The Museum of Modern Art acquired "Drowning Girl" in 1971, and their webpage for this work credits Philip Johnson and Mr. and Mrs. Bagley Wright for the acquisition. Some sources describe the subjects of Lichtenstein's tragic girls series as heroines (in the sense that they are the counterparts to the heroes), and others do not (in the sense that they are not heroic). "Drowning Girl" is a painting of a female subject who would prefer to give in to the power of the ocean than call for aid. Lichtenstein's version of the scene eliminates everything but the sea and a few body parts of the subject: her head, shoulder and hand, which are barely above the water. As her face is presented her eyes are shut with drops of what appear to be tears flowing from them. Because Lichtenstein only presents a single frame, the viewer does not know what happened before this moment and what is going to happen after it. Furthermore, the viewer has no way to know who Brad is and why she is so reluctant to call him. According to "The Grove Encyclopedia of American Art", the most important element of Lichtenstein's procedure in the early 1960s was "the enlargement and unification of his source material". Although, according to some sources, the changes made to produce "Drowning Girl" are not regarded as significant, Lichtenstein made several notable changes from the original source: "In the original illustration, the drowning girl's boyfriend appears in the background, clinging to a capsized boat. Lichtenstein cropped the image dramatically, showing the girl alone and encircled by a threatening wave. He changed the caption from 'I don't care if I have a cramp!' to 'I don't care!' and the boyfriend's name from Mal to Brad." With the former narrative change, Lichtenstein removed evidence that the drowning girl has a cramp in her leg. With the latter narrative change, Lichtenstein attempted to change the perception of the boyfriend. When discussing another work ("I Know...Brad"), Lichtenstein stated that the name Brad sounded heroic to him and was used with the aim of clichéd oversimplification. Lichtenstein's method entailed "strengthening of the formal aspects of the composition, a stylization of motif, and a 'freezing' of both emotion and actions". Although comic-book panels depict a moment in time, "Drowning Girl" is borrowed from an example of a comic-book panel depiction of a moment relatively more "pregnant" with past- and future-dependent drama than most moments.