![Roy Lichtenstein - Whaam! [1963] by Gandalf's Gallery](http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7310/13143220414_fb950937d0.jpg)
Whaam! is based on an image from All American Men of War published by DC comics in 1962. Throughout the 1960s, Lichtenstein frequently drew on commercial art sources such as comic images or advertisements, attracted by the way highly emotional subject matter could be depicted using detached techniques. Transferring this to a painting context, Lichtenstein could present powerfully charged scenes in an impersonal manner, leaving the viewer to decipher meanings for themselves. Although he was careful to retain the character of his source, Lichtenstein also explored the formal qualities of commercial imagery and techniques. In these works as in Whaam!, he adapted and developed the original composition to produce an intensely stylised painting.
[Tate Modern, London - Acrylic and oil on canvas, 1727 x 4064 mm]