mheu, Historical Museum of the Urban Environment

The work

Painted in the winter of 1961-1962, Kitchen Stove is one of Lichtenstein's pictures inspired by commercials. He flaunted the decision to borrow from that world by deliberately including the copyright on the bottom left of the painting and by using the bright, contrasting colors typical of advertising. This picture, like the ones that followed, baffled his contemporaries.

The artist

Born in New York in 1923, Lichtenstein began creating his body of pictorial work by painting pictures in the classical style. By the early sixties, his work changed dramatically. Joining the pop art movement taking off in the United States after its emergence in Great Britain, Lichtenstein took an interest in the techniques and objects of the then booming mass consumption trend. Scandalizing his contemporaries, the painter borrowed themes and techniques from comics, television and advertising, turning his back on the great tradition of European art. Lichtenstein, who died in 1997, is considered, along with Andy Warhol, to be one of the masters of American pop art.