Tate gives a big show to Roy Lichtenstein

The Tate Modern will next year stage the first major UK exhibition devoted to Roy Lichtenstein in 20 years, its most comprehensive retrospective of the celebrated pop artist. The exhibition, which opens next spring, will bring together 125 of the artist's definitive paintings and sculptures.

Lichtenstein emerged as one of the most prominent figures in pop art in the 1960s alongside Andy Warhol, Jasper Johns and Robert Rauschenberg. His best known works include huge paintings of comic strip panels such as Whaam!, which shows fighter jet shooting down an enemy, and Drowning Girl. The works were painted by hand but inspired by the industrial printing process and comic books, playing on representation and originality in mass media culture. Lichtenstein died in 1997 at the age of 73.

The Tate also announced other highlights of the 2013 programme, which included the first show of LS Lowry in a public institution since his death in 1978. The Tate Britain exhibition will bring around 80 works that aim to re-assess his influence. Tate Liverpool will exhibit 60 works by Marc Chagall. The galleries will also show artists including Mira Schendel, Ellen Gallagher and Paul Klee.