Jeff Koons Reflects on Roy & Dorothy Lichtenstein's Legacy | Sotheby's

A Legacy Reimagined: Works from the Collection of Dorothy and Roy Lichtenstein is a celebration of Lichtenstein’s legendary status as a founder of the Pop movement and icon of Contemporary art. This exceptional trove of sculptures, paintings, drawings, collages and prints charts four decades of Lichtenstein’s career, capturing Lichtenstein’s profound engagement with his art historical forebears as well as modern-day visual culture—all through his signature visual vernacular. Over the course of his career, Lichtenstein engaged in a profound dialogue with art history’s giants, revisiting the canon through his own imagination. Ultimately, though, Lichtenstein not only reimagined these art historical giants, but also joined the pantheon of legends, as a singular force in the development of Contemporary art.

The exquisite collection of works presented here showcases Lichtenstein’s mastery across media, as a sculptor, painter, draftsman and printmaker, relentlessly innovating and expanding his practice. Throughout his prolific oeuvre, Lichtenstein quoted from the annals of art history—from the architecture of ancient Greece, the sleek geometry of Art Deco, the dreamscapes of the Surrealists, and the abstracted planes of the Cubists—as well as the graphic flair of modern advertising. Lichtenstein reinterpreted canonical art historical references with his unmistakable Ben-Day dots and comic-like aesthetic, which have become synonymous with Pop art itself. Challenging and redefining the means and meaning of artistic production in contemporary society, Lichtenstein created works which revolutionized the familiar and became icons in their own right.

Collection of Dorothy and Roy Lichtenstein will take part of Sotheby’s New York Contemporary Evening & Day Sales on 18-19 November 2025.

Still haven’t subscribed to Sotheby’s on YouTube? ►►   / sothebys