M-Maybe he became ill (section)

Step right up to one of pop art's most recognizable faces. This is a section of Roy Lichtenstein's "M-Maybe (A Girl's Picture)," painted in 1965. The blonde woman gazing off into the distance is classic Lichtenstein, lifted straight from the romance comic books that were everywhere in mid-century America. Notice those tiny dots covering her skin. Those are Ben-Day dots, the printing technique used in cheap comics of the era. Lichtenstein copied them by hand to mimic the look of mass-produced print, turning something ordinary into fine art.

What makes this piece tick is the story it suggests but never finishes. In the full painting, a speech bubble reads "M-Maybe he became ill and couldn't leave the studio!" She is waiting for someone who has not shown up, caught in a moment of worry and longing. Lichtenstein loved borrowing these dramatic snippets from comics because they poked fun at the soap-opera emotions of pop culture while celebrating them at the same time.

Lichtenstein was part of the Pop Art movement that exploded in the 1960s, alongside names like Andy Warhol. At the time, plenty of critics sneered at the idea of treating comic strips as serious art. Today, his work hangs in major museums around the world, and that bold style of thick black outlines, primary colors, and printed dots remains instantly familiar to almost everyone.