Roy Lichtenstein forced the art world to ask what art is.
The narration for this episode was produced using artificial intelligence. This podcast is researched, written, and produced by the art-loving team at Storywise Studios.
New Jersey, summer of 1961: a boy points to a Mickey Mouse comic and bets that his father can't paint as well as that—and the father, a painter still waiting for his breakthrough, takes the bet. A look behind this work reveals how a weeping woman from a romance comic became one of Pop Art's most famous paintings, why the press asked whether Lichtenstein was the worst artist in America—and why the man who drew the original never became famous.
Additional Resources
The painting at the museum: Museum of Modern Art – Drowning Girl
The painting and its source: Wikipedia – Drowning Girl
The artist: Wikipedia – Roy Lichtenstein
The painted printing dots: Wikipedia – Ben-Day Dots
The second comic-book painting in the 1963 exhibition: Tate – Whaam!
The comic-book artist who drew the original: Wikipedia – Tony Abruzzo
The exhibition in New York (October 11, 2026 – May 10, 2027): Whitney Museum of American Art – Roy Lichtenstein: Like New
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