Exhibit showcases works by pop art master Roy Lichtenstein

It takes a rather exceptional artist to perceive the potential in a trash can, a transistor radio or a pair of Keds high-tops.

Roy Lichtenstein, the celebrated 20th century artist who in the early 1960s helped ignite the pop art movement, was that rather exceptional artist.

Although at the time, not everyone agreed.

"He was kind of a 'succès de scandale,'" said James Rondeau, co-curator of "Roy Lichtenstein: A Retrospective," the first Lichtenstein career survey since his 1997 death from pneumonia.

The exhibition, organized by London's Tate Modern and the Art Institute of Chicago, premieres Tuesday, May 22.

The establishment press criticized him initially, said Rondeau, the Art Institute's Dittmer curator in its Department of Contemporary Art. Yet his early shows sold out.

"There were people eager to recognize and be part of something that felt radically new," Rondeau said, adding that once that "shock of the new" wore off, the art establishment recognized the formally trained Lichtenstein for the extraordinarily accomplished painter he was.

That said, for all its sophistication, is absolutely accessible.

"He's a history painter of our time," Rondeau said.

Born in New York in 1923, Lichtenstein studied art at Ohio State University. He left in 1943 to join the Army, and returned two years later to complete his degree. He subsequently taught at the university's school of fine and applied arts and later at the State University of New York.

Among the artist's most notable contributions, says Rondeau, was bridging the gap between the realm of pop culture and mass production and the realm of fine art, "two areas of cultural life previously thought to be absolutely distinct."

"This is the central tenet of pop art, and Roy was its most loyal architect," Rondeau said.

The marriage of popular culture and fine art is evident in many of the more than 130 Lichtenstein paintings, sculptures, drawings and collages making up the retrospective, which are inspired by comic book panels, advertising, children's book illustrations (one of which influenced 1961's "Look Mickey," considered the artist's first pop painting) and even masterworks by Monet, Mondrian and Picasso, which Lichtenstein affectionately "appropriated" or parodied, as in 1969's "Haystack."

His "finished paintings are extraordinarily well made" Rondeau said.

For example, the early pop paintings, which include "Hot Dog and Mustard" along with the works in black and white from the mid 1960s, appear to be mass produced. Yet each one - from the signature Benday dots to the heavy outlines that define the figures - was meticulously hand crafted by the artist whose work reflects what Rondeau calls his "endless creativity within a limited idiom."

Of course, no Lichtenstein career retrospective would be complete without the iconic works that make up the "War and Romance" series from 1961 to 1966. Among Lichtenstein's most recognizable paintings, they depict - often in close-up - a subject's heightened emotional state or in the case of 1963's "Whaam!" a dramatic battlefield moment.

"The famous pictures are just the beginning," Rondeau said. "That's what we wanted to show in the exhibition."

For every series that comes after, Lichtenstein not only sustains his level of innovation, but effectively raises the bar, Rondeau said.

He urges visitors to pay attention to the "heart-stoppingly beautiful" Chines landscapes, which include 1996's "Landscape in Fog." He also recommends lingering in the gallery devoted to "historical appropriations," which he describes as smart and funny, and in the room of drawings, which offer an up-close look at Lichtenstein's creative process.

Ultimately, the curator hopes visitors leave the exhibition not only with a greater appreciation of the pop art master, but with the understanding that art can delight and entertain and at the same time, change how we think about the world.

And yet, he cautions against reading too much into the works, referencing Lichtenstein himself who in 1952 said, "Don't look for ideas. My purpose in painting is to create an integrated organization of visual elements."

Lichtenstein was being a bit disingenuous, said Rondeau, explaining that what the artist meant was: "don't be distracted by content. Subject matter isn't the first thing to look at."

Instead viewers should take in the formal values of line, color, shape and composition. Not to mention the wit, whimsy and humor and of course the talent and craftsmanship behind it all.

"Are you freaking out that it's a hot dog? Let it go. That bunch of grapes doesn't signify anything," quipped Rondeau who encourages visitors to focus on Lichtenstein's brilliant craftsmanship rather than attempt to divine from the painting some nonexistent meaning.

"You don't need a toolbox to decipher these on a metaphorical level ... This is our world, look at it," Rondeau said.

“Roy Lichtenstein: A Retrospective”

Where: Art Institute of Chicago, 111 S. Michigan Ave., Chicago, (312) 443-3626 or artic.edu

When: Exhibit runs May 22 to Sept. 3

Hours: 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday to Wednesday, Friday to Sunday; 10:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. Thursday

Admission: Adults $18; children, students and seniors 65 and up $12; children under 14 free.