Bratatat! Explained

Bratatat!
Artist:Roy Lichtenstein
Year:1963
Movement:Pop art
Height Metric:116.8
Width Metric:86.4
Height Imperial:46
Width Imperial:34

Bratatat! is a 1963 pop art painting by Roy Lichtenstein in his comic book style of using Ben-Day dots and a text balloon.

Background

Lichtenstein was a trained United States Army pilot, draftsman and artist as well as a World War II veteran who never saw active combat.[1] [2] 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 (1962), Bratatat! (1963), and Okay Hot-Shot, Okay! (1963).[3] Bratatat! along with Whaam! and Varoom! are among Lichtenstein's most recognizable onomatopoeic works.[4]

The source of Bratatat! is All-American Men of War #90 (March–April 1962, DC Comics).[5] 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 DC Comics artwork.[6] [7]

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.[8] [9] [10]

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.[11] 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 onomatopoeic words during military conflict.[12] 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.[13] [14] The work also is related to Lichtenstein's theme of "machine and embodied vision" as exhibited in works such as Crak!, Okay Hot-Shot, Okay!, and Jet Pilot.[15]

See also

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Chronology. June 9, 2013. Roy Lichtenstein Foundation. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20130606071341/http://lichtensteinfoundation.org/lfchron1.htm. June 6, 2013. mdy-all.
  2. Book: H.C. Westermann at War: Art and Manhood in Cold War America. May 16, 2013. 2004. 087413871X. 71. University of Delaware Press. McCarthy, David.
  3. Book: The Airplane in American Culture. June 21, 2013. 2003. University of Michigan Press. 275. 0472068334. Pisano, Dominick A..
  4. Web site: The Report: Mr Roy Lichtenstein. June 23, 2013. February 12, 2013. MrPorter.com. https://web.archive.org/web/20130629065016/http://www.mrporter.com/journal/journal_issue101/6#1. June 29, 2013. dead.
  5. Web site: Bratatat!. June 24, 2013. LichtensteinFoundation.org.
  6. Web site: Fresh Perspective on Familiar Pop Master. June 23, 2013. July 8, 2010. The New York Times. Vogel, Carol.
  7. Web site: Roy Lichtenstein's 'Mark That Was Art'. June 23, 2013. September 29, 2010. The Forward. Rolnick, Katie.
  8. Web site: Whaam!: The Roy Lichtenstein Retrospective at the Art Institute of Chicago. June 23, 2013. May 22, 2012. Encyclopædia Britannica. Kuiper, Kathleen.
  9. Web site: Roy Lichtenstein: A Retrospective. June 23, 2013. February 21, 2013. Times Higher Education.
  10. Web site: BRATATAT! Lichtenstein hits the Tate Modern. June 23, 2013. March 1, 2013. New Statesman. Simmonds, Charlotte.
  11. Book: Image Duplicator: Roy Lichtenstein and the Emergence of Pop Art. June 23, 2013. 0300087624. 99. Yale University Press. Lobel, Michael. 2002.
  12. Web site: Art Preview: "Roy Lichtenstein: A Retrospective" at the National Gallery of Art. June 23, 2013. October 11, 2012. The Washingtonian. Gilbert, Sophie.
  13. Web site: War and Romance. June 23, 2013. Art Institute of Chicago.
  14. Web site: Roy Lichtenstein Retrospective On View at National Gallery of Art, Washington: October 14, 2012–January 13, 2013. June 23, 2013. National Gallery of Art.
  15. Book: Roy Lichtenstein. Bader, Graham. MIT Press. 2009. 978-0-262-01258-4. Technology Envisioned: Lichtenstein's Monocularity. Lobel, Michael. 118 - 20.

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