Andy Warhol's Frosty Friendship with the Other Master of Pop

The two masters of Pop Art Andy Warhol and Roy Lichtenstein had a tenuous and sometimes competitive friendship throughout their careers. Warhol was introduced to Lichtenstein’s work at his show in New York with Leo Castelli Gallery in 1961, where Lichtenstein exhibited his now iconic image of Mickey Mouse, marking his intrusion into what Warhol considered his visual territory. Both artists’ work became definitive of the Pop Art movement, with aesthetics, processes, and subjects that were distinct, while maintaining a common patina of commercial production. An admirer of Lichtenstein’s limited but bright color palette and flat comicbook perspective, Warhol also captured several Polaroid’s of his sometimes friend, turning Lichtenstein’s image into a Warhol piece. Both artists collected each other’s work throughout their careers, creating substantial collections of their rival and friend.