As I Opened Fire Triptych, 1966-2000

Over the course of his career, Roy Lichtenstein designed 70 posters to promote music and film festivals, political campaigns, nonprofit organizations, his own exhibitions, and more. Released in 1962, Lichtenstein’s first poster depicts a series of shaking hands, which celebrated his inaugural exhibition at the influential Leo Castelli Gallery. Since the posters were folded and sent by mail, these early exhibition advertisements (or “mailers”) are creased at the centerfold—a remnant from this bygone era of gallery advertising. By the mid-1960s, Lichtenstein’s cartoon aesthetic turned him into a household name, and the Pop artist began receiving commissions from institutions across the country—from New York’s Lincoln Center to Hollywood’s 20th Century Fox—to design their posters as well. In later decades, Lichtenstein would go on to leverage his worldwide fame to champion humanitarian causes and political campaigns. For example, his poster Oval Office (1992) was part of a fundraiser to support 10 female candidates running for the United States Senate.