Pop art in New York gets its biggest moment in years today. The Whitney Museum of American Art opens “Roy Lichtenstein: Like New” on October 11. It runs through May 10, 2027. Around it, the city already has plenty of pop to see, from soup cans to a subway mural. Here is where to find it, and how to see a lot of it in one day.
The anchor: Lichtenstein at the Whitney
According to the Whitney’s exhibition page, “Like New” is the first New York retrospective of Lichtenstein’s work since 1993. It covers six decades and includes four re-created murals. Meg Onli organized it with the artist Alex Da Corte as guest curator. The title comes from a 1962 painting.
Lichtenstein, who lived from 1923 to 1997, borrowed the look of comic strips and ads. He copied the dots of cheap printing into his paintings, so a mass-made image became something slow and deliberate. That joke still lands, and it is why his work photographs so well.
The show is on Floor 5. We have not seen it yet, so this is a preview, not a review.
Plan your Whitney visit
The Whitney sits at 99 Gansevoort Street in the Meatpacking District. Its visit page lists adult tickets at $30, with seniors and students at $24. Visitors 25 and under get in free.
The museum also runs Free Friday Nights, from 5 to 10 p.m., and Free Second Sundays. Policies and timed slots can change, so confirm on the Whitney’s site before you go. The visit page also lists Tuesday as the one day the museum stays shut.
For food, Frenchette Bakery is on Floor 1, and Studio Bar is on Floor 8. Both make an easy break between galleries.
Pop art in New York beyond the Whitney
Warhol at MoMA
The Museum of Modern Art owns Andy Warhol’s Campbell’s Soup Cans from 1962. The work spans 32 canvases, and MoMA acquired it in 1996. Its collection page lists it on view on Floor 4. Gallery hangs change, though, so check the page before you plan around it.
MoMA also owns Lichtenstein’s Drowning Girl, from 1963, a weeping heroine lifted from a romance comic. Its collection page did not list it as on view when we checked, so look it up before you go.
Lichtenstein underground
The easiest pop art in New York costs only a subway fare. Lichtenstein’s Times Square Mural hangs in the Times Sq-42 St station, where MTA Arts & Design dates it to 2002. The Lichtenstein catalogue raisonné fills in the rest. He designed it in 1990 in porcelain enamel on steel, about 6 feet tall and 53 feet long. Fabrication finished in 1994, eight years before it went up.
It is pure Lichtenstein, in bold lines and flat color. Plenty of commuters walk right past it. So stop for a minute, and you will get a Lichtenstein with no ticket at all.
Why pop art still feels new
Pop art took the things everyone saw every day and hung them on museum walls. Soup cans, comic panels and ads became fine art. At the time, that felt like a provocation. Today, it feels like a mirror, since our phones are full of bright, flat, repeatable images.
That is partly why this is a good season for pop art in New York. The Whitney show gives you the full Lichtenstein story in one place. Meanwhile, MoMA and the subway let you see how his ideas sit next to Warhol’s and how they play in public.
A one-day pop art route
This route fits the best pop art in New York into one day, with time for lunch.
Morning, MoMA. Start in Midtown at MoMA, which sits on West 53rd Street. See the soup cans first, then check the collection site for any Lichtenstein on view. Give yourself about 90 minutes.
Midday, Times Square. Next, walk south to the Times Sq-42 St station. Find the mural, then take a downtown train toward the Meatpacking District. Check MTA service before you go, since weekend changes are common.
Afternoon, the Whitney. Book a timed ticket for “Like New” and spend at least two hours there. Then go up to Studio Bar on Floor 8 for a drink and the view.
Evening, the High Line. Finally, walk out the door and up the stairs. The High Line’s southern entrance is at Gansevoort and Washington Streets, right beside the Whitney. From April 1 to November 30, the park is open from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m., according to its website. Walk north as the light goes, and let your eyes rest.
Tips for a pop art day
First, book ahead for the Whitney, since opening weekend is likely to be the busiest stretch for pop art in New York this fall. Second, wear comfortable shoes, because this route covers a lot of Manhattan. Third, check every museum page on the morning you go, since hours and on-view works change.
Also, bring the kids if you have them. Pop art is bright, funny and easy to talk about, and the Whitney admits anyone 25 and under for free.
More art this month
For more ink and panels, our guide to the Art of Manga at the Brooklyn Museum pairs well with Lichtenstein’s comics. Our Culture section has more exhibitions. Today, though, start at the Whitney and let the soup cans and the subway fill in the rest.