''Brattata'' is a 1962 pop art painting by Roy Lichtenstein in his

comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...

style of using Ben-Day dots and a text balloon. The work is held in the collection at the

Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art, ( Persian: موزه هنرهای معاصر تهران), also known as TMoCA, is among the largest art museums in Tehran and Iran. It has collections of more than 3,000 items that include 19th and 20th centur ...

. It is one of several Lichtenstein works from '' All-American Men of War'' issue #89, but is a reworking of its source panel.

Background

According to the

University of Michigan Library The University of Michigan Library is the academic library system of the University of Michigan. The university's 38 constituent and affiliated libraries together make it the List of largest libraries in the United States#Largest research libraries ...

, at one time the work was held in the Fischmann collection. St. Louis businessman and financier, Milton Fischmann died in May 1974, and the work is now in the collection of the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art. A trained draftsman and artist, Lichtenstein was a

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

pilot who served in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

without ever seeing active combat. His list of aeronautical-themed works is extensive. Within that genre, Lichtenstein has featured pilots situated in cockpits during air combat in many of his works, such as '' Jet Pilot'' (1962), ''Brattata'' (1962), '' Bratatat!'' (1963), and ''

Okay Hot-Shot, Okay! ''Okay Hot-Shot, Okay!'' (sometimes ''Okay Hot-Shot'') is a 1963 pop art painting by Roy Lichtenstein that uses his Ben-Day dots style and a text balloon. It is one of several examples of military art that Lichtenstein created between 1962 ...

'' (1963). The source of ''Brattata'' is ''All-American Men of War'' #89 (January–February 1962,

DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...

). The same issue was the inspiration for several other Lichtenstein paintings, ''Okay Hot-Shot, Okay!'', '' Blam'', ''

Whaam! ''Whaam!'' is a 1963 diptych painting by the American artist Roy Lichtenstein. It is one of the best-known works of pop art, and among Lichtenstein's most important paintings. ''Whaam!'' was first exhibited at the Leo Castelli Gallery in New ...

'' and ''Tex!'' The graphite pencil sketch, '' Jet Pilot'' was also from that issue. The pilot's mask is unbuckled, revealing the lower half of his face (as opposed to ''Bratatat!'' and ''Jet Pilot'' where only the eyes are visible). The

onomatopoeia Onomatopoeia is the process of creating a word that phonetically imitates, resembles, or suggests the sound that it describes. Such a word itself is also called an onomatopoeia. Common onomatopoeias include animal noises such as ''oink'', '' ...

presented graphically appears as a cliché. In comparison to the original Lichtenstein increased the required number of downed planes for

flying ace A flying ace, fighter ace or air ace is a military aviator credited with shooting down five or more enemy aircraft during aerial combat. The exact number of aerial victories required to officially qualify as an ace is varied, but is usually co ...

recognition by two, possibly reflecting his own training.

Critical appraisal

The work is among those known for "bursting shapes and colors" in its graphical content and excellent sound and action in its narrative content. It is one of several Lichtenstein works that depicts what one author describes as a "male violence fantasy". Original artwork artist

Russ Heath Russell Heath Jr. (September 29, 1926 – August 23, 2018), was an American artist best known for his comic book work, particularly his DC Comics war stories and his 1960s art for ''Playboy'' magazine's "Little Annie Fanny" feature. He also prod ...

had accurately depicted the downward slanting

gun sight A sight is an aiming device used to assist in visually aligning ranged weapons, surveying instruments or optical illumination equipments with the intended target. Sights can be a simple set or system of physical markers that have to be aligne ...

and angled cockpit control panel. Lichtenstein depicted these without any slant, making them parallel to the surface of the canvas, which in a sense makes the viewer feel as if he is taking the place of the pilot.

Sources

External links

Lichtenstein Foundation website
{{Roy Lichtenstein 1962 paintings 20th-century portraits Aviation art Military art Paintings by Roy Lichtenstein Portraits by American artists Paintings in the collection of the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art

Background

Critical appraisal

See also

Sources

External links