Roy Lichtenstein's Personal Library

By the late 1980s, Lichtenstein had collected books both at his Southampton and New York City homes and studios. Depending on projects, volumes sometimes migrated from one location to the other.

After his death in 1997, Lichtenstein's estate gathered and carefully labeled all personal art related books from Southampton, merged them with books from the New York City studio, and placed them in a new library at the artist's Foundation at 739/745 Washington Street. Later, the Foundation's reference and research holdings were integrated as well. All publications were catalogued by a professional librarian according to the Library of Congress classification system. By 2023, these holdings comprised over 3,900 books.

The artist’s personal library in Southampton represents the core of the Foundation’s book holdings. Its 699 volumes include first editions of monographs, exhibition catalogues and general books on techniques, materials and art movements. A number of these resources contain specific source material which the artist referred to in his work. 

This catalogue presents a selection of the Foundation's holdings, chosen by the authors for their relevance with regard to the artworks discussed or included. A small number of these resources are antecedent material the artist consulted or referred to in his work.