ROY LICHTENSTEIN 'WHAAM!' (1963-1986) Rare Original Diptych Serigraph Print

ROY LICHTENSTEIN 'WHAAM!' (1963-1986) Rare Original Diptych Serigraph Print'WHAAM!' by Roy Lichtenstein, 1986 A rare, vintage print based on one of Roy Lichtensteins most famous and ambitious prints, 1963. Released as a diptych print set by Lautrec LTD, Leeds in 1986. 25. 2 x 58 Inches 64 x 147. 3 Centimeters Early, original serigraph print on thick, matte fine art paper one of the most recognizable works of 20th century American art. Published by Tate Gallery Publishing Limited, London; 3M682. Printing and publishing

'WHAAM!' by Roy Lichtenstein, 1986
A rare, vintage print based on one of Roy Lichtenstein’s most famous and ambitious prints, 1963.
Released as a diptych print set by Lautrec LTD, Leeds in 1986.
25.2 x 58 Inches
64 x 147.3 Centimeters
Early, original serigraph print on thick, matte fine art paper - one of the most recognizable works of 20th-century American art.
Published by Tate Gallery Publishing Limited, London; 3M682.
Printing and publishing details along bottom border on each print.
*Note: Good original condition - minor kinks at print center.

ABOUT THE ART

Whaam! is one of Roy Lichtenstein’s most famous and ambitious prints, originally created in 1963 as a monumental two-panel painting (diptych). The image depicts a fighter jet firing a rocket that explodes an enemy aircraft in a burst of dramatic color and sound effect text. Lichtenstein borrowed this imagery directly from a 1950s war comic book, stripping it of narrative context and isolating the explosive moment in a flattened, graphic style that mirrors commercial printing.

The print version you’re seeing is likely a screen print (serigraph) made later, based on the original composition, and produced in editions during the 1960s and 1970s as part of Lichtenstein’s exploration of mass-production aesthetics. The work is iconic for its use of bold primary colors (especially red and yellow), thick black outlines, and Ben-Day dots — a mechanical printing technique used in comic books. Lichtenstein translated that effect into fine art, commenting on how images are manufactured and consumed.

Whaam! is considered a masterpiece of Pop Art, a movement that emerged in the late 1950s and 1960s to blur the boundary between “high” art and popular culture. Lichtenstein looked at everyday visual sources — comics, advertisements, product packaging — and reframed them as large-scale paintings and prints. But he didn’t simply copy them; he altered composition, removed narrative, and elevated the visual language into something more ambiguous and self-aware.

While the original Whaam! painting resides in the Tate Modern in London, screenprint versions have been widely published and collected. These prints helped make Lichtenstein’s work more accessible and are prized by collectors, especially early editions from the 1960s.

Stylistically, Whaam! exemplifies Lichtenstein’s strategy of appropriation and transformation. By isolating this split-second moment of aerial combat and pairing it with the onomatopoeic exclamation “Whaam!”, he invites viewers to consider how violence is packaged and dramatized in mass media. The graphic impact is direct and immediate: the viewer doesn’t read a story, but feels a dramatic pop of action.

Whaam! remains one of the most recognizable works of 20th-century American art and a defining example of Lichtenstein’s practice. It has been widely reproduced in textbooks, posters, and exhibitions, and it continues to spark discussion about the role of appropriation, media imagery, and the boundary between fine art and popular culture.

Collectors and institutions value early screen print editions highly — especially those published close to the original painting’s date — as testaments to Roy Lichtenstein’s radical rethinking of what visual art could be in the age of mass media.