Roy Lichtenstein Crying Girl, 1963, an offset lithograph, was one of his earlier forays into pop art. It was originally made as an invitation to his show in New York at the Leo Castelli Gallery. Aside from the invitations which he folded in four, Lichtenstein kept some and signed them. Many of Lichtenstein’s comic inspired paintings and prints dealt with so-called angsting women in one way or another. He would portray a snapshot of a larger narrative and allow the viewer to fill in the remainder. 

In terms of Crying Girl, 1963, she looks out of the corner of her eyes to the right and holds her hands to her mouth as if muffling a gasp. Tears bead out of the corner of her eyes and the viewer wonders – what is she looking at? Part of what makes Lichtenstein’s works, and Crying Girl, 1963 in particular, so captivating is that they carry such intense emotion, if only for a moment in time.