Lichtenstein painted Drowning Girl in 1963 inspired by both the comics "Run for Love!", illustrated by Tony Abruzzo and from the Great Wave of Kanagawa of Hokusai.

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Lichtenstein’s intention was to highlight that there is no high art or low art and that comics could be considered « fine art ».

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The comments are of the art dealer Irving Blum who was showing Lichtenstein’s work in an exhibition opening on April 1st 1963 at the Ferus Gallery in LA.

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Andy Warhol, another artist shown at the Ferus Gallery, makes a referral to appropriation art with the emoji based on The Scream by Edvard Munch.