 Drowning Girl was part of the largest ever retrospective of Lichtenstein that visited the Art Institute of Chicago from May 16 to September 3 , 2012 , the National Gallery of Art in Washington , D.C. from October 14 , 2012 to January 13 , 2013 , the Tate Modern in London from February 21 to May 27 , 2013 and The Centre Pompidou from July 3 to November 4 , 2013 . During the 2012 – 13 retrospective , The Huffington Post described Drowning Girl as Lichtenstein 's " masterpiece of melodrama " . Danish art critic and Louisiana Museum of Modern Art director Poul Erik Tøjner called the work an example of Lichtenstein 's " post @-@ coital perdition " pieces , describing it as the " star witness " of this genre of his works . He notes that the subject is reaching far @-@ flung depths as she acts out of pride . Tøjner perceived eroticism in this painting , likening the open mouth to a vaginal feature and noting the singularity of Lichtenstein using an open mouth . With that in mind , he compares the tears to ejaculate residue . 
