The World's Largest Modern & Contemporary Prints & Editions Platform
Whaam! - Signed Print by Roy Lichtenstein 1967 - MyArtBroker

Whaam!
Signed Print

Roy Lichtenstein

£1,700-£2,600Value Indicator

$3,500-$5,500 Value Indicator

$3,100-$4,800 Value Indicator

¥16,000-¥25,000 Value Indicator

€1,950-€3,000 Value Indicator

$18,000-$27,000 Value Indicator

¥340,000-¥520,000 Value Indicator

$2,300-$3,500 Value Indicator

There aren't enough data points on this work for a comprehensive result. Please speak to a specialist by making an enquiry.

63 x 147cm, Edition of 3000, Lithograph

Medium: Lithograph

Edition size: 3000

Year: 1967

Size: H 63cm x W 147cm

Signed: Yes

Format: Signed Print

Last Auction: March 2023

Value Trend:

6% AAGR

AAGR (5 years) This estimate blends recent public auction records with our own private sale data and network demand.

TradingFloor

10+ in network
10+ want this
Find out how Buying or Selling works.

Auction Results

Auction Date
Auction House
Location
Return to Seller
Hammer Price
Buyer Paid
March 2023
Tate Ward Auctions
United Kingdom
£1,105
£1,300
£1,625
January 2023
Lyon & Turnbull Edinburgh
United Kingdom
December 2022
Palm Beach Modern Auctions
United States
November 2022
Swann Galleries
United States
November 2022
Waddington's
Canada
November 2021
Bonhams New Bond Street
United Kingdom
August 2021
Lyon & Turnbull Edinburgh
United Kingdom
MyPortfolio
Auction Table Image
Unlock access to our full history of auction results
400+International auction houses tracked
30+Years of auction data
We are passionate about selling art, not data. We will never share or sell your information without your permission.

Track auction value trend

Roy Lichtenstein's Whaam! (signed), a lithograph print from 1967, is currently valued between £1,700 and £2,600. This artwork has shown consistent value growth, with an auction history of 20 total sales since its entry to the market in March 2007. Over the past five years, the hammer price has ranged from £1,270 in November 2022 to £17,000 in November 2021. The average annual growth rate of Whaam! is 6%. This work is part of a limited edition of 3,000.

Created with Highcharts 11.4.8Aug 2021Nov 2021Feb 2022May 2022Sep 2022Dec 2022Mar 2023£1,000£1,100£1,200£1,300£1,400£1,500£1,600£1,700£1,800© MyArtBroker

Meaning & Analysis

Politically loaded or socially subversive statements are barely concealed beneath Lichtenstein’s vibrant colours and graphic forms, and Whaam!is no exception. Created at the same time as the war in Vietnam was escalating, the political implications of Whaam! become hard to ignore. The futility of war is suggested by the superficial aesthetic depicting aggressive, careless masculine ideals of conquest and violence, which in fact serves to convey a poignant message. Lichtenstein’s also served in the US army in the 1940s.

The original composition of Whaam! is taken from a panel drawn by Irv Novick which was published in issue number 89 of All-American Men of War, published by DC Comics in the previous year, February 1962. Altering and adapting the original, Lichtenstein transforms the image and imbues it with his own artistic identity; far from being a simple copyist, Lichtenstein was sophisticated in his reinvention of the visual language of popular culture. In his own words, "I am nominally copying, but I am really restating the copied thing in other terms. In doing that, the original acquires a totally different texture. It isn't thick or thin brushstrokes, it's dots and flat colours and unyielding lines."

The year 1963 was an important one for the artist, during it he made some of his most well-known and successful works alongside Whaam!, including Hopeless and Drowning Girl. Depicted in his bright, vibrant colour palette and with underlying parody, they transform cliché into works of art, with a satirical take on popular fiction that elevates trivial or familiar subjects into meaningful social commentary, blurring the distinction between high art and visual culture. This prosperous period of Lichtenstein’s career would go on not only to cement his name at the forefront of the American Pop Art movement, but to shape the trajectory of modern art.

The original work, Whaam! was first exhibited at the Leo Castelli Gallery in New York City when it was created in 1963, and was later purchased by the Tate Gallery, London, in 1966. It has been on permanent display at Tate Modern since 2006.

Roy Lichtenstein was a leading figure in the Pop Art movement during the second half of the 20th century. His distinctive artistic style is inspired by the visual language of advertising and mass consumerism that pervaded American popular culture during his lifetime, and his work recalls a society of widespread commercialism that has remained powerfully relevant to this day. He borrowed artistic techniques from the commercial printing industry in his work, for example his appropriation of the Ben-Day dots, a technique derived from the images reproduced in newspaper print, meticulously recreating the industrial process in his own hand. He also produced works that were influenced by comic strips, appropriating and parodying the typical motifs such as lettering and speech balloons, all of which would become signatures of his artwork. These distinctive and culturally relevant tropes are defining elements of Whaam!, a work that exemplifies Lichtenstein’s recognisable and acclaimed style. The comic strip style was a means for the artist to visually represent narrative in an accessible and engaging manner, adeptly incorporating a wide range of subject matter relating to the human condition.

  • Roy Lichtenstein, born in New York, 1923, is a seminal figure in the Pop Art movement, renowned for his comic book and advertisement-inspired artworks. His transformative journey from classical painter to Pop Art pioneer began with his iconic piece, Look Mickey, marking the fusion of painting with pop culture. Lichtenstein’s works, including Whaam!, Drowning Girl, and Crying Girl, blend parody and satire, challenging the boundaries between popular culture and ‘high art’. With over 5,000 pieces to his name, Lichtenstein’s enduring influence resonates in contemporary art, his works celebrated in prestigious institutions worldwide.