photo: © Estate of Roy Lichtenstein. Courtesy of Tate.

7. Wall Explosion II | Tate Modern, London

Housed within the theme “Media Networks: Beyond Pop,” this 1965 sculpture, made from porcelain enamel on steel and perforated steel, was created during the Vietnam War and carries a dialogue with that long-ago conflict. It is vibrant, violent, and three-dimensional, and it is staying at the Tate, so it is a great way for the London-bound to check in with Lichtenstein if a transatlantic flight is not personally in the cards during the Whitney show.

Permanent collection, free to all as per the Tate.

Tags: