Announced by the USPS on October 24, 2022.
The work of the iconic American artist of the pop art movement, Roy Lichtenstein (1923-1997) is celebrated with a stamp issuance in his honor. Each of the five stamps in this pane of 20 features one work of art by Lichtenstein: “Standing Explosion (Red)” (porcelain enamel on steel sculpture, 1965); “Modern Painting I” (oil and magna on canvas, 1966); “Still Life with Crystal Bowl” (oil and magna on canvas, 1972); “Still Life with Goldfish” (oil and magna on canvas, 1972); and “Portrait of a Woman” (oil and magna on linen, 1979). The selvage features a photograph of Lichtenstein by Bob Adelman with the artist’s face framed by a model of his 1983 sculpture Brushstrokes in Flight. Derry Noyes served as art director and designer for this issuance.
New information will appear below the line, with the most recent at the top.
Updated June 6th:
Here are the Scott catalogue numbers for this issue:
5792 Standing Explosion (Red), 1965
a. Imperforate
5793 Modern Painting I, 1966
a. Imperforate
5794 Still Life with Crystal Bowl, 1972
a. Imperforate
5795 Still Life with Goldfish, 1972
a. Imperforate
5796 Portrait of a Woman, 1979
a. Imperforate
b. Horiz. strip of 5, #5792-5796
c. Imperforate horiz. strip of 5, #5792a-5796a
Updated March 24th from the Postal Bulletin:
On April 24, 2023, in New York, NY, the United States Postal Service® will issue the Roy Lichtenstein stamps (Forever® priced at the First-Class Mail® rate) in five designs, in a pressure-sensitive adhesive (PSA) pane of 20 stamps (Item 483500). These stamps will go on sale nationwide April 24, 2023, and must not be sold or canceled before the first-day-of-issue. The Roy Lichtenstein commemorative pane of 20 stamps must not be split and the stamps must not be sold individually.
With these stamps, the Postal Service™ honors Roy Lichtenstein (1923–1997), the iconic American artist of the pop art movement. Each of the five stamps in this pane of 20 features one work of art by Lichtenstein:
Standing Explosion (Red) (porcelain enamel on steel, 1965).- Modern Painting I (acrylic, oil, graphite pencil on canvas, 1966). [right]
- Still Life with Crystal Bowl (acrylic, oil, graphite pencil on canvas, 1972).
- Still Life with Goldfish (acrylic, oil, graphite pencil on canvas, 1972).
- Portrait of a Woman (acrylic, oil, graphite pencil on canvas, 1979).
The selvage features a photograph by Bob Adelman of Lichtenstein, his face framed by a 
model of his 1983 sculpture, Brushstrokes in Flight. Derry Noyes served as art director and designer for this issuance.
No automatic distribution.
How to Order the First-Day-of-Issue Postmark:
Customers have 120 days to obtain the first-day-of-issue postmark by mail. They may purchase new stamps at their local Post Office™ or at The Postal Store® website at store.usps.com/store/home. They must affix the stamps to envelopes of their choice, address the envelopes (to themselves or others), and place them in a larger envelope 
addressed to:
FDOI – Roy Lichtenstein Stamps
USPS Stamp Fulfillment Services
8300 NE Underground Drive, Suite 300
Kansas City, MO 64144-9900
After applying the first-day-of-issue postmark, the Postal Service will return the envelopes through the mail. There is no charge for the postmark up to a quantity of 50. There is a 5-cent charge for each additional postmark over 50. All orders must be postmarked by August 24, 2023.
Technical Specifications:
Issue: Roy Lichtenstein Stamps
Item Number: 483500
Denomination & Type of Issue: First-Class Mail Forever
Format: Pane of 20 (5 designs)
Series: N/A
Issue Date & City: April 24, 2023, New York, NY 10199
Art Director: Derry Noyes, Washington, DC
Designer: Derry Noyes, Washington, DC
Existing Art: Roy Lichtenstein
Modeler: Sandra Lane / Michelle Finn
Manufacturing Process: Offset / Flexographic
Printer: Banknote Corporation of America
Press Type: Gallus RCS
Stamps per Pane: 20
Print Quantity: 18,000,000 stamps
Paper Type: Phosphor Tagged Paper, Block
Adhesive Type: Pressure-sensitive
Colors: Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black, Pantone 1805C, Pantone 2104C
Stamp Orientation: Vertical
Image Area (w x h): 1.085 x 1.42 in / 27.559 x 36.068 mm
Overall Size (w x h): 1.225 x 1.56 in / 31.115 x 39.624 mm
Full Pane Size (w x h): 9.70 x 7.30 in / 246.38 x 185.42 mm
Press Sheets Size (w x h): 19.40 x 14.60 in / 492.76 x 370.84 mm
Plate Size: 80 stamps per revolution
Plate Number: “B” followed by six (6) single digits in two corners
Marginal Markings:
Front: Header: Roy Lichtenstein 1923–1997 • Plate number in bottom 2 corners
Back: ©2022 Estate of Roy Lichtenstein. All rights reserved. • ©2022 USPS • USPS logo • Two barcodes (483500) • Plate position diagram (4) • Promotional text
First Day Postmarks:
The Digital Color Postmark for this issue measures 2.82″ x 1.49″ 
The pictorial postmark measures 2.54″ x 1.23″
Updated March 22nd:
[ceremony details] [click on any of the pictures for larger versions]
Artist Roy Lichtenstein’s Work To Appear on Five StampsWhat: The U.S. Postal Service will honor American artist Roy Lichtenstein with five commemorative Forever stamps featuring his colorful pop art.
The first-day-of-issue event for the stamps is free and open to the public. News of the stamps is being shared with the hashtag #RoyLichtensteinStamps.
Who: Tom Marshall, U.S. Postal Service general counsel and executive vice president, will serve as dedicating official.
When: Monday, April 24, at 11:30 a.m. ET
Where:
Whitney Museum of American Art
Susan and John Hess Family Theater
99 Gansevoort Street
New York, NY 10014
RSVP: Attendees are encouraged to RSVP at usps.com/roylichtenstein.
Background: Roy Lichtenstein (1923-1997), the iconic American artist of the pop art movement, stunned the art world in 1961 with his large paintings starring cartoon characters and a range of consumer products, among other unlikely subjects. Some art connoisseurs found them outrageous, but others saw great meaning in them. Lichtenstein’s career quickly took off.
Pop art, which arose in the late 1950s and reached its height in the 1960s, looked to popular culture for its aesthetic. It often was seen as poking fun at consumerism.
With their trademark heavy black outlining, intense colors, dot patterns simulating four-color mechanical printing and machine-made quality, Lichtenstein’s paintings are instantly recognizable.
The many honors Lichtenstein received over the course of his career include induction into the American Academy of Arts and Letters in 1979 and the National Medal of Arts in 1995. His work is found in prestigious museums and galleries around the world.
VSC: The five works on the stamps, left to right, are
- Standing Explosion (Red)
- Modern Painting I
- Still Life with Crystal Bowl (at the Whitney)
- Still Life with Goldfish
- Portrait of a Woman
Updated January 10th:
These stamps will be issued Monday, April 24th, in New York City. Lichtenstein’s studio in Greenwich Village was donated (“gifted”) to the Whitney Museum of American Art and is being refurbished now. He worked there from 1988 to 1997.
Something tells me that October 27 will be the issue date. We will see…
Why April 24 date?🤔
Will Keith Haring ever get on a postage stamp?
I have wondered the same thing, and I think that Keith Haring’s work would be very well suited for stamps. I hope to see him honored this way soon. But if USPS is still on Lichtenstein and the 60s, it might be a few more years.
I don’t think it’s a matter of chronological order. More likely, the USPS saw an opportunity for an “affinity” event (the refurbishment of Lichtenstein’s studio (see the January 10th entry above) and also was able to obtain the rights to use Lichtenstein’s name, likeness (portrait) and his works.
Those rights are really important factors. Years ago, when the philatelic press was getting previews of the next year’s stamp program in August, we were shown a beautiful Legends of Hollywood stamp design for Spencer Tracy. Then it wasn’t on the schedule and Tracy has not been mentioned since. His estate demanded money from the USPS, which it won’t do. The design for John Wayne sat in USPS files for years until his oldest son, who would not grant permission, died and his next son took over and said, “Hell yes, issue the stamp!” And don’t look in your 2014 U.S. Stamp Yearbook for Jimi Hendrix. His estate granted permission for the stamp, but nothing further without payment. The stamp is not in the Yearbook.
That’s an interesting point! The Keith Haring Foundation has been very active in licensing his work for all kinds of uses, but it’s possible that monetary considerations have gotten in the way of a collaboration with USPS. Either way, I do hope we’ll see his work on a stamp someday.
Who is he?
Well, the initial press release (above) calls him an “iconic American artist of the pop art movement” and gives more detail about his work. Wikipedia has more,including many examples of his work. There is also a website dedicated to him and his work, http://www.roylichtenstein.com.
I was replying to Charlie LaRocco comment. I know who Roy Lichtenstein is.😀
From Post Bull 23 March: FDoI 24 April 2023 – NY NY, USPS# 4835xx Sell as Full Pane Only No Auto-Distribution. DCP, PIC, and Any City cancels.
When ordering stamp panes from the USPS website in 2023, are they arriving sealed or unsealed? If both, is there any noticeable pattern for arriving sealed vs unsealed (e.g. small order, large order, ordering on day of issue, etc.)?
I rarely if ever place big orders. In my occasional small orders, the panes have arrived shrink-wrapped with cardboard backing. One recent order, however, that included a roll (coil) and a pane did not, and I was annoyed that if something heavy had been place atop it, the coil might have damaged the pane. (It didn’t.)
Anyone have more frequent orders or place larger orders than I?
It used to be every order I placed was received shrink wrapped with cardboard. In the past two years they are received just loose in an envelope. None were received damaged but they easily could have been. (Cost cutting efforts of the USPS, no doubt.)
Dennis: That’s unfortunate. Even the sealed sheets from my experience are sent in a poly mailer that provides little protection vs a Priority Mail flat rate envelope.