Roy Lichtenstein created art that was new, bright and true – and also very funny. Like Andy Warhol, Lichtenstein was painting the world as he saw it, portraying comic strips and household objects, from sneakers to hot dogs, in his signature style using a primary colour palette and dots. The Ben-Day dots were the building block of all mass-produced images in newspapers and magazines, shorthand for cheap images, a technique elevated, through Lichtenstein’s painstakingly painted, artistic prism, to the status of high art. He also saw his place in a continuum of art history, reinterpreting – liberating, as he called it – the works of other artists in his own style, with irreverent wit. He defied traditional ‘good taste’ and became part of the new avant-garde that defined American art in the 60s and beyond.

Now Lichtenstein enthusiasts and collectors can immerse themselves in his inspirational paintings with a new Assouline Ultimate Collection volume. Art historian Avis Berman has chosen 100 of the artist’s most memorable works, reproduced with gatefolds revealing the breadth and achievement of Lichtenstein’s art in all its colour and playfulness. A must for Pop Art admirers of the most coveted works in modern art, the legacy of a master and a very lovely man.

£695; assouline.com