Warhol envied most. In 1961 Lichtenstein’s paintings were accepted in Leo Castelli’s gallery in New York while Warhol’s paintings that were submitted a few weeks later were not, was partly due to the expressionist style of his painting. Warhol later said “the territory had been pre-empted” “Right then I decided since Roy was doing comics so well, that I would just stop comics altogether and go in other directions where I could come out first –like quantity and repetition”. Lichtenstien’s first one-man show at Castelli’s gallery in February 1962 was bought out by influential collectors before opening and his success was assured. Both artists were intermingled with the consumer philosophy not only with their work but both also strove for commercial and personal success. Lichtenstien, who worked from comic books, adverts and bubble gum wrappers depicted self-contained scenes or a short set of paintings ‘Fig3’ these examples of his work at this time demonstrate man and machine as an indecipherable form. ‘Fig4’ shows the product blending with the user in effortless efficiency, allowing the viewer to admire this without being aware of being sold a product, reflecting the mass produced consumer society where man and machine are working together. The same can be said for Warhol’s soup cans, Brillo boxes and Coke bottles as they show mass produced articles for the American consumer only disconnected from there origins ‘Fig5’. Warhol’s idolisation of the super stars of that era is what set him apart from his contemporaries and immortalised him in popular culture the most famous or these being Marilyn Monroe ‘Fig6’. And this was no accident as his personal goal was to become a star in his own right and he consciously generated a cloak of mystery which made it almost impossible to distinguish the man from the legend “you ca...
