''Bratatat!'' is a 1963 pop art painting by

Roy Lichtenstein Roy Fox Lichtenstein ( ; October27, 1923September29, 1997) was an American pop artist. He rose to prominence in the 1960s through pieces which were inspired by popular advertising and the comic book style. Much of his work explores the relations ...

in his

comic book A comic book, comic-magazine, or simply comic is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and wri ...

style of using

Ben-Day dots The Ben Day process is a printing and photoengraving technique for producing areas of gray or (with four-color printing) various colors by using fine patterns of ink on the paper. It was developed in 1879 by illustrator and printer Benjamin Henr ...

and a text balloon.

Background

Lichtenstein was a trained

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

pilot, draftsman and artist as well as a

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

veteran who never saw active combat. His list of aeronautical themed works is extensive. Within that genre, Lichtenstein has produced several works featuring pilots situated in cockpits during air combat such as '' Jet Pilot'' (1962), ''

Brattata ''Brattata'' is a 1962 pop art painting by Roy Lichtenstein in his comic book style of using Ben-Day dots and a text balloon. The work is held in the collection at the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art. It is one of several Lichtenstein works f ...

'' (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 and ...

'' (1963). ''Bratatat!'' along with ''

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 Y ...

'' and '' Varoom!'' are among Lichtenstein's most recognizable

onomatopoeic Onomatopoeia (or rarely echoism) is a type of word, or the process of creating a word, that phonetically imitates, resembles, or suggests the sound that it describes. Common onomatopoeias in English include animal noises such as ''oink'', '' ...

works. The source of ''Bratatat!'' is '' All-American Men of War'' #90 (March–April 1962,

DC Comics DC Comics (originally DC Comics, Inc., and also known simply as DC) is an American comic book publisher owned by DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC is an initialism for "Detective Comics", an American comic book seri ...

). ''Bratatat!'' depicts a jet fighter pilot engaged in military conflict. The black and white sketch of this work has been on a worldwide tour, accompanied by

artwork. The painting is symbolic of Lichtenstein's portfolio of work and is widely celebrated, as much for the name as for the actual graphical content of military conflict, in the marketing of the artist and his works.

Critical response

The work addresses Lichtenstein's motif of monocularity by pitting the pilot's binocular vision against the technologically advanced monocular computing reflector gun sight. '' The Washingtonians critic Sophie Gilbert regards ''Bratatat!'' (along with '' Takka Takka'') as exemplary of Lichtenstein's "aggressive, hyper-masculine war paintings" because of its depiction of the guns creating sound effects and the use of

words during military conflict. Dramatic close-ups of male protagonists at war, such as ''Bratatat!'' and '' Torpedo...Los!'', serve as counterpoints to Lichtenstein's women in clichéd romantic turmoil during highly-charged moments. The work also is related to Lichtenstein's theme of "machine and embodied vision" as exhibited in works such as ''

Crak! ''Crak!'' (sometimes ''Crack!'') is a 1963 pop art lithograph by Roy Lichtenstein in his comic book style of using Ben-Day dots and a text balloon. It was used in marketing materials for one of Lichtenstein's early shows. It is one of severa ...

'', ''

'', and '' Jet Pilot''.

Notes

External links

Lichtenstein Foundation website
{{Roy Lichtenstein 1963 paintings 20th-century portraits Aviation art Military art Paintings by Roy Lichtenstein Portraits by American artists Works based on DC Comics

Background

Critical response

See also

Notes

External links