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Roy Lichtenstein
Roy Lichtenstein
by Diane Waldman
&UGGENH EIM MUSEUM

! |993 i
he Solomon R Guggenheim Foundation Roy Lichtenstein
New York Solomon K. Guggenheim Museum, New York
( >, tober 8, 1993 fanuarj 16, 1994
All rights reserved
ISBN 0-89207-108-7 (hardcover)
ISBN 0-89207 109- 5 softi over) I he Museum of Contemporary Art, 1 os Angeles
Printed in ( lei man) h\ < lantz January >" April V 1994
All Ron Lichtenstein works «

1993 R.O) I ichtenstein. The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts
Used b\ permission All rights reserved M.i\ 26 September 5, 1994
Published U the Guggenheim Museum. I Ins exhibition has been supported m p.irt by .i generous
1071 I i!( It Avenue. New York, New York 10128 grant from I In. Owen ( heatham Foundation
Adilition.il support has been provided by I ufthansa
1 1. ml, ovei edition distributed b\ ( lei man \irlines.
Rjzzoli International Publications, In<
300 Park Avenue South. New York, New York 10010
I
rontispie< e
Robert Mapplethorpe, Roy Lichtenstein, 1985
Gelatin-silver print. 61 x 50.8 cm (2-4 \ 20 inches)
I
roni 1
1 »ver:
Detail ol Km Lichtenstein, Gofoi Baroque, 1979
(fig. U
Ko Li. htenstein, Self-Portrait, 1978 (fig. 187).

Contents Preface
\u
Acknowledgments
he Early Yens
1
1 I
19
2 ( In ho into [cons I arly Pop Pictures
45
3 i
omi( Strips and Advertising Im i
91
4 War Comics, 1962 64
5 Girls, 1963 (^
l
»9
6 Landscapes, 1964
1 V
7 Brushstrokes, L965 66
165
s Art Deco and Modern, 1966-70
(
isi
9 Mirrors. 1969 72, and I nl iblatures, l >7l 76
205
10 still I ifes, 1972-76
Expressionism, 1974 so
11 Futurism, Surrealism, and German
261
12 11k- 1980s
»99
13 Interiors, L991 93
n i
I 4 Sculpture, 1965 93
-.1
1
15 Murals. 1964 93
hi<
'
377
Bibliography
Index of Reproductions
Lenders to the Exhibition Betty Asher, Beverly Hills, California The Museum of Modern Art, New York
Richard Brown Baker The Patsy R. .md Raymond D.
Irving Blum, New York Nfasher Collection, Dallas, Texas
rhe Eli and Edythe L. Broad Collection National Gallery of Art,
Jean-Christophe Castelli Washington, D.C.
Leo Castelli Mr. and Mrs. S. I. New house, Jr.
Douglas S. Cramer. Los Angeles Michael and Judy Ovitz
Stefan T. Edlis Collection Elizabeth and Michael Rea. Connecticut
Larry Gagosian, New York Rose Art Museum, Brandeis University,
David Geffen Collection Waltham, Massachusetts
Helman Collection, New York Robert and Jane Rosenhlum, New York
Ronnie and Samuel Heyman, New York I )enise and Andrew Saul
Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art,
Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Edinburgh
Washington. D.C. Mr. and Mrs. Robert H. Shoenberg
Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Sonnabend Collection
Diisseldorf
Gian Enzo Sperone, New York
David Lichtenstein
Staatsgalerie Stuttgart
Mitchell Lichtenstein Stedehjk Museum, Amsterdam
Gordon Locksley and George T. Shea Stephen and Nan Swid Collection.
McCrory Collection, New York New York
Steve Martin
Tate Gallery, London
Stephen Mazoh and Co., Inc. Walker Art Center, Minneapolis
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Marcia Simon Weisman Trust
New York Whitney Museum of American Art.
Robert and Jane MeyerhofF, Phoenix, New York
Maryland Mr. and Mrs. Baglcv Wright
Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven
Texas
Private collections
Museum Ludwig, Cologne
Museum moderner Kunst,
SammJung Ludwig, Vienna
Team Curatcd by Diane Waldman,
Project
Deputy Director and Senior Curator
Jocelyn Groom. Museum fa hnician,

Clare Bell, Assistant Curator
Administration
Elizabeth Richebourg Rea,
[osh Neretm. Museum
Consultant and Researcher
Technician Carpenter
Cassandra Lozano
Research Assistant William Smith, Museum Technician
Julia Blaut,
Dennis Vermullen. Museum Technician
Susan Joan Schenk, Research Assistant
Guy Walker, Museum Technician
Tracey Bashkoff, Curatorial Assistant
Carol Strmgan. Associate Conservator
Amy Husten. Manager of Budget
Linda Thacher, Exhibitions Registrar
Myers, Administrator for and Planning
Pamela L.
James di Pasquale
Exhibitions and Programming
Robert McKeever
Cara Galowitz, Manager, Graphic Design
Heather Ramsdell
Services
Karne Adamany. Curatorial Intern
Michelle Martino, Graphic Designei
Sarah Ellen Cunningham,
David Heald. Manager. Photographic
Curatorial Intern
Services
Intern
Blythe Kingston, Curatorial
Lee Ewing, Photographer
Coordinator Michelle Mahonev. Curatorial Intern
Samar Qandil, Photography
Intern
Museum James Rondeau, Curatorial
Laura Antonovv, Senior
Ivy Sta. lglesia. Curatorial Intern
Technician. Lighting
Museum Technician. Michelle Smigallia. Curatorial Intern
Christine Scinlli,
Lighting and Planning
Gltdl0£HC
Scott Wixon, Manager of Installation and
Anthom ( alnek. Managing Editor
Collection Services
Elizabeth Lew. Production Editoi
Peter Read, Jr.. Manager. Fabrication
Editor
Stephen Robert Frankel. Project
Services
Laura Morns, Assistant Editor
Anibal Gonzalez-Rivera. Manager.
Jennifer Knox, Editorial r\ssistant
Collection Services
Museum Shelly Lee
Joseph Adams. Senior
Technician of
Design by Takaaki Matsumoto
Peter Costa. Senior Museum Technical!
Senior Museum Technician
M Plus M Inc.
David Veater,
Specialist
Timothy Ross. Technical
John Brayshaw, Museum
Technician/Carpenter
I
),\ id Johnson. Museum
Technician/Carpenter
Technician
Robert Attanasio, Museum
Lisette Baron Adams.
Museum
Technician
James Cullinane, Museum Technician

The Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation Honorary Trustees in Perpetuity Trustees
Solomon R. Guggenheim The Right Honorable Earl Castle Stewart
Justin K. Thannhauser Mary Sharp Cronson

Peggy Guggenheim Elaine Dannheisser
Miehel David- Weil]

President Carlo I )e Benedetti
Peter Law son-Johnston The Honorable Gianni De Michelis
Robm Chandler Duke
r
I ice-Presidents Robert M. Gardiner
The Right Honorable Earl Castle Stewart Jacques Hachuel Moreno
Wendy L-J. McNeil Ramer Heubach
Robert M. Gardiner Barbara Jonas
Thomas Krens
Directoi Peter Law son-Johnston
Thomas Krens Samuel J. LeFrak
Peter B. Lewis
Wendy L-J. McNeil

Edward H. Meyer
Ronald C). Perelman
Michael M. Rea
Heinz Ruhnau
Denise Saul
James B. Sherwood
Raja Sidawi
Seymour Slive
Peter W Stroh
Stephen C. Swid
Rawleigh Warner, Jr.
Jiirgen Weber
Michael F. Wettac h
Donald M. Wilson
William T Ylvisaker
Honorary Trustee
Mme Claude Pompidou
Trusta , Ex (
Officio
Luigi Mosehen
Director Emeritus
Thomas M. Messcr
Preface As one of the artists who invented Pop art in the 1960s, R<>\ I ichtenstein shocked the
art world with the new visual syntax of his paintings and sculptures. Merging popular
imagery and "high art," and borrowing the techniques oi advertising and the comics, he
established Ins own unique style and attitude. Representing a composite portrait of
American consumer culture, his oeuvre has exerted .1 worldwide influence for more than
three decades.
Lichtenstem and the Guggenheim Museum have a long-standing relationship.
The Guggenheim mounted its first retrospective exhibition devoted to the works of this
most enduring and important American artist in 1969; now, nearly twenty five years later,
we present our second Lichtenstein retrospective. In addition, his paintings, sculptures,
.md works on paper figure proudly in our permanent collection. In bringing together
works spanning I ichtenstein's entire career, this book and exhibition make evident his
achievement.
I express mv sincere appreciation to the artist for his generous mk\ enthusiastic help
in this project. To Diane Waldman, Deputy Director and Senior Curator, whose curatorial
expertise and knowledge of Lichtenstein's work have brought this presentation and
publication to fruition with sensitivity and intelligence, 1 am especially thankful.
Finally, it is to the individuals and foundations who have generously given then
financial support that 1 owe a great debt of -latitude. We are especially thankful to I eo
Castelli for his aid to the project. Acknowledgment is also due to The Owen Cheatham
Foundation; Stephen and Nan Sw.d: Stephen Ma/oh and Co., Inc.; and The Merrill ( !
assistance have been vital to

and Emita E. Hastings Foundation; their contributions and
My appreciation is also extended to I uftliansa German
the success of this exhibition.
endeavors,
Airlines for its continuing support of the Guggenheim and all its
Thomas Krens
Director
Acknowledgments It has been a rare privilege to organize this second retrospective of Roy Lichtenstein's
paintings and sculptures. I first had the pleasure of presenting his work to audiences at the
Guggenheim Museum in 1969. It would have been impossible then as it would be now to
achieve such an undertaking without the generous cooperation of the artist himself. I am
grateful for the unwavering support that he has given me in this project. Over the years,
he has shared his insights and reminiscences And provided indispensable information on his
influences, motivations, and details about his work. His keen perception and unfailing
humor have added greatly to our diseussions. That same boundless spirit of interaction and
exchange has enabled Lichtenstein to produce a body of work whose originality of
expression and style are appreciated worldwide. Today, nearly twenty-five years after his
first retrospective at this museum, he continues to have an enormous impact on the art of
our time.
As I traced the development of his oeuvre since the late l
(
J(><>s, it was evident that new
inquiries had to be made 111 locating the whereabouts of many key works from different
periods. I am especially grateful to Elizabeth Richebourg Rca tor her tireless and
painstaking contributions in this and other areas of research and documentation.
New information on Lichtenstein's work was brought to my attention by many
colleagues, through personal conversations as well as published and unpublished materials.
My gratitude is extended to those who generously volunteered their findings and

recollections, including Richard Bellamy; Irving Blum; James Corcoran; Constance
Glenn; James Goodman; Joseph Helman; Tim Hunt, Director of The Warhol Foundation;
Ivan Karp; Margo Leavin; Dorothy Lichtenstein; James Mayor; Lucy Mitchell-Innes,
Senior Vice-President of Contemporary Paintings at Sotheby's, New York; George Segal;
Daniel Templon; Phyllis Tuchman; Diane Upright, Vice-President of Contemporary Art
at Christie's, New York, and her staff; and Leslie Waddington. I would also like to thank
Curly Grogan for his advice and support. To the staff members at the numerous libraries,
universities, and museums that we contacted tor essential bibliographic information and
details of Lichtenstein's exhibition history, 1 am also most grateful.
This exhibition and publication could not have been accomplished without the help of
Lichtenstein's studio assistants. A deep debt of thanks is extended to Cassandra Lozano for
her enormous help on so many aspects of both projects, and for her assistance in
facilitating the use of the artist's archives by members of the Guggenheim Museum's stall I
am sincerely grateful to James di Pasquale, Shelly Lee. Robert McKeever, and Heather
Ramsdell for their invaluable participation in the planning and implementation of the
show and publication.
My thanks are due especially to Leo Castelli and the staff of his gallery, in particular
Susan Brundage, Director, and Patty Brundage, Associate Director, for providing crucial
information about Lichtenstein's paintings and sculpture. To Larry Gagosian, Melissa
McGrath, Robert Pincus-Witten, and others at the Gagosian Gallery working on the Roy
Lichtenstein catalogue raisonne, I wish to extend my gratitude for supplying us with
much-needed data as well as a range of important materials.
An exhibition of this magnitude could never be achieved without the assistance of the
entire staff of the Guggenheim Museum. I am deeply indebted to Clare Bell, Assistant
Curator, who managed every phase of the project, contributed to the research, and wrote
the chronology. My gratitude also goes to Tracey Bashkoff, ( uratorial Assistant; Julia
Blaut, Research Assistant, who compiled the bibliography; and Susan Joan Schenk,
Research Assistant. In addition, I would like to thank the dedicated interns who have
volunteered their services on the project over the course of several years: Karrie Ad. mum,
Sarah Ellen Cunningham, Blythe Kingston, Michelle Mahoney, James Rondeau. K\
Sta. Iglesia, and Michelle Sinigallia.
Among those most involved with the presentation were 1 inda Thacher, Exhibitions
Registrar, who coordinated the intricate details of transportation foi works m the
exhibition; Pamela Myers, Administrator for Exhibitions .\\k\ Programming, who oversaw
all technical aspects of the installation and who. with the help oi Scott Wixon, Manager of
Installation and Collection Services, negotiated the complex details of bringing
Lichtenstcms larger works into the museum and installing them on the ramps and town
galleries; and Carol Strmgari. Associate ( ouservator, whose expertise was invaluable. To
those staff members in the areas of Fabrication. Lighting. Collection Services, and
Design
who also gave their tune and energy to the project. am most grateful. I
A monograph of this scope could not have been accomplished without the talents o\
Anthony Calnek, Managing Editor, who supervised evei asp< Ct ol its publication, mu\ \
Stephen Robert Frankel, Editor of the monograph, whose critical comments, editing, and
advice were indispensable to m\ essay. My deep appreciation to rakaaki Matsumoto ol
M Plus M Inc. for designing the book. 1 would also like to extend a sincere note ot
gratitude to the other members of the Publii ations Department: Elizabeth 1 evy,
who coordinated production of the book; and aura Morns. Assistant

Production Editor, 1
Editor, and Jennifer Knox, Editorial Assistant, for their expertise on the project.
who have worked diligently in helping to realize this

Others on the Guggenheim's staff
of Budget and
exhibition and accompanying catalogue include Amy Husten, Manager
its
Archivist; Son,.. Bay,

Planning; Glory Jones, Public Affairs Officer; Ward Jackson,
Assistant Librarian; Stuart Gerstein, Director of Wholesale
and
Librarian; Tara Massarskv,
Retail Operations; and Susan Landesmann, Production

Assistant.
those who
names of lenders to the exhibition appear in the catalogue (except
The
wished to remain anonymous). I thank them wholeheartedl) for enabling us to
achtenstcins most important paintings and sculptures;

without
bring together many of I
and enthusiastic assistance, this exhibition would not be possible.

their generosity
Diane Waldman
Deputy Directot ."/</ Seniot Curato\
?
I
Chapter 1
The Early Years

I. Roy Liechtenstein, Washington Crossing lite Delaware /, ca 1951 < >il Oil canvas,
crion
One of the most challenging decades in the history of twentieth i entury rVmei u an art
began in the early 1960s with the inception of the Pop art movement. In February 1962,
at the Leo Castelli Gallery in New York. K.n Lichtenstein exhibited his first series oi
paintings based on comic strips and advertising images of consumer goods. By/ 1963, he
of his generation such as Jim Dine, Jasper Johns, Claes ( )ldenburg,

and other artists
Robert Rauschenberg, James Rosenquist, George Segal, and Andy Warhol, many ol
whom were working independently, had turned to the common object, popular culture,
underlying theme of their paintings and sculpture, and effectively

or the mass media as the
end the long reign of Abstract Expressionism. In a seminal interview in

brought to .\n
Gene Swenson that his ambition was to

ARTnewi in 1963, Lichtenstein remarked to critic
make a painting that was so ••despicable" that no one would hang it. He noted that
was almost eptable to lung a dripping paint rag,

-everybody was hanging everything. It a< (
commercial art." In
everybodx was accustomed to this. The one thing everyone hated was
stated that his art—and Pop art in general—
was concerned
the interview. Lichtenstein
with the world, and that "art since Cezanne has

become extremely romantic and
less and less to do with the world,
unrealistic, feeding on art; it is Utopian. It has had
it
he
looks inward." Although I ichtenstein maintained that his was not ., i
riti< al VOi< e,
anti-gettmg-away-from-the-
declared that he was "anti-contemplative, anti-nuance,
anti pain. -quality, anti-
tyranny-of-the-rectangle. anti-movement and -light, anti-mystery,
Zen, and and- all of those brilliant ideas of preceding movements which every
understands so thoroughly"'
Expressionism completely dominated the New York avant-
In the late 1950s, Abstract
United States, and was gaining converts in Europe.
garde, had spread throughout the
Manhattan, then a hub tor
Young "action painters" Hocked to Lenth Street in
New York School artists from I'M"

experimental art. The Club, an important forum for
and the Cedar Bar on University Place were
among the
Crossing the Delaware, 1851 Oil oil to 1962, located on Eighth Street,
,op 2. Emanuel Gottlieb Leutze. Washington
knew about or would want to frequ< ril
644 7 cm (149 x 255 inches). The Metropolitan Museum of Art. landmarks that any ambitious young artist
canvas, 387 5 x
Club oxer issues of concern to New York School artists,
New York, Gift ofjohn Stewart Kennedy, 1897

Heated debates raged on at the
exhausted itself and been repla. ed by a
1953 Oil, graphite, and but by the late 1950s abstract painting had largely
bottom 3. Larry Rivers, Washington Crossing the Delaware,
Polio, Barnett
without rage or grace. Few could emulate Jackson
I
Ixlll Hie Museum of Modern mannerist style

on Unen. 212.4x283.5 cm (83 inches)
embryonic Willem de Koonings
charc oal
New York Given inonymousl)

Newman or Clyfford Still, but there were legions of
Art.
every gesture. he shelter that
who content to follow in his wake, blatantly imitated
his I
awesome was deceptive, and it gave the New York art world a
he provided was as as it
collective hangover. .
the
Rosenberg had described Action Painting
in
1„ 1952 the influential critic Harold
an action, the sketch is one action, the pamtmg that
Mowing manner: "Ifa painting is
"was no, picture but

What was to go on the canvas." he pro, [aimed, .,
follows ,; another.
"new painting has broken down .
,„ event
" Rosenberg also believed that the
5
Rosenberg's commitment to action and event found a
distinction between art and life."
tnfluenced In
and philosophy ofRauschenberg,
,
remarkable parallel in the attitudes

decided to act the gap
composer John « ,ge, ,,,
the chance theor.es of the

influential
Black
(Rauschenberg became friendly with Cage
in 1952 at
and
between art life.
North Carol,,,,/) In a statement written

lor the catalogue ol v- „
Mountain College in
the Museum ofModern An ,„ 1959, Rauschenberg wrote.

a,,,,,,, ,„ exhibition at
Chapter 1: The Early Years

no poo. subject. Painting is
good any other There is
Am incentive to paint is as as
tion, color, etc. appears as a .... t, or an

aways strongest when in spite of com] it
relates to both art and

inevltability , „ opposed to .. souvenir or arrangement. Painting
A pair ol socks ,
try to ac. that gap between the two.)
Neither can be made. .1 ..,
life.
wood, turpentine, oil and fabric. A

„o less suitable to make a painting with than nails,
canvas is never empty.
of Black Paintings, in many of which he

I„ 1951-52 Rauschenberg made a series
,
IOS2-53. he produced his Elemental Sculptures,
combined painting and newsprint. In
which were shown at the Stable Callers m the
memorable group of boxed found objects,
objects to his canvases; by
mtumn of 1953. He began to attach three-dimensional
also
paintings as Bed (fig. 14). Hymnal,
and Rebus,
1955 he had created such epic combine
years later m
prototypes for images that appeared a few
some of the images of which were
early works. Rebus includes a
double page ol comic
several of Warhol's and Lichtenstein's
among its evocations of urban life, and Hymnal
features a
strips front a Sunday newspaper
cover) and an F.B.I, "most wanted man
poster.
Manhattan telephone directory (minus us
winter of 1953-54, were profoundly
Rauschenberg and [ohns, who first met in the
because they celebrated mass culture by
important to the development of Pop art
artifacts in a line-arts context.
For example,
presenting some of us most cherished
comas pages in his works throughout
Rauschenberg incorporated portions of newspaper
such as Coca Cola Plan, 1958,
1954-SS and Coca-Cola bottles in some of lus combines,
(In
,nd |ohns replicated Ballantine Ale
cans in his Painted Bronze (Ale Cans) (fig. 5), I960.
also used a comic-Strip image, basing

the central figure of his painting Alley-
1958 Johns
Oop on Vincent Hamlin's 1931 "Alley-Oop") Both Rauschenberg and Johns
strip
when the eminent Dadaist

renewed a dialogue begun bv Marcel Duchamp in 1913,
In presenting these and other
mounted a bicycle wheel on a painted wooden stool (fig. 4).
he had signed "R. Mutt" and entitled
found objects, such as the notorious urinal that
Fountain (fig. 6), 1917. as works of art.
Duchamp called into question the nature of the art
object w.thrn the larger issue of the meaning
of art itself. In reinterpreting Duchamp. both
into uncommon works of art.
Rauschenberg and Johns transformed common objects
began making
Lichtenstein himself was a late convert to Abstract Expressionism. He
1957 and did not abandon the style until 196(1. It was a
paintings m this mode in
become an Expressionist, as the high point of the movement had

remarkably late date to
however. Abstract Expressionism was
long since passed. From Lichtenstein's point of view,
the only viable alternative in the 1950s. Like
most artists living on the fringe of a
afar— specifically, Ohio, where
movement, he avidly followed its latest developments from
magazines devoted to the
he was living and working, reading ARTnews and other
New York School. He also made several trips to New York,
paintings and sculpture of the
Abstract
where, at galleries such as Charles Egan's and Betty Parsons's, he could see the
Expressionists' work June 1959. he exhibited some of his Abstract

firsthand. In
York. These canvases express
Expressfonist paintings at the Condon Riley Gallery in New
Bicycle Wheel, 1913 Original version Gallcria
4. Marcel Duchamp. lost; lixth
od md metal numbei eighi ol m edition of eighl i
a self-conscious styhzation that was surely

unintentional and that now. in retrospect, seems
and numbered replicas, 12 inchi Indiana University An

to be a link between his otherwise dissimilar paintings
of Americana of 1949-51, his
earlv 1960s. In
,-itt of Mrs WiUiam * onroj
Cubist and Abstract Expressionist phases, and his Pop paintings of the
which he used torn bedsheets to apply the paint.
196(1. he made some paintings in
producing drips th.it resemble cascading ribbons of color (see fig. I
3) In other paintings
from this period, areas of bare canvas are complemented by painted areas, or certain
brushstrokes and colors are used only m specific areas of .1 canvas. Superficially, the
paintings resemble the Abstract Expressionist idiom in that thc\ h ature many of the
movement's mannerisms; however, there is a deliberation about even the most painterly of
these canvases that separates them from the tot.il abandonment thai ( haia< terizes the best
work of the Abstract Expressionists.
Lichtenstem understood many of the fundamental issues invoked in Abstract
Expressionism, but he resisted its metaphysical go.ils and its heroi< posture. An art oi
compelling inner necessity m which intuition, randomness, and spontaneity pl.i\ a
prominent role is a poor match for an artist more temperamentally suited to making
pictures than creating events. 1 lchtenstem found his inspiration not m the blank canvas 01
through action, not in the unconscious mind, but in the world around him. Although
many artists of the New York School had been, in the early stages of their development,
for Surrealism sev( years before

devoted advocates of Cubism, they had abandoned it 1 ll
they came into their own. This was due. in part, to the presence in New York of main ol
the European Surrealists— Andre Breton, Max Ernst, Andre Masson, Yves L.ngnv, and
ot h crs — vv } 10 h a a fled Europe tor the United States during the Nazi occupation.
Lichtenstem s continuing dependence on Synthetic Cubism undermined his ability to
movement was founded, in sonic measure.

adapt to Abstract Expressionism, since the latter
order to create authentically American art. Thus, as

on a rejection of European art in .111
Abstract Expressionist paintings. I ichtenstem's canvases seem studied, but they clearly
approach to painting: an ..biding interest in

show two important, lasting features of his
form and an inclination to conceptualize his subject matter.
Lichtenstem was m the process of developing his own method ol painting in thi
manner of the Abstract Expressionists when he suddenly changed direction again. As he
mentioned in an interview with Bruce Glaser in I'"'' 1
such MkL-n Mouse.

began putting hidden comic images into those paintings,
as
I
Bunny At the same time was drawing little Mickey Mouses

>onald Du« k and Bugs
I
I
and things tor ,m children, -.ml working from bubble gum wrapper I In n ii
do one of these bubble gum wrappers, as irg. just to see * I. n ii
o, . urred to me to
is, I
"
would look like
nager) exis Uusi henberg's and

The precedents lor Lichtenstein's use ol i
for Tricky Cad that West

to above, in the series oP'paste ups'
Painted bronze, 14 x 20.3 X
Johns's 1950s works referred
top 5. jasper Johns, Painted Bronze {Ah- Cms). I960 uld's Did
less [Collins] began in December
1953, using ( I, * I
Coast artist
Museum Ludwig, ologne
12 I
cm (5 14x8x4 Ya inches). *
and in the incorporation of comic strips in works by anoth i
Ins central figure (fig. 9),

version Sidney
Fountain. 1917 Original lost; $e<
Marcel Duchamp, England, Eduardo Paolozzi and
I
6.
,.,.«,,„
Ed Ruscha, in 1959. Moreover, in
West Coast artist,
Pveadymade porcelain urinal. 61 cm (24 inchi make
[anis Gallery. Nev York 1951
culled Iron, American magazines to
Richard Hamilton had been using images
ourtesj Sidney [anis Gallery, New York
(fig. 7, 1-47. and the latters
(
III, a Rich Man's Plaything ,
collages such as the former's
,
d was
,„, ,w„„ is it that makes today's I m to different, so appealing? (fig 8), 1956 I la,
Ins rniage ol a
»fthe ideal Ameri, an home with
spoofing the current postwar nod
modern living room full of absurd juxtapositions,
such as a house* ife uummg and « a
, table belo* a framed

ol
displayed on a canned ham
,
muscleman posing,
Young Romance comics.

ichtenstein's paintings Men, the late 1940s and early 1950s already indicate
However I
American sources. In an exhibition held at the

his preference for Americana and popular
New York he showed paintings of the Old West featuring
in 1951,
Carlebach GaUery in
American
treaty signings, cowboys and Native-American Indians, and popular images of
books on
on images that he had found in Ufe and other magazines and in
folklore based
early work
/'/„ Explore, (fig. 10), is an important
the subject. A painting from about 1952,
an ad-here, an ad
in that it features for the first tune advertising copy taken directly from
Cooked Corned Beef" (fig. I) that accompanied an article
for "Libby McNeill & Lirry's
1
the July 4. 1949 issue of Ufe magazine.

Many
about the opening of the American West in
nineteenth-century paintings, such as those by
Fredenck
of his themes were derived front
Alfred Jacob Miller, and William
Remington, Charles Willson Peale, Frank B. Mayer,
Crossing the Delaware (tig. 2). 1851.
EUnney and Emanuel Gottlieb Leutze's Washington
this well-known work, both painted
around 1951
Lichtenstein's two whimsical verstons of
(see fig. 1). preceded Larry Puvers's

more celebrated version of 1953 (tig. 3).
matter for most of his work at the
While Lichtenstein drew on early American subject
European Modernists such as Vas.lv Kandmsky. Paul Klee. Henri
time, he was indebted to
Picasso for the way in which he used motifs stylistically.
Matisse, loan Miro, and Pablo
review of Lichtenstein's show at the John Heller Gallery in
Robert Rosenblum, in his
between style and
New York in 1954, noted that these paintings "present an incongruity
his mature work.
subject." a characteristic feature that later became more evident in
Lichtenstein's Americana in a Vart pom
Rosenblum singled out the "annoying quality of
"attractively composed of large flat color-
Varl context" but praised the pictures for being
planes into which the forms of his battle-scenes
and Indian-lore are unobtrusively [sic]
assimilated."
use of an approach that
paintings of this period constitute Lichtenstein's
first
The
abstract style. In his fully
attempted to define popular subject matter within the context of
1960s, Lichtenstein magnified the
dissonance between a
developed work of the early
by choosing far more controversial subjects and
commonplace subject and a fine-art style
Was a Rich Manh Plaything, a 1947 ollag. on papi i
7. Eduardo Paolozzi, / < (

plane. It
and emphasizing these images in relationship to the painting's picture
f the Tate Gallery, 1 m Ion
by isolating
style that brought him to
notorious marriage of low-art subject and high-art
first
was this
The 1950s paintings of Americana, a common enough

prominence beginning in L961.
the time, lacked the clarity of image and the

tough impassive style of his 1960s
subject at
work. However, this to explore other American themes

.hanged when he began
the m
consumer products and images culled from the mass
1960s, featuring contemporary
Hill (fig. 12), a lithograph of 1956, is indicative of Lichtenstein's
media. Ten Dollar
development in the 1950s. What distinguishes this and his other works of the period from
merging of popular images with abstract forms. Using
his works of the early 1960s is his
space. Lichtenstein fractured the motif and

the Cubist precedent of fragmenting forms in
the foreground was integrated as a single entity
with
/,i 8. Richard Hamilton, Just what is i( that makes today's homes so different. reorganized it so that the subject in
Kunsthalle Tubingen the background plane. In his paintings of 19o1-(>2, he moved away from the disintegration
so appealing?, \95i
Sammlung ' i
I Zundel of the subject and restated the figure/ground relationship as part of a new dynamic.
9. Jew [Collins], Tricky Cad, Quel, 1954 (detail) Notebook of twelve
27, 1923, Lichtenstein grew up

, 19 1 -. I Born on the Upper West Side of Manhattan on October
home. His father, who died when Roy was twenty-three, was a
New i
in a happy, middle-class
housewife. According to the artist, he and his younger sister.
realtor, and his mother was a
Renee. led an uneventful life. His first years in grade school were spent attending i
his horn*
kindergarten near 104th Street and West End Avenue and then al P.S 9 n< ai
hues' camp, Camp Sagamore in

When he was eight and nme. he spent his summers .it .1
summers t.nnp Belgrade in Maine It »

upstate New York; tins was followed by two
at
ame fascinated « ith He

heard blues music on the radio and he,
it.
at tins time that he first
childhood tnend Don Wolf to hear lienm < Iman perform al

recalls going with his
Because of Wolfs interest in music. Lichtenstein took up

Carnegie Hall a few yean later.
the clarinet briefly.

the Frankhn S( hool fo! Boys, a pnvate
In 1936, Lichtenstein began eighth grade at
There were no art classes offered at Frankhn

school on Manhattan's Upper West Side.
Parsons Si hool ol
fourteen he began taking Saturday morning
classes at
when he turned
interested in jazz, frequenting
the Apollo
Design Durum his high-school years he he ame
Harlem and listening ,0 Count 11- band and I este,
I heater and the Savo, Ballroom in
on and around Fifty-second Street, such

as
Young on tenor sax. He went to jazz clubs
and. mspired by
the Famous Door, and Hickory louse;
I
Kelly's Stables, the Three Deuces,

In -Ml he I.
based on portraits of jazz musicians.
I
Picasso, he nude several paintings

Keahst
Students eagtie taught by Ame, an So,
ial i,
enrolled in a summer class at the Art I
pa.nt.ng
remembers that the class, winch involved
painter Reginald Marsh. Lichtenstein
hardly saw Marsh
one of Marsh's monitors and that he
from a model, was supervised by
school in 1940, he decided .0
pursue Ins interest ,1, art and.
After graduating from high
-here he cot d
program at Ohio State University
„ hi, Ppints' urging, found a fine arts
student at State from 1940 to »43, and, Ohm
-
Lichtenstein was .,
earn a bachelor s degree.

in 1946 and d w.th his
after his military service, he reenrolled
completing
-stem attributes h,s ,es, ,„
M.F.A. degree in 194
graduate stud,;, receiving an
Sherman, one of fa. profi , there.
organization to the teachings of
1 1
Sua! and . nous

of the relationship between a student
,
Sherman' stressed the importance

downplayed the significance ofmabng
the dr.
when drawing from a model, and
the rel ip be- na
Of particular interest to Sherm
resemble the mode,. ash lab h „lt
taught a class using a
to Sherman later
mark and the marks placed next it.
s he
I'M,, fed. lante,
„
army hut remodeled in
^h after Lichtenstein left
for the
h student was expecte o draw
darke
dashed on the scree,
I
in a
,;, briefly ana
afterimage was very strong
and from ,« the Stud, n. ,
NN h lt he or She had seen. The

individual parts and the
whole, As ,.„h,e„s,em has
;,;,, ,onsh,p between the
t
Le taught me h
go a,
hat art is all about. 1
f:;l Orgamzed p'erceptio
h
^z:::l c „,,„,„
i»™™^*™xz2F

t
bm^)*&*0&&?
B ceF
Ya\v&bU fcr
JPxp krirf l(
n
When more military personnel were needed in Europe

didn't r. ..IK relish doing this job.""
his pilot instruction was cut short and Ins unit was shipped
after the Batik- of the Bulge,
Belgium, and Germany, until
overseas in February 1945. He served in England, France,
and the other members of Ins unit
for Kxplmr? the war came to a close in Europe ... May. Lichtenstein
'^Valuable war in Japan. When Japan
waited to see if the} would receive orders to fight the
'MS. bringing World War II to an end.
surrendered to the Allied nations on September 2. I
a time to serve as
many units— including his—were ordered to remain in Europe foi
French and histor) at the Cite Universitaire
policing forces. During that time, he studied
became so he was furloughed home to New York
in Paris. Later that year his father
ill,
discharged in January 1946. When he came back to the U.S.. he returned

and was finally
After
to Ohio State and completed his undergraduate stud.es under the G. 1. Bill.
Ohio State's M.F.A. program, was lured as an

graduating in |une 1946, he enrolled in
received his master's degree in 1949), and

instructor while pursuing his stud.es (he
continued to teach there until 1951.

1949 wt re divon ed ... 1965) and, after he
Lichtenstein married Isabel Wilson in (the}
State in 1951, they moved to Cleveland when Isabel found

was domed tenure at Ohio
wanked at a series of odd ,obs in
there as a decorator. During the next sb< years, he
work
commercial art hool; working as an
Cleveland-teaching at the Cooper School, a s<
work foi hckock

Republic Steel; doing black-and-white dial 1
engineering draftsman at
models at an architecture tun,, and

Electrical Instrument Company; making project
Halle's Department Store, l„ 1954 and 1956, sons
decorating display windows part-time
at
.1-
bom. In 1968, Lichtenstein married 1
1
David Hoyt and Mitchell Wilson were

York inautumn 1964 during th,
prepar sfo, »
Herzka, whom he had met in New
by several artists asso, fated with
American Supermarket (featuring works
exhibition called
Bianchini ...Hers, where she worked.
art scene) at the Paul
(
the Pop
offered tion the Stat,
to teach,.,, mil-time in 1957
when he was a , .,,
He returned
there u„„l he was
University of New York a, Oswego, and remained on the stall
New Jersey, ,„
J assistant fessor , t Douglass College,
Rutgers University,
ichtenstein met Allan Kaprow, who
,„
w*
,
,„ [n Ws first yeat on tl „ , , uglass faculty, I
to Oldenburg, » ega. (then completing

Rutgers. Kaprow introduced him
I
„ ling at
studied with
& Cooked ed Beef," re, luce
and Robert Whitman, who had both
„. Advert en, lb, '. ibb, McNeill Urry'. <
, M FA.,. ,n, to Lucas Samaras

through ^several
DnmadeEvenB ToldinPaindnp.-ii|e,july4.m9,p.48 he also met Robert Watts and,
••The Ope B ofd1eWesttI
8
Kap,ow the year before. A, Douglass
:ge Brecht, Geoffrey
movement, includingG
members of the burgeoning Fluxus
H
" neks DickHiggins, Alison Knowles,
and George Maciunas. Ka,
*U *« I
-
ri e the new an
m of art Happenings (a tern, he invented todes,
evems called
s.z dtere
many of, hen, larger-than-life
,;„;„) Happenings utilized a series ofprops,
hfe ol .l.e.r
in )ada and Surreal had ,
ob , , whKl , like then precursors 1
billing „ ere an,

shared e M t,
Thte e cs'and the actors
who accompanied the, ,1
1952 Oiloncn™, K>.7 » >S

lie perceived, according to Oldenburg, as
Number of 1958, Kapmw created two
and beginning
Reuben
,
Gallen,
in
environments
Some
959, he and his «
of the props from the Happenings

"objects in motion.
oUeagues performed nunc

were exhibited a the Martha
a, the 1
^^^
of
In
Ik
March and
,
p
Roy Uch.eo S .e o,T7,rE^«r,r.,

1
i
,,„ 1 „.
to V .,.. Ohio.Gifto.
rheBudertetftuleofArne
(16lt ,4 inches)
Mn Robert Miller, 1960

Mi and

I
i^îJiiy- tiiV^:MmMdi /77
12. Roy Lichtenstein, 7Wi Dollar Bill, 1956 Lithograph numbei 13 ol in edition
10 n 18 i u
> i in, hi s Pi i\ iti i

"ll' i don
^=*
ombine painting oil and pencil on

right 14. Robert Rauschenberg, Bed, 1955 (
canvas, 121 9 K 177 cm (75^x31

Roy Lichtenstein, Untitled, 1960 Oil on 191.1x80x20.3
,,,„„, 13.
pillow, quUt , and sheet on vvood supports,
Private ollccdon honor of Alfred H Barr.Jr to The Muse

i
s „„ » , ,1 gift ... Leo Castelb in
,,f Modem Art. New York.

—
association with the David Anderson Gallery in New York, the Martha Jackson Gallery
staged six Happenings in .1 presentation called Environments - Situations - Spaces (figs. 16,
17. and 18). Based on a form ol performance art that was meant to utilize the five senses
and encourage the full participation of the audience, that exhibition featured Oldenburg's
installation work The Store (which he re-created six months later at I 07 East Second Street
in a rented warehouse, former!) used to stoic dining-room furniture, that he renamed the
"Ray Gun Mfg. Go."). The Store * onsisted o\ 107 items — replicas of pastries, clothes, a
bridal mannequin with a bouquet, and various relicts oi similar items made from muslm
soaked in wet plaster and thickK painted with bright colored enamels. Other works in the
Environments - Situations - Spaces exhibition were Kaprow's pile oi tires entitled Yard — an
environment of fifty tires piled into the courtyard of the gallery ^d D. lie's Spring
Cabinet. Dine had created .1 room with walls covered in canvas and acrylii resin green
paint, and with electric fans placed behind tin. fabl i< and paint buckets suspended from
the ceiling, from which more paint poured into the room. Turning to S0< utv's mate] tal
remnants for their inspiration, the perpetrators of this new art signaled a dramati<
departure from Abstract Expressionism.
Lichtenstein attributes Ins renewed interest in popular imager) al the time to his
exposure to Happenings and performance art. He saw some ol the informal I lappeningS
that KapIOW staged at Douglass and the exhibitions related to them at the Martha Jackson
Gallery in I960 and L961. He remembers discussions with Kaprow m which Kaprow
argued that painting did not have to look like art. Lichtenstein, encouraged by Kaprow's
remarks, showed him his newest paintings, abstrai 1 1 anvases with cartoon figures such as
Donald Duck, Bugs Bunny, and Mickey Mouse in their midst, ol whi( h today only
preparatory drawings exist (see fig. 15). Kaprow remembers being tak< n iba< k al firs! b)
the work, but urged Lichtenstein to continue working in that direction— ami so did Segal
and Watts, who were also frequent visitors to his studio in Highland Park, New Jersey.
Lichtenstein began his first Pop paintings shortly thereafter.
Although the groundwork for Pop art had been laid by the work of kausi henberg.
most world received its arrival
Johns, Rivers, and others and by the Happenings, oi the art
advertising' These were concepts

with shocked incredulity. Art based on cartoons- On
that deeply offended the notion of taste as it
was generally known and ai 1 epted in the
early 1960s, even among the most radical of the avant-garde.
I
he comic strip, with its ready-made drama, conquering heroes, and anxious heroines.
and the consumer products advertised m the New York Yellow Pages provided
Lichtenstein with a potentially explosive series of subjects,

while the Benday-dot screen
a method oi producing printed images in

which gradations
technique used in advertising—
of shading are translated ...to a system of dots reproduced by line engraving" -sue- Sted a
the Abstract Expressionists, who externalized themes drawn

new way of painting. Unlike
ichtcnstc.n prefer* d to work with .1 preex.st.ngser.es of .mages.
from the subconscious. I
confront the
He wanted paintings that resembled cliches and. in so doing, to
to make
cliches of art and the conventions that
govern how we recognize ..rt as art. His ultimate
with art— common objects, the comic
aim was to use subjects seen as incompatible
and thus to force the issue ofwhal constitutes art
strip- as the central matter of his art.
make painting that was so -despicable- no one would hang it.

Although he washed to a
13 Chapter 1: The Early Years

15. Roy Lichtenstein, Donald Duck, 1958 India ink on pipe r, 50
•
24 in. In -
Private collc< tion
,
Lichtenstein was quick to assert .mother goal .is well, the age-old ambition of the painter's
When Swenson .tskeu him, in his 1963 interview, wh« ther Pop art does not
will to form.
transform its models, he replied:
wouldn't transformation
my work isdifferem fiom comit strips—bui call I
l ii
I think
thmk whatevei is mean! In importani to in \\ hal I do is form, whereas

don't that ii is
med the sense I'm using the word, the omics hav. shapes
the comic strip is ..... foi in <
then. uitenseK unified he purpose is different,

but there h..s been no effort to make I
intend to unify And my work is actually dun, em 6om

one intends to depicl and 1
every mark is really in a diffi rent pla. t however slighi the

,
mi< strips in that
difference seems to some The difference is often not men bui it is i ru< ial
Lichtenstein proposed
In his blatant use of cartoon imager} and advertising techniques,
the Lool
a new visual syntax with which to identify American postwar society. Adapting
he presented the portrait ol a consum.
and attitude of advertising and the com.,
I
strip,
seem- painting the results ol an int. nse inner

culture to an audience accustomed to in
role that only a short tune earlh had belonged

struggle, and claimed for the Benday dot .1 1
derision In many in the ari world Some

to the dnp. Lichtenstein's work was greeted with
partisans of Abstract Expressionism, while
other
of the most vocal opposition came from
no longer saw Expressionism a a
segments of the art community—who either r\bstra< -
ofa return to realism—were unprepared to m. - -

this
threat or envisioned the possibility
the odds. Lichtenstein and his colleagi* s su( eed( .1 m wii ig
challenge Thus, against all .
as a historic shift in direction.

and began what can now be seen
its
a new audience for art
\nswersl EightPai s Parti," IRTmw 62 no

1 G[e „e]R Swenson. "What Is Pop Art:
htenstein first bu, onto the
63 h,s interviev urred two years artei I i.
(November 1963), pp 25, 62 I
there was all bui J audien,

share ol den i I, 196 i
I
scene Although his work had more than its
prompted the arris, nent, "apparendy they didn't I- that [advert ,1

enough
of admirers, and
-
this
either."
in-depth disc, Clubandits: i

ingSandle, tb '
U Ho«
2 The Club: For an
the Artists of the Ne» YorkScI 11 1 rheir First Audience- rhemselves." hf ' » '
artists' lung...,, was the eda, Stra ,
d name ... .1- <
(September 1965), pp 27 51 rhe Ceda, Ba, I h.
;igh,h Street and U, Place) U ghn peoplewhofi* In

tan, (in to first loca.
1963 (whe l»Ek

" was changed to the Cedar T,
caUedit the Cedar B.
;
itsn
rndU ,ity Place, its present location), aid that is still
3.HaroldR nberg, "The American Acti, *mC A* .31 . I

berl952).
pp. 22-23.
Uus, lexhil - >
purchase a painting ft.

4 Cage had been the only pe,
became R. henberg
^..W.AUanKaprowinhisinstaUationy^.inthe
rtyardoftheM; |acl
m 1952, after they me, a, Black Mo I friends.
,,„,; ,,
Env Situai - Spaces, M*J 25 a mull idiaeven!

Gallery, Ne* York, during the exhibition
nts
performed with Cage in TheaurPieaNc I,
[une 2^ 1961
berg, excerpt from artisfs statem. S -.«* < " "
f 77* *,« for *e exhibit 5. RobertR,
„,„„ n.ciacsOldcnburgduringtheinstalL
Millet (Nc-u York: Museum of Modern An. 1959), p 58
Situations Spaces
nvironmenb
/
his installation Sj
Cabinet in the exhibition Bruce Glaser/'OldenburgUchte
mW, bAD ;**-*
,„„„„„ isjlm Dine in I „,,!„, ,,..,
*"
Environments Situations - Spaa ,,.„,.„, , p. 21. Since ma. ; he b. said that the s, , - *
15 Chapter 1: The Early Years

does recall, however, that it was a small
may no. have been .. bubble gun, wrapper I le
Mickey, 1961,
i
, M toon or comi< -strip panel
ichtenstem's pre-Pop work. Ernst A.

Busche illustrates I*. Bcptore. and
7 I he first to seriousl, delve into I
hook Roy Uchtenstem Das FrSter* 1942-

(^(Berlin: Gebr. Mann Verlag, 1988),
ta soutce in h,s
appeared-August 29,
152-53. However, the date that Busche gives for the issue of [# in which the ad
pp
[949 —is incorrect; the correct date is Jul) 4. 1949
Lichtenstein," Art Digest 29, no. 10

(February 15, 1954), p 22.
8. Robert] R[osenblum], "Roy F.
and Lichtenstein's use ofi. as a student, sec I )avid

9. For an in-depth discussion ofSherman's "flash lab"
of the American Artist," in the Museum ot
her, "Unsentimental Education: The Professionalization
Art in Transition, 1955-62, exhib. cat., ed
( ontemporan Art. Los Angeles, Hand-Painted Pop. American
Russell Ferguson (I os Angeles: Museum of Contemporary Art; New York: Bizzoli International
Publications, L 992), pp. 101-6.
Hi 1 ichtenstein, quoted in Swenson, "What Is Fop Art?" p. ''2.
17.
11. Lichtenstein, quoted (in English) in Busche. Uchtenstein: Das Friihwerk, p.
Michael Kirby, ed., Happenings: in Illustrated Anthology (New York: Dutton,

12. Claes Oldenburg, quoted in
1965), p. 200.
process of photoengraving was invented in 1879 and named after Benjamin Day. a New
13. The Benday
of celluloid screens with raised images of dot and line
York newspaper engraver, who utilized a series
patterns to produce halftone images for printing.
14. Lichtenstein, quoted in Swenson. "What Is Pop Art"-," p. 63.

LOOK MICKEY,
HOOKED I'VE//
A BIGA ONE//
19. Roy Lichtenstcin, Look Mickey, 1961 Oil on canvas, 121.9)1 175 I cm (48 k
69 im he - Partial ind promisi d gift to the National ( ..ill. ry of Art, Washington, D.C,
\
Look Mickey (fig.

n ), n C>l, is one of several works with eartoon or comic-strip
I l
subjects
that Lichtenstein painted beginning in the spring of 1961. Lichtenstein lias a vivid
recollection that he based the image on a panel ol .1 comi< strip from a bubble-gum
wrapper, but efforts to locate the original source have so t.11 In . , 11 unsuccessful/ K a prow
remembers that once, in a discussion with Lichtenstein, he pointed to a Bazooka Double
Bubble Gum wrapper and remarked. "You can't te.u li 1 0I01 Ii.hii Ce/annc. you « an *
< 1 il
teach it from something like this" Lichtenstein then showed him the painting he had du\t
with the image of Donald Duck in it. Kaprow admitted feeling "sort of nonplussed ai
3
first" but realized that Lichtenstein "had confirmed what I'd just bi en saying."
Lichtenstein destroyed those earliest paintings featuring cartoon images, and shortly
thereafter he painted Look Mickey. It was, he recently remarked, his "first painting with no
3
expressionism in it."
In the 1950s, the work of many artists who were to develop the Pop idiom still showed
the influence of Abstract Expressionism. Rauschenberg acknowledged his indebtedness to
Abstract Expressionism by painting some of its most exquisite passages in Rebus m I

1
He was committed to that movement's formal aesthetic, but onl) in - ombination with
some record of the rich diversity of real life, of the world in which he lived. I [e probed
both the nature of painting and the meaning of e\vi\d.i\ actions and events h\ collaging
to his canvases reproductions and photographs illustrating various topical subjei ts ind
combining them with painted passages of pure < olor. By choosing to record the
commonplace as if it were extraordinary, kauschenberg el< vated the banal to the level ol
art and laid the groundwork for the emergence of Pop art. Many of Rauschenberg's mid-
1950s combines were shown at the Leo ( astclli Gallery in 1958. 1 any Rivers, anothei
in his
seminal figure of that period, combined proto-Pop imagery with abstract painting
canvases, which he showed at the Tibor de Nagy Gallery beginning in 1953. Johns began
BRR my snow suit icTTT m 1^54-55 (see fig. 80), and showed them at Castelli
WARM ENOUGH- fu. put
his series of Flag and Target paintings
Rausc henhcrg,
in 1958. Although Lichtenstein and Warhol would have seen the work of
ON A SWEATER TOO follow the lead of those three
Rivers, and Johns during that period, they did not simply
paintings 111 I960 and 1961. As
but struck offin a new direction with their hist Pop
the,. Both he ..nd Warhol
Lichtenstein has noted, he was finished with expressionism by
lusively for their subject matter. It was this
initially turned to commercial images ex<
imagery that distinguished them
singular focus on advertising and cartoon/comic-strip
as the foundation tor their subsequent development.
from their predecessors, and served
more artoon harai ters as
In the spring and summer of 1961, Lichtenstein chose two . 1
and Wimpy Tweet) (fig. 24).

to Mickey, and pamted Popeye (f.g. 22)
1
subjects, in addition
similar characters the year before in

some ol his first Strip
Warhol had used
well-known commercial artist, exhibited five ol
paintings Warhol, who was at that time a
and advertisements in the window display

BRR im his paintings based on cartoons or comic Strips
on seventh Street in Manhattan.

he designed in April 1961 fol Bonwit Teller I ift)
STItL that
were on view behind the mannequins
The three cartoon/com.c-stnp canvases that
top 20. Andy Warhol, Dick They, I960 \crylk on canvas, 200.7 icll4.3( m Superman, Saturday's Popeye, and The Uttle
Km*-were painted in I960 and 1961. Other
painted at that tune included two version
4S inches) David Geffen t ollection cartoon/Comic-Strip canvases by Warhol
(fig. 20), anothei painting
based on Elzie
bottom 21. Andy Warhol, Nancy, 1961 \crylic on canvas 121.9 x 152.4 cm (48 x Chester Gould's private-eye hen, Dick Tracy
Warhol and
23), and one otNancy (f.g- 21). Since
one of Batman,
60 inches) Private ( oll Lichtcnstcin. Popeyc, 1961 Oil on canvas, 106.7 x 142.2cm (42x
Lichtenstein had not yet met, and Lichtenstein painted Ins cartoon < omi( strip paintings
at around the same tunc that Warhol showed his m the department-Store windows, it is
likely that each was unaware of what the other was doing and that they arrived u ill' ii
choice of subjects independently.

Both Warhol and Lichtenstein approached the 1 eo Castelli Gallery in late spring 1961
Lichtenstein remembers seeing Castelli earlier; in l
(
^(>0 he showed his abstract paintings to
the dealer and his wife, lleana Sonnabend, but apparently the} were not interested enough
to exhibit them. In 1961, k.iprow suggested that he show his cartoon/comic-strip
paintings to Ivan Karp. director of the gallery. Karp was speaking to a group oi indents
from Finch College in New York when 1 lchtcnstcin brought some of the new paintings
mto the gallery Karp was instantly taken with the work .md selected several paintings from
the group for Castelli to view. Castelli expressed interest but asked him to come bai k in .i
few weeks. Lichtenstein recalls that it was around this tune that Karp look linn to meet
Wirhol at the brownstone on Lexington Avenue and Ninetieth Street in Manhattan whi n
he lived with his mother. West Coast dealer Irving Blum, who was then a dire< tOl "I the
Ferus Gallery in 1 os Angeles, and Sonnabend, who was about to open a galler) in Paris,
also saw Lichtenstein s paintings at the Castelli (".alien and were so taken with the work
that each offered him a show on the spot. Lichtenstein held back, waiting foi an answei
from Castelli. When Lichtenstein returned to the gallery, this time Castelli offered him a
one-person show. Believing that, because Warhols work was so similar to Li< ht( nsti in's, it
would be difticult to represent both of them, Castelli decided not to I ll e Warhol on
Lichtenstein remembers seeing Warhol's work at the gall. a \ (probably Dick Tracy, m
23. Andy Warhol, Popeye, I960 Synthetic polymei painl on i am is, I
3 4 x
Nancy, and several canvases featuring < oca < ola bottles) ami at his home. In the meantime,
I
48 6 • in (68 i
k 58 in< hes) Private collection
Warhol had seen Lichtenstein's work at Castelli's galler) after his friend ted I an j
told him
about the comic-Strip paintings he had seen there. In Warhol's memoir published in 1980,
time he saw Lichtenstein \ work: "And there saw wlui red had I
he recalls the first

I
man rocket ship with a girl in Hie background

telling me about— a painting of a in a
Warhol deeded to stop painting artoon comi<

Following h.s visit to the Castelli Gallery,
i
strip images and shortly thereafter began to paint ( ampbclls soup cans.
many ways both artists were remarkably pres, i.ni in then understands
In
wa) ...win, I, the
advertising's power to shape public opinion. I he) were fascinated b) th«
product regardless ol its meaning. ind the) sel t< .1
media transformed everything into a .
as subjects for then paintings. Both

some of the media's most formidable stereotypes
adapted its methods, Lichtenstein by converting the

Benda) dol technique into a pivotal
hard-sell t. hniques md -
formal device, and Warhol by paraphrasing the media's
i
Despit
on.U using its silkscreening process as an equaUy effectiv method
ofp; g
significant differences. Warhol hose

blind n
these similarities, however, there are
i
as Marilyn Monroe. Elizabeth 1,1-

and Lvil I
products and the period's sex symbols, such

Nearly e
Presley, or images of disaster
pulled from the front pages of newspapers.
Warhol touched was contemporary, and many of the paintings reeked ol

subject
subjects were controversial Within
sensationalism, tragedy, or death, lie htenste.n's
There w. brand e
but then origins were downplayed.
,
context of -high" art,

u, m htenstein s
refrigerators, socks, or tires in his
work The brand names that appea, I
h as
Mondrian or the infrequent historical subjeel ii»
work are Picasso. Cezanne, and Piet

24. Roy Lichtenstein, Wimpy (Tweet), 1961 Oil ranvas 40.6 X 50.8 cm
I
|6 K 20 H). I
Olll I
""ii
George Washington. With the exception of such famous characters as Mickey Mouse,
Popeye, and Wimpy, early subjects all, Lichtenstein tended to select products and comic
strips that were generic to American culture but which individually and i ollectively were
more anonymous than Warhol's subjects. Other differences include I u htenstein's
preference for the domestic setting and the < omi< strip panel, and for bold silhouetted
forms and the mechanical look of printed Benday dots m primary colors as well as black
and white, whereas Warhol chose serial imagery, pastel colors, and a much more painterly
technique. Although their subjects continued to show a certain relative similarity, there is
little resemblance between the two artists m terms ot dun development from that tune on
With Look Mickey, Lichtenstein initiated a sequence of cartoon and ( omit Strip
imagery that lasted until 1965. In this painting, as m other early works, he drew the image
directly on the canvas, working in oils and emulating the bright primary colors of the
original. He faithfully duplicated the illustrative and narrative G mu work ot his model.
down to a cursory setting indicated primarily by the receding platfol m on whi< I) Mi* key
and Donald Duck are standing and by a few scribbled waves. The image lacks the i igorou
formal and stylistic order of Lichtenstein's later comic-strip paintings, but Look Mickey .is
well as Popeye and Wimpy (Tweet) have the freshness and naivete ol a new style Mi' cl n it}
and explicitness of the images and .\n absolute fidelity to the conventions of the i artoon
mark an abrupt shift from his earlier pamtmgs of Americana, in whn I. he had adapted th
imagery to the stylistic framework of Ssnthetn Cubism. Here. 1 ichtenstein USi d a
provocative subject to test the meaning of style and content in an and painted an image in
the grand manner of "high" art to look like a reproduction. Once the precedeni foi In
strip panels thai

painting was established, he turned to other sources, choosing comii
u ios, and artifu ial coloi
with their awkward "how-to-draw-a-figure** look, contrived s< en
and its cultUH
more closely approximated the way in which he perceived postwai SO. iety
to have evolved.
appeared in print in 1958 in the writing of the Hi itish
The term "popular art" first
critic Lawrence Allowav. In London in the spring ot 1952, some fifteen artisl write!
Institute of Contemporary Art (K 'A) in< ludin

and architects associated with the
Alison and Petei Smithson, and
Richard Hamilton and Eduardo Paolozzi, architects
i
outside the ranks ol th.

Reyner Banham and Alloway— formed a discussion group
Group (IG). Dissatisfied with
Institute and thus became known as the Independent
advocates of popular culture, embracing
postwar Britain's prevailing aesthetic, they became
of the American mass media, such as automobile
.ids,
a new aesthetic based on images
television. ien( e - and pop musi. In \
P nl 1952,
comic strips, Hollywood movies, s( I
I, tion imagery,
group of collages that he had made using s< ien. e
Paolozzi exhibited a
Collages such as Was a Rich Man's Plaything (fig

postcards, and ads as his sources.
/
Th
key example of his early use of Pop imagery. Lor the exhibition
1947 are ,
twelve teams
ICA m August 1956, the IG assembled
Tomorrow, which opened at the
create insuUa.
sculptor, and an architect-to
each one consisting of a painter, a
1..
arts to daih)
the ambition of linking the visual
featuring all the visual arts, with
collage Just what is a thai m
Though not exhibited ,n the show. Hamilton's seminal
«t
c J ei [n this WO rk, Hamilton satirized the bourgeois Ameru ulAW class at

u ' /"
,v. ,..'
^ mfS
left 25. Roy Lichtcnstein, Black Flowers, 1961 Oil on canvas
177.8 x 121.9 cm (70x48 inches) ( ollection Mr and Mrs S I
Ncwhousc |r
right 2(». Pag< from R.O) Lichtcnstein $ sourcebooks ca 1960s

lioge. Truly, tht HibilCttt dWfl on
m
attention needtd. Thii *
tcorUt plant* in
v
1
< indoor r*
nea-
..« oHemons
in
.
Europe. The collage tc.uu.es v nous
mark
when the U S. was beginning to make us
queen, a TV sec. and a
in
a bodybuilder, a pinup
symbols of popular cultnre, including
magazine ). m
OR.GINA! love & romance comics
famed cover of Young Romance ("the
purchased on the mstallment plan.
that looks as if it were
the living room of a home 1c
a, a powerful lorcc.n
advertising seriously, seeing it
la ton and his colleagues took
transplanted to the U. S., the term
,
of contemporary life. When

socia] , nd economic fabric
art itself."
"Pop art" came to be used to descr.be the
around a
.
chtenstein s relationship to his
,
-
American colleagues, however, centered
shared agenda. Although
everyday usage rather than from a
mutual respect for objects of
influenced by some torn, ot the
media,
all of them were
each worked independently,
Lichtenstein's experience as a
d.rect experience in the held.
o, asionally as the rest.lt of
,
presentation of kitchen stoves,

washing machines
draftsman is reflected in his spare
sneakers, socksêtc.
sodas, cherry pies, hot dogs,
bathroo interiors, golf balls, ice-cream
m
as wipmg, spraying,
and
TKl „, his highly enlarged
depictions of such demesne rituals
,
Washing Machine, The Refrigerator, Spray,
spongi„ g (see, for example, Golf Ball Bathro
Warhol's experience as an illustrator
,„d Sponge II. 31, 56, 57. 58, on. and 61).
figs.
Campbell's soup cans and to fabricate
undoubtedly contributed to his decision to paint
his skills as a billboard
painter to easel-size
Brillo soap-pad boxes. Rosenqu.st adapted
and other aspects of contemporary
American domestic l.tc.
portrayals of cosmetic aids
3D). Add to these artists
based on ads from newspapers and magazines (see figs. 2. and
of food and a "realistic room
, rtdenburg, who made larger-than-life-size sculptures
attached such utilitarian objects as

bathroom sinks to his
installation (fig. 28); Dine, who
actual chairs, table, bed.
canvases; and Segal, who created "real-life" tableaux juxtaposing
27). For all ot them.
life-size plaster figures (see fig.
or bath with pure-white castings of
goal was the attainment ot
of a society whose common
the media provided potent images
cultural phenomenon
these artists isolated and amplified a
the American dream. Together,
1960s.
new to the painting and sculpture of the early
Wbman Shaving Her Ug % 1963 Plastei metal porcelain, and

his wife and children and left Highland Park,
np 27. George Segal,
I„ 1961 Lichtenstein briefly separated from
m. 65* Winches) Collection Mrs RobertB
He rented Lower Manhattan, between
a loft on Broad Street in
New |ersey tor Manhattan.
meeting several artists who lived on
and Battery Park. Lichtenstein remembers
i
fc( igo
W.ll Street
2K. Claes Oldenburg, Bedroom BhmmM I vinyl, tn. I J
particularly Robert Indiana and Jack
Youngerman. He staved there
nearby Coenties Slip,
518.2x640.1 cm (119 . x 204 x 252 inches) National Gallery
to his family in New Jersey. In 1963, he separated
for less than a year before moving back
and the rest
id , ( intario
from Isabel again and took ., loft at 36 West Twenty-sixth Street in Manhattan,
„l die family moved to Princeton. Throughout this period he continued to work on a

objects. In single-object paintings
of
of subjects, among them paintings of
single
variety
ot a
Lichtenstein painted a careful rendition
still
1961-62 such as Black Flowers (fig. 25),
newspaper (see fig. 26 for the type ot illustration
lifefrom an advertisement he found in a
arrangement, he made a startling and provocative
he used). From a seemingly banal
traditional look of a hand-painted
image tor ,
punt,,,., in which he discarded the
mechanical one that resembled the reproduction.

To achieve this look. Lichtenstein
.mages by means of halftone screens of Benday
simulated the newspaper process of printing
stenciling dots onto a canvas and used
them to
dots He invented his own method of
the flat wall behind the flowers. He
described the
suggest both the mass of the vase and
tonus of the flowers and the shape of the vase with a series ofblunt black marks, and
p.untcd the image oi\\ black tabletop highlighted with a fe\a strokes oi white to suggest
reflections as a support for the vase. The differences in scale between the very small Benda^
dots used on the wall and the more boldk rendered wise of flowers and table ( leafed a
slight but perceptible rift in the surface plane. 1 Ins change in scale was riot imm< diateh
apparent because the vase oi flowers had few halftone dots and was basically linear in
structure. Furthermore, if one was tempted to regard the table as a solid object, its shape
flattened and foreshortened in a manner similar to O anne's fort shortened tabletops and
arrangements of fruit — made this impossible. To further neutralize the forms and m< rge
them with the plane of the canvas, 1 ichtenstein cropped the flowers and the tabli I h<
emphasis on linear shape rather than on the volumetric form of a thm dimi nsion ll obje( I
also enabled him to keep the tonus firmly lo< ked into the picture plane,
Lichtenstein was amused by the use of black and white reprodui tions in newspapers
and seed catalogues to advertise plants ami flowers. I he idea ol advertising pi. mis without
using color seemed so i idi< ulous to him that he decided that n was a subjei i
he wanted to
paint. He liked this kind of image because "it seemed tin opposite ol th< romantii
heartfelt spilling-your-guts-out posture ot Abstract Expressionism I he reprodui tions wi rt
usually done by artists with very little training [who gave the images] i
plodding and
unartistic appearance. Also, anything printed looked take or spurious and it wasn't realr)
art."
9
The unartistic nature of the reprodui tion and its clumsy di iwing appealed to him
be( ause he could use this raw material as the basis tor his painting. 1 [is COnvei ion - 'I in
unartistic image into an "unartistic" painting was the preeise point hi wish 'I i" rnakt
about art. After all, art is subjective, and Lichtenstein wanted to reopen ill' disi ussion
about w hat it was that made a subject meaningful. What was it that made an ingloi iou
newspaper reproduction a fitting subject foi a worl ol irt And what mi aning do
have in our time? Black Flowers thus began a long soliloquy on this sub,
A black-and-white image also challenged the i onventions ol still liri paintin
such unconventional artists as the French nineteenth-century Post Impressionists \
wui Gogh and Paul Gauguin and the twentieth centur) paintei I
lenri Mat h ol
Don't test one brand alone ... compare them alj!

convi - d essem
whom radically simplified the w.i\ in whi< h the) painted still lifes, th<
w* never oik you lo l*tl our brand olon.

ichtenstein, however, used
Until* olhen,
TRY THIS TIST! compare pmur momis match natural forms through their use ofcolor, texture and light. 1
Wo «oy . . . . •
PHIUP MOMIS illda* PHILIP MOMIS agamil on,

black and white to produce the first in a series oi paintings that are th
. . .
olher ciq onlf l Then mok* your o«n cholc*l R.m.mb*r
fcw*>r»»- reductive form. Lichtenstem's adaptation ofBenda) si reens to his painting i" alls the
I NO CIGARETTE HANGOVER
fellow
formidable achievements made by the Post-Impressionist Georges Seurat and his
of the da^ as harles Blan.

Pointillists. Spurred on by the writings of sm h coloi theorists <
pOiiiJJJJJJj'jJUililJiu and C)^\ou Rood, the Pointillists utilized a precise system of dots
optically blend
that, wh<
i—
n viewed from
il" i"
a i ertain distance, approximated the way in which color, I
Pointillists an interest in
nature. Lichtenstein shares with Seurat and Ins fellov,
,
informed bv his knowledge ol theil wori

top 29. James Rosenquist, The light Tliat Won't Fail I, 1961 < >il Oil i anvas, 182.1 X His perception of nature, however, is
post-industrial
244 5 cm (~l Va \ 96 ti inches) Hirshhorn Museum and Sculptun Garden, Smithsonian view of nature as artificial, irrevocably altered by society in the
of black and white also a feature -i subsequ. nl p;
Institution Washington, D.( . Gifi ol the Joseph H. Hirshhom Foundation, 1966 I ichtenstein's dramatic use is
bin and-wh.tc paintings

Golf Ball 1962, and ma> be related to
I960 tin I. «
I
bottom 30. Magazine advertisement, )5.4 x 26.5 cm (13 i« x 10 incho),ca such as
ranz Kline, Robert Motherwell,

and Oth
Abstract Expressionists W.lle.n de Kooning,
I
( olle< tion fames Rosenquist

htenstein hosi this nnag.
m the 1940s and 1950s. More to the point, perhaps, I i<
i

~ nt "'' " U
' ofM °nd
Here. Lichtenstem emulated
^ (-
^8 32), which was oi interest to „„„ a, the rime
Mondrian's reductive style and translated
the Dutch artist's
"""'"' °' S1 mple plus and ,,n
,
" -
forms »'<» I* «ra series ol signs,
breaking down the
,n
;;"","" ° bjecl '" bl ' **
"" « Section ofhooked marks surrounded
by bold .,
black outline
In
GolfBallznd other single-object paintings ..the
early 1960s, lit, nstein depicted I
i<
some oi the most frequently advertised

images of the time, modeling them after the
ids
bed clipped from magazines and
newspapers (» He collet ted images oi gre u i
manysubjects from the period that caught

his attention. Relatively few became
paintings-
among those that did, there is usually a complementary
sour, in ari In this instance, the ,
complement to a generic golfbaD is a generic Mondrian. By using Mondrian's syst, m to

make a painting of such an object, I ichtenstein called attention to the object's
absti i, i
quaHty. This provocative mixing together

of common objects, "high art tmentar) and
?.';,--.' abstract style, which became the trademark of his
".7 .'JHjrUt the public when Lichtenstein's work first
appeared ... th, arl) 1960s.
entire oeuvre, tnsed the critics and
>n< w. might i
( < i. i
concede the method but not the subject; anoth.

might admire the subject but not the I
w.n in which it was painted; but, blind to the

development oi a nev, idiom in painting,
most people at that time simply could not admire both
yu v< Geo^c Washington (fig. 34), 1962, reprises the subjeel oi \merican presidents thai
Lichtenstein had worked with before
"«*-» Washington Crossing the Delaware
(see, foi exampl. .
one ofhis two versions oi
[fig. I], ca. 1951, and Ten Dollat Bill [fig. 12], 1956).
:.« Based on a Hungarian newspaper's reproduction ofa wood* iii version oi ( rilberi Stuart's
famous portrait of Washington, the painting mediates between the allover figure 'ground
^vMk.VII^ relationship m Black Flowers and the freestanding form ol ( hi) Ball. But it is m some ways
less radical than either oi those paintings, because "i i
i, in, mi, in's d< parture from thi ii
strut black-and-white composition — he has used red Bendaj dots to re< ill the roi
cheeked Stuart portrait — and because of its historical subject. While capturing man) "I
the features of Stuart's portrait, he has reduced Washington's commanding presence b\
rendering the figure as a reproduction, .in ..musing p fen r* e to the on< dollai bill's
familiar depiction of our first president. Suite the portrait on the dollar bill d( I iv S Mom
,\n official portrait, both can be considered valid interpretations; both, as I i( htenstein
*
***toss off your implies in his work, describe something signifi< anl about our culture. In his graphi*
portrait of George Washington. 1 ichtenstein carves ,i granite figure — one that might h
'"/' 32. Piet Mondrian, Composition in Black and White, 1917 Oil on i anvas
stepped down from Mount Kushmore — oui "i in arrangement ofbold black-and-white
108 * '08 < m 12 n 4: in, hes). State Museum Kroller-Miiller, Otterlo,
forms Benday use of these simple elements to evoke volume and
|
.\nd dots. I lis flatness

The Netherlands
simultaneously is one of the more impressive feats ol his earl) work, as is his ability hen
'""'"», 33. Page fiom Roj Lichtenstein's sourcebooks, ca 1960s
maneuver between abstract shape and iconic image.
Lichtenstein's ability to tomtit a ( ommon object inn- hi il-ai.i. i form, w ithout
relinquishing the features that distinguish it as an object, separates him from his fellow Pop
artists. Oldenburg pursued the creation of the obje. I in another way. by making an often
rsize, painterly version of the original. Lichtenstein's use of a single-image,
figure/ground format was the means l>\ whi. h he made explii ii the arti< ulation ol the
left 31. Roy Lichtcnstein, Golf Ball. 1962 Oil on canvas 81 cm be was
3 k si J (32 i
object within the picture plane. For the transmutation <>! ill' objeel to successful, it
" •• Pri\
necessary to maintain equilibrium between the object and the translation In
!
Ilection .\n ol it.

I ichtenstein's paintings, the tne ins ol achieving this entails the conjoining oi .1 "real" image
and ,m abstract style. The use of such m image brings with it all the data we need to recall
the actual object. The abstract style, however, serves another function: to trans, end the
literalness of the object. This allows Lichtenstein to rei laim the three-dinu-nsiou.il objei 1
w lule he subverts its re.iliix
The "objectness" of Pop is the direct outcome of the work ofjohns and Rauschenberg
Both artists placed maximum emphasis ou the physical attributes of an object Johns's great
contribution was to make .in image olfa flag 01 1
target both a literal obje< 1 and a
statement about the re< tangle (or the circle in relation to the rectangle). Ibis statement
about the object is a development from 1 Juchamp's concept of the read) made, I >u< hamp
declared a bicycle wheel mounted on a stool and a urinal to be works ol art, simpl) b}
signing them. By so doing, both the original common object and the concept that altered
that object are present in the altered objei t I i< htenstein reverses this process, offering us
the concept-as-reformed-image from which we can recall the original I 01 the .mist, the
process of conversion is the most effective when the change from the original soup e is the
least apparent. In this regard, none of the other 1960s Pop artists a< hieved the same sort of
hair-splitting balance that he created between the actual subject and its altered image, 1 he
process of transmutation brings mto focus two of his majoi concepts: the importance ol
choice in the selection of subjects, and the necessity ol converting them into works ol an
while preserving the essem e ol thi ii original nature. In tins way, he confers on the mosi
common of subjects an aesthetic orientation 'inn, k foreign to then original 1

ondil
representational figure and neutral

Because of the potential conflict between a a
(abstract) ground, Lichtenstein was toned to find .1 solution that sacritn ed neithei bul
mutual coexistence, lor him, therefore, the relationship mi Hi, objei to th<
permitted a
1
picture plane was of utmost importance, far from -I, nying the figure ground relationship,
By emphasizing both the obje< potentially tin- dim< nsional

he accentuated it. I
depiction bv means of., magnified screen ol Benda) dots,

character and the flatness of its
tension between the subje< and ground that is a majoi Strength

he established a dialectical 1
and hi) lull are su< essful examples ol

of his single-object paintings. Both Black Flowers ( 1
unified h.s imagery h\ means ol the Benda) doi

this dialectic. In Black Flowers, the artist
anvas unite figure and Held Ins ambiguity

screen, whereas m Golf Ball bare areas ol 1
I
one that he obviousl) relishes for he

between two-dimensional and three-dimensional is
121 1964, and Three Pyramids

has returned to it repeatedly. Temple oj [polio (fig. ».
structures translated mto emphati. ally

1969 are but two examples of volumetric
1
In- nst, in has

contain all the data of the originals. I
i<
dimensional images that nevertheless

on which it was reared and that,
produced an art that subverts tin vct) foundation
1
thus
paradoxically, derives its strength from this subversion

successful challenge to theconcepi ol illusiomsm,
left 34. Roy Lichtenstein, George Washington, L962 Oil on canvas 129 5 n 96 - cm For Lichtenstein to have mounted a
was necessary tor him to have a profound grasp ofits mam variables rhe history ol
[51 k 18 inches) Collection Jean-< hristophe < utelli it
Inn. to do so.
twentieth-century Modernism, ol which he was an avid student, enabled
work of artists sue h as Mondr.an, Pi- asso, ^\ ( Jezanne ... h.s
pag, )4 35. Roy Lichtenstein, Portrait of Madame Cezanne, 1962 Magna
on Thus he quoted the
htenstein
part of a venerable tradition, bul u
I
cm Private collection, New York painting. The idea of quoting from art is
canvas, 172.7 * 142.2 (68 x 56 inches)
with tins issue. His Portrait oj Madame Ci anne
Mag dters the traditional
method ol d. aling
Roy Femme dans unfauteuil, 1963 Oil and
i
36. Lichtenstein,
which we vie*
another ofhis comments on the way
....
in
• in\ u 172.7 x 121.9 cm (68 x 4s inches) Private collection (fig 35) 1962 for example, is
Chapter 2: Early Pop Pictures

33
ezanne's renowned portrait, whii h was first
It is based on Erie Loran's diagram ol I
Compositions 1943. ichtenstein obji ted to the

published in Loran's book Cizannt's in 1 .
"1 wasn't crying to berate Erie I oran bui it is such an

notion of such a diagram
A. B, ( V i< htenstein uses his re-
oversimplification trying to explain a painting by
I
us
is modified, to remind
the
creation of the Loran diagram, in which very little
.
Cezanne from a diagram: " h. ezanne is

le liked the irony of diagramming
I
<
original. 1
calling it Madame anne is in itself

such a complex painting. Taking an outline and
I i
humorous, particularly the idea ^ diagramming a Cezanne when I i anne said,
diagram of a diagram, he calls attention to the

outline escaped n,c
'
In painting a
and historians to reduce art to simple formulas.

penchant of some critics art
d> We,, (fig. 39), 1963, aft! Pi. assos I «

ta ,nother vein, Lichtensicn's painting Fe ,
[Women of Algiers] (fig. 40), 1955, was meant to look like « u I
,,,„„„, d'Alger
wanted this painting to r. ft he wa>
cheap reproduction of the ongm.,1. Lichtenstein
culture views art largel) b) means
of reproduction. It is also a tongue-in
in which our
md his appropriation of Eugene D. b A Femme i Ifeer,
cheek comment on Pica
Delacroixs Fe m
critical here, for Picasso's versions
ol
1834 The issue of intention is
d-Algermd Edouard Manet's Dijeune, « Vherbe, 1863 whii b is a vaii
he, lourcesfo, wto

Giorgione's Tempest, 1505-10, which
iconography still remains unclc.„-.,rc themselv.

is itself based
pr, t '•
« 5
°'
''"
more than the art

the artis. h as,
case, the subject is
subject. In Lichtenstein's
tecE Lichtenstein does no.

wish to submerge the original fo. tb I
«« he
and hu « « style. I h,
on the
Rk mitv j, Mdi ta so doing comment
artist
. ,
lust established with , am, k -

P-trngs.
rtTcourse, the same method he *
Ha,. 1939-40 on canvas, 71 I « singular features, and restat, I
-
the subject, isolate and
Kl
)g. Pablo Picasso. Woman md, Flow,„i (
Sift identity its
gmal subject and

£ôfio««»ton^lhod-to»«di«be «««d I
m (28 , 23 inches) Morton G Neumann Family Collection
rnmterpreta, ,
Lichtenste .,ki I
I eta, * ^
the or.gmal gthel kq
aUy alters
md position of the original, but subs*
•^XZ^ZZZZZZZ* - r ,
W^J^J
—
art. Rauschenberg, too, '
,,,„, „„. A „,
cl^wimjuxtfp limag, ^— S- *,~

aauschenberg's works also
contain
autobiography. In juxtaposmg
.mages from 1 IK-
within the real
^^^TdZ- t, .
ejdsten
- *—
Rauschenberg creates a fictive tune
paraphrases Mondnan indirectly a
,
to*.
Lichtenstein, however,
^^t^î^JZ^-^' "
^
^"^£2 J
Of products and
reproductions. ,
.e also
vie « Culture
W 37. Roy
I27«
Lich,e„s«ein.
i
^»
(50x40
I*
inches)
B"™* "« "M
Private collection
'
'" ""'
L*:rj^^^-=-- :
CHAPTER 2. EARLY POP PICTURES

37
complexity, irony, and humor. In commenting on each of these artists, Lichtenstein is [so
als
creating a dialogue with their work about the formal bases of aesthetics itself.
some of the subjects of his paintings from

Excluding the cartoon/comic-strip paintings,
1961-63 are:
balls of twine hoi dogs sponges
magnifying glasses jpi i\ i in .
nine
i offe< < ups Mondrian
curtains Picasso stop on > ins
6 igerators stoves
ele< ii it i ords re
rollei skates washing ma< nines

engagement rings
sneakers I orge Washington

flower arrangements
.
^s
goll oaus
goir balls ' ><
has been painting's mosl fundamental B

idition
The mo of representational imagery
a hieran h) ol values.
throughout the history of art, but almost always preserving
so that a comi. strip, goli baU, and a
ichtenstein has chosen to standardize his images
i
relative value. His choice ol subj. ts has us own intei rial

Picasso h.,ve the same i
By virtue of then- familiarity, the figure of George Washington and the

consistency.
be considered along with hot dogs and
socks as
paintings of Picasso and Mondria
socks, „.
popular images. 1 he IV and the Mondrian, the hot dogs and
ass,,
have been comme

interchangeable as images because of the wa> in whi. h they
and
has explained, Ins obje was to a, knowledge this aspe art
But, as Lichtenstein
to bring to this issue something of his own:
commerce and
a has, think, , I sharp, ning ffc< i
"Mondrian" or "Picasso," I
When I do a
ii
became I'm trying to make a alized Picas M Irt ra
"utiles; el'mver,
nist painting, let's sa,
.ercializedAbs
ktobe; kofar, tithasa: I
I T ned with getting
also. So. it's completely rearranged ithasbe

Pablo Picasso, Us Femmes d\A\R er, February " 1955 ( >il on canvas rebu Uding aspect to it
40.
because the style that Is

»i "' •>
;rcialized
inches)
!
, i
.ndit's hoi
,,„,!„ ;nize that this only a mod, styl,
„„, is
"
don't™ ,r
.workbe n * Ive, ,..
fere: «
But the result that I- towan
to be involved in this
Pica b M heAbswe,
ofart which has other qualities*;
=
Expressionist paintii ,
Lichtenlin's appropriate
as Non-objective
"Mondri
I and
as,,.,
Non-objectiv. U (figs
<*^£[%Z
H and 42), both >64, b
For paintings such b.
"Mondrian's p: gs ed them as the 1,
^del'he versio
"
of his own
" however. Lichtenstein appropriated ,
Pi( ISS0S
For his Ptcass.
his fimshed canvases. identical to Picasso's
[
y
harm oi a breast, ana

cam 203.2 repositioning an Benday-dot
d'Alger, 1963 Oil on
1
ii
Femme part of the canvas
*
fc/i 39. Roy Lichtenstein,
another
original) to
Jer version ofthe Cubist
68 in< hes) Private collection
Chapter 2: Early Pop P.ctures

39
\1 Roy Lichtcnstein, Non-objective II. 196 I < 111 and Mum,, 01 I IS,
1964 and Magna anvas, 142.2*

left 41. Roy Lichtcnstein, Non-objective I, ( >il
Sonnal I
< oil
121 9 i
:
ini hes) Hie I li tnd Edythe I Broad < olle. don
screening of the image and other techniques derived from advertising were also paramount
in these re-creations ofPicasso in Lichtenstein's style. As he indicated, he wanted paintings
of this genre to look like reproductions. To the extent, however, that he made significant
changes in their formal resolution, he has indeed remade Picasso in his own image.
1 See Note '> in Chapter I
2 Kaprow, quoted in Calvin Tomkins, "Brushstrokes," in Calvin [bmkins and Bob Adelman, Roy
Uchtenstein Mural with Blue Brushstroke (New York: Harry N. Abrams. 1988), p. 21.
1
onv< rsarion with the artist in New York City, November 30, 1992
i
/ </ Mickey and some of the earlier cartoon paintings such as Popeye and II 'impy (Tweet) were not
exhibited publicly until 1982,
5 K. irp's comments are included in a description of the encounter in ( alvin [bmkins, Off tin- Wall Robert
Rauschenberg and the I// World of Our Time (Middlesex and New York Penguin Hooks. L980), pp. 173-74.
See Warhol's comments in Andy Warhol and Bat Hackett, POPism The Warhol '60s. (New York and
1 ondon I Ian ourt Brace Jovanovich, 1980), pp. 6-7. Since there is no single painting by lichtenstein that
fits this description. Warhol may have been referring to several works
7 See 1 awrence Alloway, "The Arts and the Mass Media," Architectural Design 2* (February 1958), p. 85.
8 See Peter Selz, "A Symposium on Bop Art." Arts Magazine 37. no, 7 (April 1963), pp. 36—45. Selz served
as the moderator tor a panel on December 13, 1962. Included in the discussion were Pore Ashton, Henry
( Seldzahler, Hilton Kramer. Stanley Kunitz, and Leo Steinberg It was decided at the panel that Bop art was ,i
better name tor the movement than Neo-Dada or New Realism
9 ( onversation with the artist, Southampton. NY, September 1 1. I

''''2
10. Lichtenstein, quoted in John Coplans, "Roy Lichtenstein: An Interview." in Roy Uchtenstein, exhib. cat
(Pasadena Art Museum, in collaboration with the Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, 1967), p. 15; this ess.n
was reprinted as "Talking with Roy Lichtenstein" in Artforum 5, no. 9 (May 1967), where the quoted
passage appears on p. 39. For Loran's response to Lichtenstein s use of his diagram, see Lrle 1 oran. "Bop
Artists or Copy Cats?" ARTnews (.2, no. S (September I '".3), pp. 48-49, 61.
I I . Lichtenstein. ibid.
12 1 ichtenstein, from an edited transcript of a television interview broadcast fanuar) 1966 in New York,
quoted m Alan Solomon, "Conversation with Lichtenstein," in Alberto Boatto and Giordano Falzoni, eds ,
l.iihtt n>i(in, special issue ol l\tiit,i~>iiui I. no. 2 (July-August 1^6r>), p. S (in Italian) and pp. 38—39
(in English), reprinted in John Coplans, ed., Roy Lichtenstein (New York and Washington. D.C.: Braeger,
1972), p. 68.
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Single object painting? such .is Got) Ball (fig. 31), L962, suggest spatial illusion largely by
virtue of their subject. We know th.it .1 golf ball is three dimi nsional, and so must of us
project the additional dimension onto such .1 two-dimensional image even though it may
not be depicted in that manner. We bring to the image our knowledge oi the object as ,m
entity that occupies a particular, concrete space. Our experience of these single object
paintings is quite different from the way we see certain works bv Rauschenberg and Johns.
In the combine painting Monogram (fig, 4=>), L955 59, for example, Raus< henberg has
earn as Hat oil the floor and placing on
usurped the space of the sculptor by situating his
goat with around its waist. he spectator is forced to confront a

top of it a stuffed a tire 1
two-dimensional painting placed in the space traditionall) reserved foi three dimensional
forms and to accept the canvas as onl\ one among several objects. Johns, m some ot his
on three dimensional
best-known works, painted the two-dimensional image of a flag a
near duplicate ol the original

canvas and created a bronze facsimile of ale cans (fig. 5) as a
often blurred the distin. tion

Stuffed goat, « mvas aluminum package. Both Johns and Rauschenbcrg have
Robert Rauschenbcrg, Monogram, 1955-59
tire, I .
45. replii and like

between painting and sculpture or between the actual ODJ< i I ind its i\
.„,,„, ,,,„„. 122.1 k 183x183 cm (48 ^ inch. Modcrna

and Bui both -i them have
Lichtenstein, they are concerned with the object
its illusion.
Stockholm
to signify thai illusion oi have juxtaposed
a
often relied on the presence o\ a real obje( I
pamted one. Lichtenstein, however, ivl.es ciink on the ertaint) thai

object with
«
real ..
image an object, we know from the wa) is

no matter how much we read into an 11
oi
plane. is in his use ol artifi. e, ind in

depicted that it is a Hat shape on an impla( ably flat It
our awareness of the fiction involved in the presentation ol the imag. .

thai w i an folly
and central role in his larger pictorial

appreciate the complex nature of the subject its
statement.
Bellamy (fig 1961, represents
Paintings such as Emeralds (fig. 50) and Mi 19), 1
I"). Popeye (fig. ind

from the imager, ol ook Mfcfa y (fig. !
3
significant departure
I
the famou,
w ,,„,,,,, (fig . 24). .,11 1961, where
Pop. y. and
the emphasis was ph. ed ....
Wimpy
characten and their adventures. Mickey
Mouse and Donald Du, I
meralds
cartoons, dizzy and iill, and full ol fun
I
were portrayed as they appeared in the

the firs, in a series
k heroi< adventures fo. grown-ups,
ind Mi Bellamy, however, are
,
in a series ol
„ on the theme of the male hero engaged
narratives focusing
ge da .v. fiwni
emphasize action and event. Each introduces
.1
dramas that
vohme setting^ s
newspaper comic-strip panel featuring
rime Lichtenstein was scavenging
the her
images ft
a, ly
™»8 *Uow *
... Batl
'
^
n
advertisements for the inter 1. p» t. .1
telepho„e directory and newspaper

(fig.57),bothl961,andg g o fa, .to
e
(nK5 6)ortheappUanceinM&/.^Macftm âdnotyet
ako 1961 ab kittyli.
L£ the image for Cat (fig. 43).
his .mager, bu .nitiall,
decided to focus exclusively on

one or two primary sources fo,
books
seems t „ Kave been drawn to
con* strips in newspapers rather th;
strip nan .1 "hold,

bjectof.
The very notion of using t
an «•"*
adeeph .mplement to
asaniconofhighartish
Ray, Mir6.fi Picabia Picasso, and <*«««.
Duchamp, Klee. Man ,
di
43.
imetei
Roy
Pri\ it<
Lichtcnstein, Car. 1961
collet rion
Oil on canvas, 80 cm I
H in .„„. the firs, to tes.

Lichtcnstein, Magnifying Glass, 1963 challenged other
is
bottom left 44. Roy < >il (
Duchamp
,
Srônstothem.andpresentmgthemasart,
m 16 k 16 inches) Prh it( • ollei I
I' J)
Images
47 Chapter 3: Comic Strips and Advertising
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47. Advertisement for Mount \in Lodgil i
Ne* York Gift of Philip Jol

..,. ,, K Museum of Modern Vr.
taboos ,,s weU, exploring transvestism as an invented female persona that he called Rrose
same-size reproduction of the Mini.,
is,, on
Selavy, submitting as his own artwork a 1
beard and mustache (and using a vulgar French phrase, "hi. h he

which he had drawn a
and packaging his entire life's work as

transliterated as L.H.O.O.Q., for the tide) (fig. 67),
complex forces pla, an} ol life's

,, boxed set of reproductions. 1 ichtenstein sees the ai
to neat them with levity, disarming them of some ol

most demanding issues bui i h :s
none of then sei umsness

their threatening quality but
Kooning stands out as painter with an
Among the Abstract Expressionists, de
.,
of life. lis in. lusion oi a pai. ol

appreciation tor the comedic as well as the tragic aspects I
Woman 206), 1950, is an open

lips from a Camel cigarette ad in his painting (fig.
popular culture and prefigures the

acknowledgment ofhis admiration of American
Oldenburg hey have used hum,,, m
attitudes of such 1960s artists as fuhtenstem and
I
though through al satire

their work as a way ol lam] ting our culture and our art,
veakd
while targeting society's weaknesses, the, have
,1
rather than black humor, lit,,
admiring as well as cnti. al I he,

its innocence and naivete, and have shown that they are
in reframing
as many 1950s artists were, hut have been enlightening
,,-e not existentialists,
u, time, Oldenburg has used his oversize
with humor some of the Complex issue
foibles; ichtenstein has don. ver, mui h .he same using th.
props to critique society's I
haractenst,
ind painting. S larly, both have treated sex in d
comic strip
done so in the atologi. al trad begun by Picasso and
fashion Oldenburg has s.
Duchamp and Picabia, Surrealists Mm. and I ,,,,. Abstract

continued by Dadaists
iver, htensteins se u i
others.
Gorky and de Kooning, and
1 I i.
Expressionists Arshile
an,
are indirect, expressed through the images ol
teXences
and ur. B, aus, hrs pa.nt.ngs are a
figures as stereotypes oi sex
,1.
offemaie
,
on
Us use
f the absurd aspect, ol
Oil canvas,
ca
Ball, Boisgeloup, August L932
4K. Pablo Picasso, Bather with Beach humor stems fiom his appre
celebration ofthe ironic, their
of anonymous done, ind promised uh wha hi b
Since sex has been commodified
ix 45 Winches) Partial gift
tn4 .6cm(57 .
our cultural condi. -
dverasementf
R.onaldS Uudei >o I In Museum,, ,,i Modern Art. New Vbrt
within the ixt oi strip on
,,ii ol
âppropriate
P
than seeing it
com.c
rhe y
rf drawing in Emeralds and
s
Mr. Bell y
differs fiom the cartoo

od
ageryofÂtoj
iwspaper-based
stripimages ofthe same year
ZZXZZZZttZttfz
'
ir^trzrX"^=r^
* Zi'-
— isss^^ssss
, ,
Overgard's newspaper comic

strip
b^
tteve Koper,
yi
;;"-;;
19.
njaminj
Roy Lichtenstein, Mr. Btllamy, 1961
inches)
rdlar
Modern An Museum
Memorial [hisr.
ol I
Acquired ftom the

Oiloncanvaj 143.5 X 108 cm
on Worth. Museum Purchas
< olleci fVemon

f y;:;:;:;::;:;::::::.:t:,.,.,.,,n,o..-
of image in which a compl. he saMR

.
Nikkei. Cloves, New Mexico, 1982 figure treated in very fc
L96l, however, the

is
r»i ,i Rl /i /tut -+<»)-
Girl with Ball (tig.
4f,i •
Roy Uchtetutein, Oil on canvas, 174 a l"l "'

.
In ,
closely , k to me slll i„ ,
with a separate identity but

I 50. Emerald,. 1961 , ,
as; bject,
manner as GolfBall
68 k68 inches) Collecrion Denise and Andrew Saul
s.ng Images
Chapter 3: Com.c Strips and Advert.
49
52. Martin Branncr, panels from
'
Winnie \\ inkle,' in Chieqgo Tribune,

right
Roy Lichtenstcin, Tht Engagement Ring, 1961 on
"»
abow 51. ( 1
1
Sunday Jul) 16 1961

201 9 cm (i
' '' •""'" "" Samuel Heyman N(
1
7*tRR? PLANS TO SURPRISE
'
IUMMI IJ I I J
VUU UHbN IHEkd
TANYA WITH A PIECE OF ORAL..WHATS TWO WEEKS !
JEWELRY ORALSWIFT, THE GOOD j|
TANYA'S AGENT, HAS NEWS ?

A SURPRISE OF A
O/FFERENT
MATURE..
•whoopee
LUE * BUT
HEV ÔNJT
:&A'.'JRE
}TICS /
Rr K f S PKI OK
lEA/ VHILE,. 'ii, i,. The ' hit «»•' Irilmnv
WANT TO
|
PERRY NOT AN
, i
I JUST IT5...IT5
ABOUT THIS PIECE SHOW HER HOW ENGAGEMENT 11
OF JEWELRy yOU'RE MUCH SHE MEANS RING ,15 IT? /*%.»'
PLANNING TO BUY TO ME /WINNIE /
FOR TANYA „
(«>
?y* -}.
WHY, BRAD DARLIN6,THIS PAINTING IS A
MASTERPIECE/ MY, SOON YOU'LL
HAVE ALL OF NEW YORK CLAMORING
FOR YOUR WORK/
plane of the picture support. Lichtenstein chose to enlarge the figure of the bather in
order to bring her nearer to the picture plane. A compai ison oi the painting with the id
from which it was adapted (fig. 47) indicates the significant changes Lichtenstein made to
the original. In the .\d, the photographic image of the girl looms out from the page, while
Lichtenstein substituted a figure drawn as a cartoonist might have rendered it, only slightly
more distorted. He also emphasized her two-dimensional form by means of an incisive
black outline, a screen of red Bcndav dots, a brilliant yellow backdrop, and a white wave
edged in black, and further underscored the flatness of the figure by merging her
silhouette with the shape of the wave and cropping her at the fingers and below tin- waist.
Lichtenstein's depiction is so striking that he could .\iYon\ to dispense with the lengthy
message that accompanied the original. With a few bold strokes, he delineated her form
and that of the beach ball and managed nonetheless to conve) the heady atmosphere oi a
vacation. Indeed, his rendering is at its most reductive m this painting. In this respect. ( .///
with Bill! is reminiscent of Picasso's frolicking bather in one of his paintings on the subjei t,
Bather with Beach Ball (fig. 48), 1932. While there is no overt similarity between the two
bathers, Lichtenstein is clearly indebted to Picasso fol the way in which he reduces form
to a few incisive shapes and conveys movement by the position ol Ins figure.
In appropriating the figure of a girl tossing a ball in tin ail from an m\ fol Mount Airy
Lodge in the Poconos resort area of Pennsylvania (which was published in several
newspapers in the New York metropolitan area, including the Daily News and the Neie
York Times), Lichtenstein found one of the most common tropes of the d.i\ tor the image
of a woman. This updated version of such I'MOs movie star pinups as Betty Grable, and
other images like it, appealed to him precisely because they were so obvious and
disingenuous. They represented a male ideal of the glamorous female, a bathing-suited
figure very much in vogue in the 1950s. This figure —introdui ed to n iders in 1955,
when the ad first ran — started life as a stock image. Although she was used specifically to
promote the pleasures of honeymooning in the Poconos, she is also an emblem ol
American postwar society. As a recent press release from Mount Airy I odge indi< ates, she
resembles "Miss Liberty brandishing her torch" anil signifies one asp.-, i ol the great
American dream, the ultimate success stor) of wealth and material comfort. I ichtenstein
exploited this symbolic value, converting her from a routine stock figure in advertising to
a model of the new American figure in the new Anuin an arl She joins .. notable group
of iconoclastic female figures, including Manet's Olympia, L863, Picasso's Les Demoi elks
of Women, begun around M< and

(
1907, and de Kooning's three series

I >
,/'. [vignon,
classic female form. A
continued through the 1950s, which broke with the tradition of the
use of the image, in painting
durable fixture in advertising, made famous by Lichtenstein's
she became the 1960s successor to the European and American models who preceded her.
The painting is a tribute to Lichtenstein's understanding of the power of advertising
imagery and his own profound ability to convert a cliche into an ion
working method gradually changed after his Inst 1961 cartoon paintings,
Lichtenstein's
cartoons, he turned to
such Look Mickey. Discarding images based on animated
as
newspaper comic strips or combed !).( romance and wai COmi< books—
including
:.
S
'' 53. Roy Lichtenstein, Masterpiece, 1962 Oil on canvas, I ^ 2 x I

J7 2 cm Hearts, Girls' Romances, G.I. Combat, Our Army at War, All American Men oj W-fcr, and <
>wi
chcs) Private collection, New York Fighting Forces

1
— for illustrations, sometimes combining several com.es panels into one
55 Chapter 3: Comic Strips and Advertising Images

image, which he then made into a small sketch. He continued to revise the sketch until he
was satisfied with the result, and then ,wkk\\ color to it. After redrawing the image
freehand on the canvas, he applied the dots In hand using a dog brush with regularly
spaced plastic bristles, dipping the brush into (lie oil paint and then pressing the bristles
against the canvas (In his painting Popeye, he had merely dragged a dry brush across the
canvas to create the look ofBenday dots.) Soon he switched ovei to a handmade metal
stencil, using a roller to distribute paint evenly across the screen and then pushing paint
through it with a small scrub brush. Beginning in 1962, In- decided to work with \\.\^\u
paint on the larger areas because it was easier to make changes with it when he needed to
He moved the dot screen from one area of the cam to another until he covered its entire IS
surface. He then applied his primary colors to unprimed canvas and finished an image
with one or more black lines. Because the screen was not the same size as a i invas and the
dots were painted by hand, the effect was less me< hanical and more painterly than he
intended. Nonetheless, to the first-time viewer, the paintings had thi appi nun i "I
reproductions. This would have pleased l.ichtcnstc in, who once said, "I want ni\ painting
to look as it it has been programmed 1 want to hide the record ol m\ hand."

In 1963, 1 ichtenstein developed a more precise method "i sten< iling his dots onto the
canvas, usmg a manufactured metal screen l

le soon enlisted the help ol an assistant who
would fill in the dots; he finished everything else on the paintings hunsell At thai time he
also began to ,\dd white Magna Undcrpaintmg to the surfai e oi store boughi primed
canvases. I ater that year he started using an opaque projectoi as an aid m transfi i nng his
sketch to the canvas. The distortion created by projecting an image made it necessary fol
him to redraw the sketch on the canvas m order to capture the feeling "I the original.
Lichtenstem liked this process because it enabled him to reinvent tin image. Once he was
satisfied with the drawing, he began to apply the Benday dots.
Since a certain amount oi intuition was invoked m the resolution ot the images, it was
necessary tor him to supervise even the most me< hanical aspe< ts oi his work. And despite
the economical and impersonal impression that 1 ichtenstein wanted his paintings to
convey, they contained a wealth of detail: the wa\ in whi< h a line defined an eyebrow 01
delineated a strand of hair; the juxtaposition ofBenday dots against solid blocks ofcolor;
the play of an irregular form against the pure gcoineti\ of a red ingle a I lrcle. or a squan
the thickness or thinness of a line and its placement; or the width ol a color Stripe. When
he stated that "Cezanne said a lot about having to remove himself from his worl
man\ artists ol the time, he W3S night
Lichtenstem was also speaking of himself, for, like i
up in the reaction against Abstract Expressionism. He did not mean that he was not
work: in fact, Ins involvement evident everywhere.

personally engaged
is
in his
nstein used very few

In the comic-strip paintings and paintings of single objects,
l
ii hti
lemon yellow, purplish-blue, black, and white predominate, and there

colors: medium red.
used these colors at full strength, imitating the hi illianf hues he

is some green as well. I le
impact the) mid. In

saw in magazine ads and commercial packaging, impressed by the
The Refrigerator (fig. 58) and Ice < '.ream Soda, both 1962, he used a certain shade of blue
Roy graphic design. Th< Refrigerator, the crisp, cool blue-

54. Lichtenstcin, hornet It! Forget Aft-.', 1962 < )il and M igna on i am is, because it was frequently used in I..
in the original m\ (tig 59) are effectively balanced b) white

203.2 v 172 7 cm (80 k 68 inches) Rose Art Museum, Brandeis University, Waltham. shadows of the interior— not
ot the femali form and
rvite-Mnuchin Purchase Fund areas, with the Benday screen neutralizing the three-dimensionality

the refrigerator. In both paintings, the unmodulated blue meant to dupli< ate
is a particular
shade of printing-process blue to create .1 certain formal effect, much as Black Flowers
(fig. 25). 1961, is both a still life .is well .is .1 formal composition in black and white.
Lichtenstem's emulation of printing's process colors can be seen as an implicit criticism
of some of the Abstract Expressionists. While many of the first-generation New York
School painters gave new meaning to a color or used it to convey sp< cifn emotion or 1
evoke a mood, the "inheritors" of the movement, .is the criti< I [arold Rosenberg called
1
them, tended to use color in such .1 gratuitous manner that its purpose was usually
diminished. By using color reductively, however, 1 ichtenstein was attempting to echo the
way primary colors and black and white had begun to function in our culture. (His
introduction of the secondary color green, in .1 singularly intense and biting hue, is the
only exception to his primary palette and was meant chief!) to ai 1
as a 1 ounterpoint to the
other colors.) Lichtenstein used individual colors to key spe< it u < onnotations, SU< h as
"yellow equals hair" or "blue equals sky." Taking his cue from the comic strips, he often
used exactly the same shade of flat, unmodulated color for several different objects in a
painting. In Blonde Waiting (fig. 1 12), 1964, for example, he used a single shade <>i yellow
tor the woman's hair, the alarm clock, and the br.iss bedpost. 1U using - "l"i as 1 redu< tive,
unifying device — much .is he used Benday dots -he was emphasizing thai what he was
presenting is an abstraction of our experience of re.iln\
In the early comic-strip paintings, I ichtenstein borrowed .1 simplified drawing
technique and several devices from certain comic strips and some related examples ol
advertising. Imitating the kind of drawing thai he saw there, he could, foi example, redu< e
the volume of a form and render shadows on a woman's hair with just .1 brief stroke. 1 le
incorporated several of the devices, which were identified entirely with the comics or
with brand-name advertising, as structural elements in Ins paintings. Mr. Bellamy and
Emeralds are both framed by .1 bordei around the edge ofthi image, and there is .1 small
copyright mark painted onto the surface ol Emeralds and oi Popeye, stressing tli. 11 nli. e ol
the paintings. The border also served to call attention to the canvas support and to
emphasize the two-dimensionality of the image. More important, I i( htenstein's use oi a
comic-strip balloon to frame the narrative text separated the words from the rest oi the
image, a departure from the twentieth-century tradition ol in< orporating lettering into the
body of the composition from Cubism on. The balloon became an integral part of the
composition, beginning with his first cartoon/comic-strip painting. Look Mickey. In other
early paintings such as Emeralds and Mr. Bellamy and two paintings from 1962, Eddie
72) and Forget III Forget Mel (tig. 54). the balloons were also distinctive shapes
I Uptych (fig.
themselves and acted .is .1 counterpoint to the angular tonus of the figures. The balloons
in
also thrust the lettering into a position of unusual prominence and augmented the contrast
between image and sign. Where.is Look Mickey is broad < omedy and falls into the category
of slapstick, the comic-strip paintings that followed, such as Mr. Bellamy or Emeralds, evoke
tension, anxiety, or implied threat, an attitude of crisis that pervades

mosl ofLi< htenstein's
instances the popularity
comic-strip paintings, especially those with text balloons. In many
hinged on the amount of terror or te.ir that they struck in the
of the original comic strips
Roy more popular the strip. he same was true

hearts of their readers- the greater the fear, the
I
" 35. Lichtenstein, Half Face with Collar, 1963 Oil and Magna on ( mvas,
cm the 1940s and the Buck Rogers movie serials. Much of the
121.9 (48 x 48 inches) < ollecrion Gian Enzo Sperone New York of the mysteries on radio in

Oil 124.4 x 176.5 en
ro om,l961
•
56 .RoyUchten.tein,B«l/,
hcsJ.CoUec, Mi tndMrs.S.1 Ncwh.

I9„6
57. Roy Lichtenstein, Washing Machine, 1961 Oil on i anvas 143 5 X 174 cm
«68 inches) Yale University \rt Gallery, New Haven Lent by Richard
Bakei B \ 1935
OF U.S. PHARMACOPOEb anxiety hinged on building up the audience's expectations of an imminent action, playing
£T8 ALL REQUIREMENTS
it up and delaying it for the maximum dramatic effect. Lichtenstein, who understood this,
CLEAN AND SWEI exploited the dramatic possibilities — and the irony inherent in such a genre based on
REFRIQERATOI
exaggeration — in purely visual terms.
Soda is the cleanser Lichtenstein achieved an unusual effect In utilizing text .is .1 dominant feature ol the
mended by refrig*
work. Rather than using language asjust an accessor) to the visual motif, he Eon ed .1
manufacturers. Sprii
direct confrontation between the spectator and the message contained within the
damp cloth and w
surfaces. Wash ice tn narrative. While the viewer can be passive 111 front ol an image, it is far more diffu uli i"
other containers wit remain that way when the narrative is sufficiently large enough and aggressive enough so
tion of 3 ths. so< that it encroaches upon the audience's mental space and challenges the spe< tatoi to n ici
quart of water. IV
Dramas .is engrossing as those that were presented on radio and or in the movies court
response as the spectator reads: "OKAY, hot-shot, okay! I'm pouring!"

()
a (fig. ^> 01
"MHlN'l I fVRJ ! I'D RATHER sink - - I HAN CA1 I

BB \l> I OR Ml I
p!" (fig. 106) I h
emotional outbursts are m marked contrast to the coolness of the technique, a 1 ontrast that
Lichtenstein emphasizes.
As Lichtenstein indicated in an earl} interview, he prefi rred the straightforward
lettering that is so effective in advertising, commenting thai "the 'uninteresting' lettering

1
his was clear d< parture from the practice of the

went with the 'uninteresting' shapes." 1 .1
Abstract Expressionists, who, following the ( ubisi example of Picasso and Braque (see fig.
R.o) ichtenstein, Thi Refrigcrato 1962

foi I
71, for example), integrated then writing into the body of the painting, though not always
in the same wax I )e Kooning frequent!) buried his letters and words (I liom.is li. I less
pointed out that "de Kooning usually began with letters and then painted them out," and
noted that the letter E was scattered throughout de Kooning's painting I astei Monday
whereas Robert Motherwell, in his group of /< t'aime paintings, begun in

1955-56 );
rund.1ment.1l part of the total image, drawing his letters with the
1955, used language .is a
Moreover. ol
brush m the same way that he shaped his pictorial passages. ...... <x
are replete with poetic

Motherwell's paintings, such asjc t'aime No. /I' (fig 68), 1955,
associations, both in their use of the French language, which seemed exoti< and remote to
choice of an intimate phrase, whereas de Kooning's leti m be

him, and in the
1
'•read" primarily for its formal qualities.
The use of words as images in this century ' ncompasses not only Cubism and Abstract
movements as well, including Futurism, ( :onstru< tivism,

Expressionism but other m.
and ierald Murphy also used lettering ...
Dada, and Surrealism. Americans Stuart )avis

1 I
onsnme, merchandise su. I. 1
many of their compositions, as part of the.. depi< tions

ol (
and images of newspapers in an effort to captur. the mood and

razors, cigarette packs,
the most part, tradition ... which the symbolii
tempo of the modern city. I 01 it is a
between language and purely pictorial imagery have been mutually supports
associations
favor of language as sign. I he St) I. ol
abandoned this symbiotic role ...
1 U htenstein
proved ideal foi onveying an ironic,
the comic snaps and in advertising
.
lettering used ...
h, pra. ace ol
projecting wends as both subject and obje,
I
inti-aesthetic distance and foi

.
58 !<.»> I ichtenstein. The Refrigerator, 1962 Oil on canvas 172 "

v 142
of Johns, but Johns used langn
has a precedent ,n the work
'
in< hi Private collection using lettering as a subject
originated
the play on illusion and realit) that
t0 different end. His lettering continued
t
ing False
doubt on the s ol the .mage or obj. In his p; .
6 60. Roy Lichtenstein, Spray, 1962 Oil i mvas 91 i

W ith Cubism by casting
1 .
the field ol the painting,

sten( iled the names ol colors into
rii Stuttgan Start (U£ 69), 1959, |ohns
63 Chapter 3: Comic Strips ano Advertising Images

I
deliberately mismatching the name of almost ever} < olor with the image it supposedly
described. By calling attention to the surface with his brushstrokes, he challenged the
reality ol the sign, and in blurring the contours ol the words he negated them as concrete
forms. Conversely, the stenciled lettering questioned the validity of the gesture U
undermining its spontaneity. In . \n (fig. 66), 1962, .1 little known but important earl)
painting. Lichtenstein made the object quality of a sign con< rete In using a heavy shadow
that lllusionistically projected the word forward. Utilizing the simple form >>i an outline,
he kept the figure and ground on the same plane. By capitalizing on the knowledge that
language, too, is merely .1 series of codes used to represent the visual world 1 i< htenstein
subverted the very nature of meaning its. Ii ind rendered it open to question Sin< e he
translated art into a word, it has become impossible to translate it back into art and we are
left with the concept of it as a sign rather than as a physical image. In stripping \n of its
connotations as a visual phenomenon, Lichtenstein Ion es us to recognize its power .is a
slogan and to re< ognize as well the power of advertising to 1 onvi n \ isn.il phenomi na mi' 1
marketing devices. Art and another painting of 1W>2, /;/ (fig 70)' —which was inspired In
the IN sign on the entrance door to .1 Gristede's supermarket — were thus early pre< edents
for a later generation of artists su< h is I ..wrence Werner, Joseph Kosuth, and |cnn\ I l.-l/er.
for whom language is "Art."
)ust as Lichtenstein expanded the role of the text 111 his comii Strip paintings, he gunk
enlarged each panel chosen from a comic strip, exploiting the di.un.iii. impa< 1 "I the
change in scale. Though similar to Oldenburg's giganti< blov> ups ol ordinary household
fixtures or supermarket products. Lichtenstem's enlargement, came nowhere neai the
larger-than-life-size dimension of much of Oldenburg's work and hid none of Ins
colleague's painterly brushwork. While Oldenburg's early work manifested some of the
qualities of Abstract Expressionism, lichtenstem's wmk from that period was a statem< ni
of precision and restraint. His flamboyance was 1

-Mimed to his selei tion ol imager} rather
work appeared to be ritical response to the

than to its exe< Ution. In this respect, his .1 (
models of Abstract Expressionism. ike Oldenburg, however, h< admired

more gestural I
the artists of the New York School. In his particular commitment to the abstrai 1
m understanding of scale, his use ofcoloi and In. need to

components of a painting, his
work was very much related to Abstract Expressionism. 1

ichtcnsteins method ol
unify, his
redraw., on
images onto the canvas distorted them. Although they were
th(
6 61. Roy Lichtenstein, Sponge IL 1962 ( )il on ( uit is ''I 4 x 91 4 cm projecting his
were taped, pieces of paper wen ollaged onto portions Ol Hi- invas,
anvas, their edges
1
.
16 inches) Private collection ,
was often spun around on the easel. .chtenstem often worked on a

pagt 67 62. Roy Lichtenstein, Large Spool, 1963 Magna on canvas I 1
'I
6 x and the painting itself I
mirror to further isolate the image from reality, to read the image as tin
•J| 4 cm (40 x 36 inches) Sonnabend < ollection canvas using a
being. .chtenstem made a distinction, however, between his

abstraction he regarded it as I
left 63. Roy Lichtenstein, Large Jewels, 1963 OilandMagn; canvas 172 work and that of the Abstract Expressionists:
love established what the subject mattei going to be I am not interested ... it
91 4cm (68x J6 inches) Museum Ludwig (Ludwig Donation * ologne Once I

is
with the immediate impact -1 the

inymore, although I want it to come through
-1 Popart differs fiom ubism ind \b
comics Probably the formal content
<
Lichtenstein, Baseball Manager, 1963 Oil and Magna on

canvas,
pagt 70 64. Roy
doesn't symbolize what the subject matter is aboul II do m'l
New York <pressionism in that it
• 142 2 cm (68 v 56 inches) Helman < ollection, I
leaves its subject matter

concern with form but rather
1
pagt 71 65. Roy Lichtenstein, Grrrrrrrrrrr!!, 1965 Oil and Magna on (

im •
symbolize its
.
on cartoon or comi. strip images, mmer

172 m (68 x 56 inches) Solomon R Guggenheim Museum, New York, The early paintings from L961 -62, based
assurance and resolution ol Ins late, paintings.
Partial and promised gifl ol th« irtisi
products, or domestic interiors, lack the

Robert Motherwell, Je I'aimc No. IV, 1955 Oil on cam is 177 > 255 .
m
68.
,
l0 o inches) Staatsgalerii moderner Kunst, Munich
pencil on
67. Marcel Duchamp. L.H.O.O.Q., 1919 Rectified readymad<
19.7 cm (1 n 4 inches) Privat. coUection

reproduction -
I ! 1 i
pages
~2-~< 66. Roy Lichtenstein, An, 1962 Oil and Magna on <
invas,
91.4x1 68 inches). CoUection Gordon Locksley and George 1 Shea

The genera] tenor of his tonus in 1961-62 was more tentative than the imagery in his
work after that, but, even so, many of Ins initial concepts were laid out in the earlier work,
it nut full) tested or completer) realized. Despite some awkward passages, his sense of
placement and balance of tonus was impeccable. It was when I ichtenstein started to adopt
certain formal elements — the dot pattern, line, shape, and .

olor — that the work became
more cohesive and consistent pictoi i
ilh From around I'"' J on, some of the devices that
had appeared occasionally in the paintings of 1961-62 began to occur with increasing
frequency: a curved And at times almost baroque line, which could describe anything from
clouds to a woman's hair; the sharp zigzag of the eomn snip, which reappears in the
spiraling cloud formations ot his landscapes *>i 1964-65 and again m the zooming
diagonals of the Modem paintings o\ 1966 70; the dot matrix, which expands into fields
of modulated color and creates on the surface ot the canvas a taut and rigid screen. One o\
the most important features of his paintings is the use ot a cropped image to enlarge 'In
field and to identity the image with the picture plane. This sense ot open < ndcdiicss
originated with the comic-Strip paintings and occurs throughout his oeuvre — in the
landscapes, the Brushstrokes, the Modern series, the Mirrors, die Entablatures, tin' interiors,
And others. In many of Ins paintings of more moderate size, this sense ol open-endedness
is achieved not with a hgurc/ground relationship, but through the use ot an allovei
composition, which undoubtedly derives from Ins observation ol and experimentation
with Abstract Expressionism.

Within the context of the relationship', he established in his compositions, working
form against form, color against color, coloi against form. I ichtenstein pr0V( d himsi It to
be a consummate painter. No matter what his subject, he revamped it through the
transforming effe< <>i Ins formal devices. Drowning < iirl (fig l'"'). 196 >. is an early
1959 Oil on canvas, 170.8 x 137.2cm
I
69. Jasper Johns, False Start, (67
example of his supreme skill ai i omposing. < >l this work he noted:
S4 inches) Private colle< tion
Cartooning itself sometimes resembles othi i

pi riods ol irl perhaps unl nowini
I hey do things like the Little I lokusai waves in the Drowning < tirl But tin- original
wasn't ven i lear in this regard wh) should it be? I s.iw ii unl th< n pushed il .i Little
farther until it was a reference that most people will gel il isaway of crystallizing
the style by exaggeration
Lichtenstein enjoyed playinga cartoon image against one of the mosl famous
woodcuts
n« ing both
of the nineteenth century, Katsushika Hoknsai's The Wave, ca. 1820, and n fl r.
in Drowning Girl. A comparison ot the original comic ship panel (tig. I 07) with
lbs extraordinar) sense oi

Lichtenstein's rendition clearly indicates the liberties he took,
organization, his ability to use a sweeping curve and manipulate it into an allover pattern,
transformed the initial subject into a

encompassing waves, hair, and even the text balloon,
ichtenstein structured an image, whether was

major image I he w.iv m which I
it
Drowning Ctrl or one of his composition-notebook paintings (tigs. 75, 76, and 77).
1964-65, was so thorough and unyielding that it suggests comparisons unl. the work ol
he has quoted -including lezanne, Mondi ian, Picasso, de Kooning-

many of the artists (
for whom form was the ultimate criterion in painting.
Drowning Girl, an allover painting, but its sub,- t is of an entirely

Composition II. like is
lion.
different order: an ordinary school notebook din anyone would recognize
an object. L.chtcnsUm painted the front SUrl I
childhood. To emphasize its nature as

70. Roy Lichtcnstein, In, 1962 ( )il on canvas, 132.1 x 172.7 cm (52 \ 68 Inches)
Solomon R Guggenheim Museum Nevi York Partial and promised gift of th( artisi
( Composition II with varnish but kept the left edge of the canvas — which was meant to
replicate an actual notebook binding — matte. Because it is inherently two-dimensional,
Lichtenstein felt tree to press the issue of its status as object without making any
concessions to its dimension in actuality 1 lere, the allover composition is informed by the
Youngerman. In Drowning Girl howev< u htenstein used the

paintings of Still and r, I
traditional method of conveying a sense of spatial depth with a series of arabesques

reminiscent of Pollock (see fig. 78) and overlapping forms that direct one's attention into
wave framing the girl's hand as it cea< hes through the surfa< i oi the water.
the painting: a
the tip of her thumb touching her face, the top oi her shoulder juxtaposed against her
hair. etc. None of this data is very expli< it because the figure has been stylized to such an
extent that the rendering is only an approximation of an actual form. The isolated
segments of the figure, along with her blue hair— which is 1

1
hoed by the light blue
-curtail any sense of "reality" that .s suggested

Benday-dot pattern of the waves
tew paintings like Composition II in win. I. thi obj<
Lichtenstein produced only a
two othei versions of the

completely coincided with the rectangle, including the
composition notebook and a series of paintings featuring the image o[a stretchei fram.
you turned the painting around and sav, it from the

the wooden support that you'd see il
Composition II. and omposition III differ from

(see fig. 79). Composition
l
back I. <
another principally m details such as th< addition of "59*" ... the second version - a
ichtenstein mad. othi variations

lettering in the third version.
i
change in the style of the 1
example, Sponge and Sponge 11 (fig 61), both

on a single subject—early ones include, foi
exa. .Is rwo identical portraits

1962—but only once has he duplicated a subje< i
Ulan Kaprow, wer. in attempt to paint

entitled Portrait oil,:,, Karp and the other Portrait oj
Rauschenberg had painted Factum

same subject, much as
I
two identical versions of the

subtle changes in his two versions
71. Pablo Picasso, Glass and Bottle of Suzc. Paris, ifter Novembw 18, 1912
md Factum II in 1957. But whereas Rauschenberg made
tun identical paintings. In addition th. image
Xx of the same subject, Lichtenstein produ< ed
x 50.1 cm (25 1 hes) Washington
Pasted pape. gouache ind charcoal, 65.4
le intend, d to do a
no resemblance to either Karp or Kaprow
I
Kende Sale Fund 1946
Universitj Gallery of Art. St Louis. University Purchase, in the paintings bears
weaned ol the idea tfte ripleting -In- tv
group of twelve identical portraits, but
certain parallels to Johns's target
and
As a subject, the composition notebook offered
per se but rather in having the painting
Nether artist was interested in the subje< I
flags
Johns chose the flag, the target, and Othei
an object, as a real thing in itself.
seen as
hara, rized th< m, things
visual cliches, or. as he t<
common objects because they were
.
uaUy seen and

were so familiar that they wer. u
the m.nd already knows," images that
not looked at" and thus neutral enough

to give him "room - work th. ,
I.
(i.e., the surface el -,. ol pami , Kture

to concentrate on the quality ofhis painting
color, et< , ^ on philosophical issues concerning our

perception of reality Lichtensteins
deadpan mechanical presentation off

mages created a.
P^^J~J
a
^
effect,
"
compare him
but both approaches helped to blur
to the
viewers' notions ofwhat
1 ren,
hXof subject, the rural bourgeoisie, was considered

I, mneteenth-centurv realist
,
painter Gustave
,
' , "
Uo.
, '' ,,
ts real
ourb :ise
'r; «
whos
***££"*
and what
,,
subject, for
media
ti most part,
covets products, and views
culture.
was the American middle
1 ., ambition was to depict
class
rniddle-class
and
^**^£^
Images
77 Chapter 3: Comic Strips and Advertising
s ,
I TRIEP TO IHAVE SOMETHING FOR VOU

REASON IT TO EAT IN THE KITCHEN, PEAR
. .
OUT/ I TRIEP
TO SEE I'M NOT HUNGRY MOTHER/
THINGS FROM PLEASE, I JUST WANT TO
MOM ANP CO TO MY ROOM/^g^"
PAP'S VI EW-
POI NT/ I
TRIED NOT TO
THINK OF
EPPIE, SO
MY MINP
WOULD BE
CLEAR ANP
COMMON
SENSE
COULP
TAKE
OVER / BUT
EPPIE
KEPT
C0MIN6
BACK . ,
on anvas, two panels; lefi 111.8 x

72. Roy Lichtcnstein, Eddie Diptych, 1962 ( >U .
111.8x91 cm (44 LH.8* 132.1cm

*0.6cm(44x 16 inches); right I
52 in, lici overall Sonnabend ( "II" tion

and its culture through its modes of mechanized reproduction, a point of view that, unlike
Courbet, carries a deep streak of irony. Although Lichtenstein undoubtedly has a certain
affection for the society of which he is a part, he was — and continues to be — intent on
maintaining a distance from his subject matter mu\ capturing a look of "insincerity" in his
panning. Furthermore, his images are not related to specific events or occurrences, .is were
Courbet's monumental depictions oi a family burial >>i laborers from the countryside
where he grew up. hut remain much more detached and lack m\ of the sentiment
expressed b\ Courbet.
Several paintings from 1963, among them Ball oj Twim and Large Spool (fig. 62) reflect
1 u htenstem's continuing interest in depicting the single object. In Large Spool win. Ii
features a cone-shaped object containing a series of black lines grouped into a herringbone
pattern, he employed the same figure/ground arrangement as in Golf Bali to maintain the
absolute flatness of the form. In Hill of Twine, though, as in Black Flowers, lie used a
Benday-screen background as a counterpoint to the central form. At this time, however.

1 lchtenstem had not yet decided to use the Hendav screen exclusively to unify his field
and often chose a neutral ground for main ol the single-object paintings of 1961 63.
From 1964 on, Lichtenstein made the use ol Benday dots a regular feature of his work. It
offered him a way ol working every part of the canvas, his own personal equivalent to tin-
Abstract Expressionists' use of the allowi image,
Lichtenstein occasionally used a diptych format beginning in 1961. Its most obvious
reference is to the iconography of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, such as the
crucifixions or the donor portraits that were made obsolete by the secular concerns of the
modern industrial era. Lichtenstein found this format ideally suited to his comic-Strip
narratives but first began to use it m paintings based on newspaper and magazine ads. Step-
on-Can with Leg (fig. 73), 1961, and Like New (fig. 74). 1962, feature a before-and-after set
of images. In Step-on-Can with Leg, Lichtenstein modifies the image only slight k from the
left-hand panel to the right-hand one: and in Like New, the I ibl ii pictured in one image is
damaged while its counterpart is mended. I le explored other aspects of the diptych in
Eddie Diptych (fig. 72), 1962, mu\ We Rose I p Slowly (fig. 108), 1964, using one panel of
each diptych just for text and the other for the image. In Eddie Diptych, the t< I pam I
at
the left tells us what the young blond woman in tin I

ight-hand panel — the daughter Is
thinking; but as we read her thoughts, our attention is caught b\ the dialogue between
The mclodrain.itw and dialogue, a pastil h< -l

mother and daughter at the right. ti i
girlhood trauma, are echoed by the images ol tin I oncerned mother and the unhapp)
daughter. The narrative smacks of daytime soaps. True Romance comit books, and movies
of the period, as the unnamed heroine frets aloud about her parents' wishes and her
unfulfilled longmg to be with "Eddie" In lie Rose I /> Slowly, based on a panel from
"Sincerely Yours" m IXC. Comics' Girls' Romances, no. SI (January 1962) (fig. 109),
Liechtenstein's two panels operate in a similar way, with thi te I enham mg the image ol
seduction. Here, the narrowness of the text panel nukes .. mo., i

ffi i tiv i ontrast to the
image, and the image itself benefits from the kind ol expansive imagers .uk\ languorous
he organization ol the painting and the

superb
curves that first appeared in Drowning Girl. I
balance of forms indicate the extent of his development between 1962 and l<K,4. In Eddie
visual
Diptych, both image and dialogue are compressed into a relative!) tight ipa< e, a

.
'•"..•,:.,".*.".*.•.•.•.•. \\*.". -
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t*
"'-*.'.'.. with Ug, 1961
• •* .*.•.*. •..*.•." ''.'.' 71. Roy Uehumfln, Sttp-on-Can
' ..". . .•.".*."
*
•.'•*•'. *••' ••• " .".' .' - o,l ipaneli si K 66cm

.
•:•'.•.'•*.•:•;•:•:
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each B1
"" '
'""
.•.•.•
,i Kai$ei Wilhelm M I U
:•:•:•:::•::*
m-:-:'': :
,,„ 71 U^ UchtoMfin,UkeNw, 1962 Oilon
H.4> M en >ch;91 I *
rail I
" ll "" '"'"" ""' ;
l42 !
blum N< w i
potllhnh 1964 Oil ind

,,,.., u 7S Ro) Uchtensttln I
Magna
' FormcrKarl! hcrCoUcc.

fiirMod i. it,
I )arm$tadi
76. Roj i " '

'"' '""" " ''"'' "''
,ndMa
Sonnabi nd (
J
strategy that heightens the drama of the narrative I he ai rangement of the vertit al text
panel, counterbalanced by the hoi tzontal balloons and the vertical figures of mother and
daughter, is much more formalized than in We Rose I

r Slowly In W Ro I
p Slowly, th<
embracing couple is positioned on .1 diagonal axis directed away from the text panel, while
set up opposition to the first to stabilize the images. But in eai h

another diagonal is in
occupied by text add another texture and coloi to the overall work.
painting, the areas
In his comic-strip paintings, by isolating .1 single firame &om the othei frames ol a
comic strip. Lichtenstein made it both strangely complete and considerably different from
some- his alteration sealed the images in time and elevated them to the status
its original I
images, thi innoi be thought ol as

of signs, Although he worked with representational j
Autumn Rhythm. 1950 Oil on canvas, 266.7 525.8 cm not in the htor.il sense of the term. Naturalism in painting, such as the
78. Jackson Pollock,
«
naturalistic, at least
New A parallels a view of the world dial originated with an

(lii5 v 207 inches) I he Metropolitan Museum ol Art York, George work ofCourbet, for example,
Age in the nineteenth century, was
the onset of the Industrial
.1
Hearn Fund, 1957 agri, ultural society. With

redefined. In the twentieth ury, the
inevitable that the concept ol reality would be
mam different experiem es ol the world, ubism >ada,
notion of reality encompassed < 1
nature ol
Surrealism, and modern abstraction arc the result of significant changes in the
perception, but each defines reality ... us own light. In the postwar era, Abstrai 1
ht. nst. in and Ins

further redefined OU1 pen eption ol reality I ii
Expressionism and Pop art
viewing people in tei ms ol their

colleagues featured a new urban society in their art,
indirecdy In way ol m< hani al

often approa. hing the material world
1
artifacts,
stvl./alion ol ,< hleiisienfs
mollis was derived from tin
reproduction The conscious I
part because he saw ,. as an effective way ,-' Dting

comic strip perhaps at least in
ichtenstein the
and consumer-product advertising images offered
I
reality Comic strips

bul nearly all at
most of his major assumptions not,
us, on, b;
possibility of testing
th
to question the role ol art in the late
tl
OIKtf thev provided him with the means
.
imps away
centurv What is an art object and how do
we ome to understand it? II .
art as ., precious object,

how does one de, tde wlia, will
most Of the assumptions al I
"legitimate" as art. .,,,,1 how

do we
replace it as legitimate work of art? What is
..
that
avewealread, accepte,
irally assign its value? Can we accept
, ^
What Lichtenstein ;e to do
mything an "artist" declares to be art art?
,
is
the , creating
of these queues into his work, while a,
;„„,,, to incorporate all
hts sens, as
with the defini "high art." It y,
oevtvre that remains aligned
1
,„
—
that he « ndereda
inets of painting,
an artist concerned with the most bai
traditional artist. Every theme that he chose to treat: akingtheco -stnr

,£*
the ass
of these assumptions-uucstio ,
w . ls , way rf testing
ixample, or abstraction, issues that
all
1 been, Ire, * throughout tins
k. Lichtens
asbeenabfe
Within this all-encomp: gfi,
century.
incorporate no. only the ideas of

such early pioneers as < * M .an, and casso I,
but movements such as Futurism.

Ge tap. «-. -' * - hs d
mMSWork
I,*r*1 .« "who
Ot an artist of pi
however, that fKhtcnste,
-* *
'
L*-
' "*" " '
' , Hlv stylistically to further h thait

,
bh.» htsconceptsv I.
l.u 77. Roy Licht.nstcin. CtmfosiHtm /«. 1965

OilandMagna ;onc ;L approach! art, and the
of the art ,0 lollou
h,s art from this period defines all
IrvingBlum, Ne» S
142.2 x 121.9 cm (56 x 48 inches) ( ollection
Images
Chapter 3: Comic Str.ps and Advertising
87
79. Roy Lichtcnstcin, Stretcher Frame with Cross Bars III, 1968 ( >il and Magna on
canvas, 121 9 k 1 42 2 cm I
18 k 56 inches] Prh in collection
&om Comics publications used In ichtenstein assources tor his
1 Comic strip panels several ol these D.< and Populat
Cultun (Octobei .
1990 through January 15, 1991), organized by KirkVarnedoi ind \damGopnik
and turpentine, was developed by Leonard B ui iround 1941

2 Magna, an acrylic resin mixable with oil
Hoc our Artists lolors ss: Wesl l ifty se< ond Street, one ol Nev, York's informal
and sold at h.s store. ( ...
During the 1950s, such artists as Morris I ouis, Kenneth Noland I u kson
gathering places tor artists.
iv.lkn k, and M irk Rothko ilso used Magna in some of their paintings.
oplans "Roy Lichtenstein \n Interview," in Roy Lichtenstein, exhib cai

3 Lichtenstein, quoted in John <
Art Center, Minneapolis, L967), p. 12;

this essay
Pasadena Art Museum, in collaboration with the Walker
no 9 (May 1967), where th( quoted

was reprinted as "Talking with Roy Lichtenstein" in \rtfomm i
passage appears on p 1
"Oldenburg ichtenstein Warhol: A Discussion," \rtfomm 4, no 6

Lichtenstein, quoted in Bruce Glaser,
I
4.
(February 1966), p. 22
of the Ne* YbrkSd Found hen

Rosenberg, quoted in Irving Sandler. "The Club
Hov, the Artists I 1
5.
Audience—Themselves," irtforum 4, no. I (Septembei 1965), p 31.

First
quoted in Diane Waldman, Roy Lichtenstein QUc* York Harry N Abrams, 1972). p !8
6 Lichtenstein,
Hess. Willem de Kooning, exhib cat (Nev, Vbrk Museum of Modern Art, 1968), p SO
7.ThomasB
tbandoned sin. e I- H thai he had
ailed Flat, but il fi
painting
Lichtenstein had also intended to reate
t , <
8.
painting isolat. d words on a i invas

gone as far as he could with the idea of
"< >ld< nburg u lift nstein Warhol,"

9 i ichtenstein, quoted in Glaser,
i
|
1955 Assemblage encaustic and collage

on
80. jasper Johns, Target with Four Faces, and in " talking Roy
'Roy ht, nstein An Interview." p 16,
„, Lichtenstein, quoted in loplans, i«
( I
tinted plaster faces in wood box with hinged

canvas with objects, surmounted by lour
<26* Lichtenstein," p. 39.
* 66 cm (26 x 26 inches): box (closed
font canva
Abbeville Press. 1984). pp 20 U
I inches); overall (with box open) 85.3 x 66 x 7.6 cm (33 riches)
H.johns. quoted in Richard Fr, <.>«»>*» (New York
ScuU
ofModem Art. New York GiftofMi andMn
Robert (
The Museum
sing Images
Chapter 3: Comic Strips and Advert,
89
1
\yr\r\ i,
HOT- SHOT,
OKAY! I'M
P0URIN6
81. Roy Lichtcnstein, Blam, 1962 Oil on canvas, l
7 2" x 203 2 cm (68 k
BOinches) Yale Univerait) \rtGaller) New Haven.Lentty Richard Brown Baker,
H A 1935
In painting, the most potent twentieth-century evocation of wai is Pii asso's great lament
to the Spanish Republic, ( •uemiea, 1937, through which he elevated the tragic subject of
the destruction ofa Basque town by the I ascists, transforming it from a devastating event
to the level of myth. Joan Mir6's Still Ufe with < >M Shoe, 1937, has long been t onsidered
.i response to Picasso's allegorical masterpiece. A painting composed ol four symbolit
objects—an old shoe, an apple pierced b\ a fork, a gin bonk- wrapped in paper, and part
ofa loaf of bread— it is an impassioned protest against the horrors of the Spanish Civil War
and the povertv and suffering it engendered. I ichtenstein's use ol narrative enabled him to
make bis own contribution to one of art's great themes. Using the language ol advertising
he updated Western civilization's obsession with

war Wbat better
and the comic strip,
w .in to ta< kle the momentous subject ol war and the tradition ol epic narrative painting
which has so often glorified w u

than by using the formula of the comic strip,
choice of the comic strip is a ploy, a way of presenting a serious subject in

[.ichtenstein's
while reintroducing narrative art and ating the mod.
an inflammatory manner,
,
in a style suitable to late- twe ith ntury art.

ol monumental painting 1
1
when Liehtenstem initiated Ins remarkable series ol wai p innings, the U S

In 1962,
was just beginning to be te mired in the escalating
was in the midst of the cold w.,r.
of Vietnam, and was still recycling images ol World Wat II heroism in mam areas
conflict
[is wai paintings esagg rati
snips the lit hi
of our culture, especially movies and comic
i
the fighting spirit and camaraderii ol

of war's -uand subjects heroism and sacrifice,
-
war hell but full of glory nonetheless. World War II was. and
soldiers.", id the belief that is
ol the Vietnam onfli, the

war b> most Americans, but by the time
I
,
is, considered a "just"
to tear the nation apart. In tin nil Strips &Om win, h

issue of war threatened
leading men are meant to be sec, as authenn, World
I ichtenstein took his subjects, the
however, and exaggerating theii mm ho pos
War II heroes By overstating then roles,
made his men ,, ol the

and powerful weapons.
L<
I ichtenstein 11
fearless attitude,
lollywood film 19 10s
wartime hero [f the image that Job,. Wayne projected in I
nth.
generation raised on the Beatles, and pea< I
,1
and '50s seemed reprehensible to a ,
of wai and th
issues of the 1960s, could the concept
than war was one of the burning
value to ichtenstein o, an, oth i post* u A
mvth of the warrior be of any 1
mi a u
stereotypes in an ironic and questioning
I
I
Bv presenting such
one ol civilization s most
doubt on then validity while continuing the tradition of
fundamental themes in art.

war paintings I, ,v, fo, mal
Lit h.eiistein's
I
Though not intended as a series pet te,

began
them from Ins other genre sub, , is of th, pe I
« hen he
coherence that separates
„
ar „
Uok Mickey (fig. 19) and othe,
now celebrated Bop ith ,
i,
king ,n h,s
gh at
make "a painting that was des, bl
m 1961, Ins ambition was to
the year or so that followed,
he V painting a «q m ol
no one would hang i,"< In

inter,
products, domestic
-strip images, con e,
themes ,
bating among comic
relating to th. work
canvas, as well as pamtmgs
George Washington, and words on heir
Most of these images gamed -
Cezanne Mondrian, and Picasso. «ous

lalong
in fact, many of the subjects j
p™ble'' subjects, but
in the face
days O, „l
of the public si 4 ,
3 Had
rher. The
ecu Haunted
gmar accomplishment, w, gs of updated genre
images
93 Chapter 4: War Comics. 1962-64

THE EXHAUSTED SOLDIERS, SLEEP-
LESS FOP FIVE AND SIX DAYS AT A
TIME, ALWAYS HUNGPY FOP DECENT
CHOW, SUFFERING FROM THE TPOPICAL
FUNGUS INFECTIONS, KEPT FIGHTING/
82. Roy Lichtenstein, Takka Takka, 1962 Oil and Magna on < invas 143* 173 cm
in. hcs Musi am I udw ig, < ologne

Ken the comic-strip paintings thai
"Si GUADALCANAL THB EXHAU ? T ! D

and six
tSbI. sleepless for fis/e HUNGRN
JijBS AT A TIME, AL^NS
»
FOR
^ might have been
accompanied then,,
less controversial had
which were
it not
so offensive that the)

foi
. arried
strip narrative
tin- others in their
was limited
wake
to a tew
Lichtenstein's entry into the area ol corn*
StrlwT CHW SUFFERING FROM THE Initially,
.
iFECTIONS, KEPT ON Ju.se military n. harai ters in Mi Bellamy

tIoP CAt FUNGUS dramatic themes, lor Ins subjects, he
<
I
domestii dramas in The Engagement Rmg

(fig Emeralds (fig. 50), both 1961, 01
4')) and
Me! 54), both
and in Masterpiece (fig. 53) and Forget It! Forget (fig.
( g si) also 1961,
fi
B««m«i Ki»j with us source, .. panel iron, Martin

1962 ft comparison of TTie
htenstein hose the panel
"Winnie Winkle" (fig. 52), reveals that 1 i< 1
Branner's strip
from the cont, * ol the comic
depicting the most highly charged
moment and, isolating it
strip's narrative, imparted the scene with a ,™ dynami, between the male and female
evolves parti, ulai in, ident; ,„
the see,,,,
In each of these paintings
1
1
characters
Bellamy the leading men pla,
each the icdon contained. In both Emeralds and Mr.
is
he llingove. lus
to report to his superior and
tl
passive roles, with one waiting

ing « ith Blam
olursc of action things star, to heat
.
up in the war paintings beg
Idle of the conflid
the viewe, righi in 1
(fie 81) 1962, which seems to thrust

the impac, ol the * ol plan,
Jm
I 1
resonates with the sound of gunfire,

Blam eschews narrative, bu. it
teal e
breaking up. I. has the sound and fin, ol a
doesn't need one; the narrative is imp the act Th, * in the painttng
Mm, I th,
1962 and ierv,
which explodes behind the plane
1
lilrk,
si .Source for Roy Lichtenstrin, ,
the exclamation "B, AM."
conflict taking place. B/am
paintings> culminatingin
anticipates
such monumental
the«
^^^M^Zs!
canvases as Whaam! (fig. 10). 1 63, and
Opened Fire (fig. 91), 1964.

«»«<» J 96
...
which
'Anotherearlywarpaintingofgreatsig
while relatively
fo< j point of the action
lest i
is
e.
the
has the epic qua!
machine gun, whose repetitive

^^T^^ 1;
ns look ,
82),
,l,
^^^z^~£: --
Z^^^^^SS^
ttZZE^*^*
en,
^^^S ^
"oXsep
surroundi ng frame, making
the overaU image at

g the text fiom
the
the canvas ten percent
the bottom; and added

b.
wrd „-
";;;''„,
?
.
,
»*
,,,
He also added a few forms th

n ""'"T ^mthep '
- «"
atesthe Idle tier of the composmon As
that do ^
S^rsiT-^^ .*. >
f,
^ ^^-SW
!
whichitisbased.isasuteme 95), 1963. on a panel
Lichtenstein based the

princtpalÔ^H, (fig.
h
"Haunted fank vs. Kite ran*
fiom the comic strip
CHAPTE. *, WAR COMICS. 1962-64

95
84. Roy Lichtcnstein. Tbrpedo Losl, 1963 Oil and Magna on canvas 172.7 *
Private colle< lion

I., Comics* G./. Combat, no 94 Qune [uh. 1962) He kept the larger figure in the
>£P?HAPS IT l€> WITH THE SAME TORPEDO .
considerable changes to the substituting a

ANOTHER SHIP, HOLS IH IT£» HULL, FOOL. * right-hand portion of the panel but made test,
HERR KAPfTAN I NO— IT /* THE S03 f A warplane and burst of gunfire containing the exclamation
"voomp!" foi the second
SALVA&BP JUNK HEAP
..
'
WITH THS htenstein also changed the remaining dialogue
rr once- r
pilot's
SAA\e i OEsrp^yec? figure and his dialogue balloon. I u
NUM&eR * W/LL CO IT AGAIN #e>4£>Y f

balloon, replacing with one that he found in .1 panel &om V es W ild (fig 97), in I >.<
All FORYVAG& V^Hfe'CO

it
iron, seve,
War, no 89 (January-February 1962); and,
J
, lomics' All Imerican Men oj
98, 99 and 100), pubUshed in the same issue,

I.
h.
pancK &om "Star [ockey" (see figs.
interesting to note that he updated the

headgear ..1 the
the images of the warplanes, It is
helmet for a World War II fighter pilot's helmet at a

pilot by substituting an astronaut's
programs were under wa, in the U.S. and the USSR, Although
time when space-flight
internal whips fairh.
he dtered the external propor is of the painting, he kept the reli
consistent with the way they were laid out in the panel foi "1 taunted rank « Kill 1
plane and explosion

pilot appears to zoom out of the painting while the
I ,„k" so that the
b} the oth ibatpiloi
was occupied
in the space that, in the comi(
strip,
ire
hcen us. d so
kind oi lose up imagery that u
Okay, Hoi Shot! emphasizes the
1 1
1
He frequently employed images ... his war comics paintmgs

effectively ... earlier paintings.
the original c trips, b. aus. he fell
in 0«r FfeM* fi M Oetobe. that .ere drastically copped and enlarged, as in ,
85 |..,„j,„„„ Battle ofthc Ghost Ships!

.
establishing a shallow two plan, n lationship,

that they were an effective formal device. B>
19, ; pi ( omics
the absolute
space while a. the same dme maint
he could ereate the illusion of
;
plane, h hadb, ome his

in relation to the pi
Harness and frontal.tv of the image
,
shapes and marks

he had in earlier paintings, he used certain distinctive
haUmark. As
way they appear eco uchasthesill *• texcUma
lar to the
fthepil ,- > Haunted Tank «
"voomp!," the Unes in the craggy f fiom
front ol the plane ... d» pan. I
Killer Tank." and the marks

denoting volume on the
b, dispensing with
ichtenstein heightened .... dramati. impa, 1
'^Jokal'Hot-Shot!, I
pilotd *the
original narr, , Here, the large figure of the fig
much of the plane.areso
te
supporting images, such a
overaU image; but the smaller
that the abrupt si
tscale.se
ûghly integrated with the pilot's head
id and backgmund in
th«
be, breg
1 that abrupt shift
effective. Lichtenstein f<
lorsan, awkwardness o, their
omic appealing as the garish proce
strips as
i ementtoh £aden
paintings as a i
. i„ g . He exploited these in his

ichtenstein often plays up
'
/the melodramatic action. I
,„i.
Sglgthecoiioc
„
s f ,
....
" ,';';',;;,
torpedo daylights
3 Jfig. 84), 1963, where the commander harks out the order to
th,
^tothri-conticsp ,.,„, ;-;----;:;;:;';:;:;:;:
-r-;
1
rzzzxzzzs*^ :
-
Chapter 4: War Comics. 1962-64

97
RIGHT NOW-- If THEY PEL
WATCHIN'ME--THEVVE0OT
TO MAKE UP THEIR MINDS
'WHETHER I PONTJNOW
THEY'RE HERE-- AND WILL
PASS BY-LETTIN' THE OUT-
;
™%% SUCKED INTO A TRARJ

*--
OR WHETHER I KNOW
THEY'RE HERE AND AM
--
ABOUT TO FIRE AT THEM

— BUT WHERE DID THEY
COME FROM ? NOT THE •
SEA- -WE'VE HAD OUR EYES

OLUED TO \V AND WE KNOW
THERE AIN'T AN AIR FIELD #
ON THIS ISLAND' WHERE D

THEY COME FROM?
WHEREV THEY
COME FROM /
l,ii to right
86. Roy Lichtcnstein, Live Ammo (Tike Cover), 1962 < >il md Magna on invas
two panels left: 172 cl 12 2 m (6$
16 in. In-.i I ]2 1 k -
1
1 1 6 i
in (68 k 92 ini hes) ovi rail Morton I i Neumann I amily
< ollection
87. Roy Lichtenstcm, live Ammo (Blangl), 1962 * >il and Magna on in
203.2 cm (68 x 80 inches) ["he Seibu Museum of Ari I
88. Roy Lichtemtcin, live Ammo (Tzingl), 1962 ( >il ind M igna on in\ u
142.2 ci Galleries
89. Roy Lichtenstein, live Ammo (Halhalhal), 1962 ( >il on i anvas, i
172.7 cm (68 x 68 inches) rhe Chrysler Museum Norfolk, Virginia Giftol
Walter I' ( hryslei |i

90. Roy Lichtcnstcin, Whaaml, 1963 Oil ind M invas two panels,
172.7 x 210.8 cm (68 x 83 inches) each; 172

"
t 121.6 cm 68 x 166 i
rate < rallery, I ondon Pun hasi 1966

91. Roy Lichtenstein, As I Opened Fire, 1964 ( *il ind M Igna on am is threi
panels 172.7 x 142.2 cm (68 x 56 inches) each; 1 '

ic 168 inches)
ovi r ji Stedehjk Mum urn, Amsterdam

W
squeezed into us frame as it was m me ongmal

••poorly" town, and the composition is
I J
terfuUv recomposing his
model, Lichtenstein converted the
commentary on the image of the male
senocormc drama of
wamor.
the original into an ironic
executed dunng the
, , M -
monumental war paintings that Lichtenstem
is one of two
stnp from
,
panel Iron, "Star jockey" (the same

Deri od 1963-64 He modeled Whaam! on a
that
Hot-Shot!), making several alterations
vlmh he t00k t he image of a plane for (X,,,
pane.
rather substantial. In the comtc-stnp
„,, u „ first seeffl insigni fica„, bu, are in fact
2 92) the centra] element is the airplane
Although it
on the left, which has jus. scored
conveys the impact of the explos.on,
a major
,« shows
tory vel the enemy aircraft.
•
the huge letter, o the

exclamanon
smaUer> at a disti , K o dominated by
.
ichtenstein's version, the

conquering plane and the explodrng
"WHAAM-ywhereas in 1
bad
prominence. The painting balances the good guys agamst the
pl a„e are given equal
euvs and .s a tar more compelling image as a result.
interested in the fact that the

images d,d not seen, to
As Lichtenstein noted, he was
this idea by creating
two separate but
to one another. He enforced
relate compositio nally
are the predommant
panel, the airplane and pilot
contiguous panels. In the left-hand k
ins.gnff.cant posttton a
balloon consigned to a relatively
,-.,„„ s with the narrative-text
Men -
the canvas> ^ thfi iirpblu .
, s
the exclamanon and

depicted , , sl ,„.p diagonal to create the .mpress.on
subdivided in another way, with

in I// American oj
IrvNovick, panel! Starjockcy,
of depth. The right-hand panel is
top: 92.
the flames; the exploston .

Fcbruar '62 D.<
with the dominant shape of
n the exploding Pbne competing
<
ia
"WingmatC of D "in I"

and verucal axes of the canvas,
^Jhead-on entered, and aligned with the horizontal
'
M, 93.jcrrvGrandine«t,.p.n„l,.
Wmo/Wir.no 90 (March \prill962 I

— rather akin to the neutral
placement of the image in the single-object
pa.nt.ngs. These
depiction of the event as two

different linesof force serve to .enforce Lichtenstein's
tins respect.
parts ^
, sequence: an action,
and the result of that action. In
separate
P
ofbefore-and-after situation he used m
wth
,
hte J
ein continue d the type
New
Step-on-C
74). 1962.
I <v (fig 73), 1961, and Like (fig.
* of the
forms is deUberate. The Cosed form
panel the arrangement of his
n ;,,, h
while in the r.ght-han Ijnel
shape of the narrative balloon,
lane , reiterated bv the _
exdamation whaam.
J VIolcnt explosion is echoed by
the convulsive lettering of the
relationship of cause and effect, .s
the burst of
What links the two panels, other than the
depicted as a narrow horizontal
band that zooms across two
gunfire from the airplane,
the only form in the p«*ng
that
Lds of the lower portion of both canvases. It is a.so *ft
,
distinctive images. Where

the subjects ,„ both Step^n-Can
bridge S the two otherwise
M haam ,
, ,,, L Like New are essentially repetitive
method and the
images with only minor changes
a
J
patting composed o^ a balanced
ffl. change in focus
ilKwo ls ,„. manipulating such

asymmetry. Lichtenstein used tins
that occurs from panel to
panel to subvert any suggest-on of
separate and seemingly unrelated

elements wxth great e*e
recalls the way
two primary figures and the field ,
The tension treated between the around his

the space in and
his stripes or -zips" to activate
w inch Barnett Newman used dialeaic
Lichtenstein was concerned w.th the
Newman.
CQl0I field (see flg 04). Like .
Whereas
and forms could convey the illusion oi depth.
that
berween the Hat picture plane
an equally flat
sense of depth bv positioning flat vertical stnpe aga.ns,
.,
Newman created .,
two images that suggest volume and that are

horizontal field, lichtenstein did so with
which
means of the Benday-dot ground
against
reconciled with the flat picture plane by
,
they are presented. Despite his emphasis on the flat color field of the canvas, Newman's
paintings were not entirely unmodulated. 1 le articulated his surfat es « ith subtly
and with Ins "zips." In ordei to produi the effects he desired

differentiated brushstrokes
-
more areas ol a canvas with tape, painted over them,

with his stripes, he masked off one or
The tape slight edge, and the paint, which had bled
and removed the tape. left .1
faint but discernible irregularity in an otherwise regulai

underneath the tape, created .1
of the "zip" set off against the lateral expanse ol ch«

stripe. The pronounced flontality
color field created an illusion of deep space and conveyed the sense of the void thai was
Newman's, the space in the ii ho ostein is
one ofNewman's singular achievements. ike 1
I
counteracted by the tivir, 01 :ai thi

best limited, for any reference to depth
is at
at
dm, don ol the airplane implii a arion
surface plane. So, for example, the diagonal
1
second panel is aligned with the pii tun plane

into space, while the explosion in the
Newman's "zip," to activao thi held
Lichtenstein uses the narrow band of gunfire
like
bottom edge ol the anvas, to emphasize the

md by keeping it parallel to the 1
he narrative ball in the left hand panel is relatively

horizontally of the composition. I 1
inspired the painting, whereas the ex, lamaoon

94. Barncet Newman, Com.,,,,,, 1949 OB on canvas, 121 3x 151.4cm I
unobtrusive, as in the comic strip that

equivaleni ol a sound effeel
,.,
i nc hB) Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpmrc Garden, Smithsonian Institul
••whaam'" which ichtenstein has turned into the visual
I
overlapping letters and its supei imposition

penetrates the space of the painting through
its
Washington. D.I Gift ofJoseph H Hirshh I""-'
explosion are sin, ,k

over the image. ftondlike flames shooting out from the
The
straightforward, neutral image of the pilot
and
ornamental, in contrast to the more
lirplane, which ernes the burden of the narrative.
nuke b < >pened Fire as a three panel painting, expanding th

I i( htenstein chose to 1
based on a seque three panels

format that he used so successfully in Whaamlh is
I
&om "WingmateofDoom"(fig.93),in/lH Imerican M / War, no 90 (March Spnl

pilo. opening an
stnp, the painting describes and depicts
1
.,
1962) I .ke the comic

those few seconds ol
g on the excitement and
s
enemy aircraft, el ibon
litde in the way the barrage ol
battle. He change, ne of the narrative text and altered
"dratatat! and BRATA
gunfire is conveyed by a seriesof exclamations-"BRAT!." ,
vta! and adding

Lde from changing the middle panel's "bratatat!" to "bp vtatai
^hidden
•ârly to "B^ in the third panel (although
the add
Buthehastig
al
nedtheorg,
syllables,
***
by the yellow band of nam it tl p)
bod c strip and the
that they cohere
d >
three pLls so
close-up o th
of the nose of the plane, the se is a
^«
I
.,„„„ „ g the hrst image

,
is that
''
die third ... lose, still and
fig their rounds ofi do I
o. events, he ha ered th
,ue
;,„,,. While Lichtenstein has no, changed th
that they an
third panels are
I,
the images in the sec I and I
waV in which
guns and their accomp

Le abstract than the one in
^^^^7^1*
Wl / As in the cormc strip, the re, 6 •«>
Chapter A: War Comics. 1962-64

105
THROUGH MY WINDSHIELD,
'^TTBLBÂTB £ltiOUGH\ W£'V£ GCT 7&&eT I SAW A S&HT tf.1 NEVER Rasa Heath,
— i.irl.H 96. panel from "Haunted Rmkvs Killer lank,"
— FORGET... ?
m .^
VQPACH THAT GUM IN ) A BO&ST UP FRCM
\ . ' r-
T KEEP POURINO \ >» ' I l ombat, no ''i |
|un« luK 1962), D.< ( omics
eTOW£Z,J£&!^~^ scMemzRE !
1H /./( 97. Rum Heath, panel from "Aces Wild,' in l/l Inifriran Men oj
War, no 89 | |anuar} I ebruarj 1962 , D.< I omii
Mow left 98, 99. irv Noviek, panels from "Stai |ockey," in ill
American Men ,•/ War, no B9 (January February 1962), D.( < omia
below ion. irv Novi»-k, panel from "Stai [ockey, 1
in I// Imerfani Vfew
•
no 89 |
I
iiMi.u \ I , hi ii ,m\ [96 ») i u ( ,„,,„ ,
?v
/r WA€> LIKE RUNNING A GANTLET... ONLY TN/S

ONE WA*> MADE- OF £XPLOP/NO KA/.t: ...
H5y, JOHNNY f I DON'T NEED I READ YOU, TEX * \
SMOKE PICTURED TO SHOW Z READ YOU I

ME MV FUTURE --IF WE K£EP &UT--HANG ON A
ON D/1//NG thqcxjsh TH& LITTLE LONGER I
I'H 95. Roy Lichtenstcin, Okny, Hot-Shot!, 196 I * >il and Magna \ IS
203 2 k 172.7 cm (80 k 68 inches) David G( fli n I ollei tion

move the action from diagonal to diagonal
and fom panel to
the tngled nose of the plane
that this was a subject with no happy ending, Lichtenstein
panel As if in acknowledgment
During this same period, while working on the war-
brought it to a conclusion in 1964.
After
of paintings based on comic-strip images
of girls.
a series
comics paintings, he began
all, blonds have more fun, don't they:
Answers from Eight Painters,

quoted in G[e„e] R Swenson, "What Is Pop Art?:
1. (U, I ich.enstein,
7 (November 1963), 25.

Pari I." ARTnews 62, no p.
60.
of the Banal," .1,, ta 50, no, 4 (winter 1962), p.
2, See I tenth) GeesSeckler, "Folklore
•I*-
:•:
•!•
»!•
•:•
•!•
Girls! girls! girls! — or so it seemed in the mid-1960s when one painting aftei anothei
appeared with a heroine, usually blond, poised center stage in a succession of soap- opera
dramas. Images of women appeared in 1 ichtenstein's work as earl} .is L961, when Girl with
Ball (fig. 4(>) was painted. I hat was followed h\ a succession of comely females in .1 variety
of roles, including that of the glamorous woman — such as the Dorothy I amoui look alike
in Aloha (fig. 102), 1962 (and in a smaller version painted that same year) and the ( larole
Lombard type kissing her war hero l;ihhI bye in The Kiss (fig. 101), 1962 and her alter
ego, the housewife, busy < leaning the refrigerator or sponging or spraying a household wall,
kitchen, or bathroom surface (see fig. 58, for example). In these and other related paintings,
the female figure appears either isolated or fragmented. She is the ideal 1950s figure, the
domestic and domesticated woman, whose life revolves around the home and who iu
questions her existence. She is portrayed as a smiling figure and appears to be content with
the role assigned to her by a male-dominated society. Nothing could be further from the
truth, of course, but this portrayal was .1 given. She is both a cultural stereotype ind a
woman who, from a psychological point ot view, made the home safe lor her husband. In
this, her destined role as homemaker. she could not be the embodiment ot sex and
therefore she would not threaten the image of mother. We recognize this woman from <»ni
individual and collective experiences but also because our knowledge of her has been
drummed into OUr consciousness by SOCiet) and the media *s representations oi WOmi tl
In other paintings by 1 ichtenstein, women are engaged in a series ol fantasy dramas.
Hopeless (fig. 104), Drowning Girl (fig. 106), and /;/ the Cat (fig. 103), all from 1963, and
We Rose I '/>
Slowly (fig. 108), 1964, revolve around love affair, in whi< li the men are
clearly in control and the women are usually deputed as miserable. These paintings set the
stage for a series of "girls" 111 various states ol apparent anxiety, nervousness, oi I' ai most
of whom are portrayed as "the girl next door" or the innoi 1 nt seductress, .is in Blonde
Waiting (fig. I 12), Ohjej) I I ove You, loo . . . Hut . . . (fig. Ill), Good Morning
Darling, and Seductive ( tirl, ill from I *>64. The women protagonists m these dramas 1
nai 1
scenes filled with fabricated emotions In Hopeless .ind Drowning < )irl foi exampl< thi
heroines appear as victims ofunhapp) love affairs, with one displaying helplessness (she ii
shown collapsing in tears) and the other defiance (she would rather drown Hun ask foi hei
lovers help). In th < a\ evokes a mood of resignation, with sileno appan nth, pn vailing as
the woman stares stonily out the window. In contrast to these paintings, bourgeois eroin a
is depicted m lie Rose I '/>

Slowly.
These women are not heroines but supplicants to the male ego,
md I u hti nstein did
the ads or roman< omi<

not invent them; they or their counterparts can be found in •
1
books of the time. Just as he altered the war comics only when the demands of form
required him to, he was relatively faithful to the original sources from which he took these
Hopeless and Drowning Girl, tor example. ichtenstein felt it

images women. In both
ot
I
than the most minimal changes to the a book panels on

unnecessary to make more
which derived from one ot th« panels from DA
which he modeled them. In Hopeless, .s
Comics' "Run for I ove'- (t.g. 105), in Secret Hearts, no. 83 (November 1962), the
to yellow, the shape of the
principal changes are in the color of the hair from blue
the w., in whi, h the flgur, II
/e/,101.Roy Iichte n ,tein,7^1O-„, 1962 o„ , 203.2 x 172.7 on (80 * dialogue balloon, the addition ofthe g.rfs hand, and
Hopeless features a close-up
compressed into the frame. ike many ofthe other paintings, «
113 Chapter 5: Girls. 1963-65

„ ,03.R<yUch.. ***&
- 1
- " *
'"- Modern Ar,.B
kfi 102. Roy Lichtcnstein, Aloha, [962 OU on canvas, l
S«tu.hN ;.U«
... i: Helman < ollection, New Vork

1
view ofa female face that one might sec in an advertisemeni 01 .1 magazine or on TV.
theit
YJ THAT'S THE H make point, othei paintings di p. ...1 ....
Whereas Hopeless has a dialogue balloon to its
0BGUN.' BUT IT'S HOPELESS.' tides to give meaning to the expression on the woman's face. Individually and collo lively,
drama which woman's happiness and

the scenes presented in these paintings enact .1 in a
right to exist is challenged b\ the notion that she is vulnerable.
women to appear here muse (see Nurse [fig. 10], 1964), and
One of the few career is .1 1
and elearb nol in control. Bui this was the e..K

she. too, appears frightened, submissive,
that existed then (as does today) was that all worn, n
1960s, and one of the myths it still
either lived like this or aspired to do so. The male notion ..I woman as "object" is
the period. singled out im

reinforced in Lichtenstein's choice of stereotypes from
I le
waiting for a man. all ol them

the home, performing domestic chores
...
of women in
were acceptable the tune. Since these voting women

acting or behavm- in ways that at
objects, was not difficult for I ichtenstein to use theii images in much
were portrayed as' it
ike the appliances and irti. les of

the same way he had depicted consumer products. I
equipment or food products, these young women w. .. .... m.... than

clothing, the sports
that represented the height oi mater,..!
one group among many of the cultural stereotypes
the
aspired. Lichtenstein has singled them oui as
ichievement to which American society
complement to the ma< ho wai I
dominant female stereotypes of the postwar era. the

to Lichtenstein what iz and Marilyn we
he portrayed ,11 h.s p.untmgs. They are
I
-
though without any true identity ol then own
h, I
j
Warhol, our society's cliches,
objects before human
products ofa culture that puts celluloid glamour and consumer
achievement,
dignity and individual or collective
and olor are used ...
"in the comic strip, graphic elements such as Benda> dots, line,
more naturalistic and give depi hen
"Run Foi Love!" Sam II,,,: ,„ 8 I
the figures and actions appear

relatively
105. Tony Abruzzo, panel from ...
mike
al e his representations
language of the
nbei 1962), D.C. Comic I
surroundings. Lichtenstein recasts the
empties the cartoon ol an) semblanc,
...
of the female figure more artificial. He

one line abuts her, his
verisimilitude bv emphasizing the manner in whi. h
ihasu fla pi
his use of the Benda, dots
juxtaposition of primary colors, and
« htenstem further
ma
figure from her ongmal context,
I
ln isolatin8 the female

male gaze onl,
society's codification of
women as ornaments, positioned for the
those of 1963 -65 ,s
The difference between Lichtenstein's girls
pronounced. I ichtenstein noted
ol 1961 62 and
this in an interview with John
Zted his early lack of sophistication to the fact th

( loplans in >67 He
,
ebeenun
I
-
dm cartoons after years of painting Abstra,
was looking foratawdry type o.
pressionis. 1
I
canvases
ahs bund
i. to
,„ ,.k
added that
Y
"in Ae early ones
Pages of the telephone

I
dh fhey were a great source of

interesting for me."
inspn
htenstein was refernng

.,u
Tr^ I
JLetypicaJ beauty became more

I i,
„„.,c df a wo J wearing glamorous makeup

rendered by commercial artists
I he note
than the others.
thai these
1
,e ,
omme,
,
-..
eemed to
be more skillfully
he,rh p!
akeup really i, They
« en draw themselves this wa,
leal th
their hair to resemble a
cert:
.certain shape and do
I've alw. id. akeup, .one-
very intrigumg.
,
ills interaction that is

1./. 104. Roy Lichtenstein, Hopclt,,. 1963 Oil and Magna anvas,
of girb. I was g bttafa
iture
he c„ hat's whac.ed,
udwig, on loan 10 I Iffendi.
111.8 cm ollecoon Pete. ....I Irene I
(44 x 44 inches) <
Kunslsanimlung Basel, Kunstmuseum
Chapter 5: Girls. 1963-65

117
lips, dots on hei face, ind .< yellow dyed wig with black lines drawn on it, and so
forth l Ins developed into tin- ceramic sculpture he. ids. I was mi. n sted in putting two
dnncnsion.il symbols on .i three-dimensional obji 1
Lichtenstein has expressed his admiration for the mechanical method oi drawing
women that was part of the process of comic book reproduction, which made the images
seem so far removed from a real person or a photograph that the} were almost an
abstraction. He noted that "even the \\a\ the) looked was a function ol the printing
process." I hs girls of 1963 -65 share with the original comic strips this mechanical look
reproduction -I ind-
that removes them from any semblance of reality, JUS! as a a blai 1
ex lute bouquet of Mowers takes it one step further away from realism (see Black llour,^
The blond in Hopeless (fig. 104), L963, is a prototype of the

[fig. 25], 1961, tor example).
-nl that Lichtenstein was referring to. the one who uses makeup .is a me. ins oi getting her
probably because she has been jilted. Another. Frightened

man. but here shown as helpless,
Girl (fig. 1 13). 1964, is the counterpart to his ceramic heads (see figs. 245 and I r6), a
two-dimensional version of a three-dimensional object.

cultural ,1k he. she is similar enough to
Although we recognize Frightened Girl as a
people whom we know so that we can eas,K recognize the type. In drawing attention to
women, Lichtenstein was emphasizing a distim tion he sav, between

the emotional side of
men and women, hie has noted that people learned from the culture around them thai il
men were led to shov, theii feelings,

was oka^ for women to cry but that not exp< i
publishers played to this gendei distin. tion

and was struck by the way comic-book
time when there was little
Lichtenstein chose these ready-made images of stereotypes
... a
l» Ins paintings,
or no outcry over the roles that men and women were expected to play
the Ivors snap bab.es who grev, up to

he focused on a particular cultural phenomenon-
become Breck shampoo's blond twins.

male, best exemplifi< d by war heroes,
nun
-.••:•"« lit**' W <*«'»«9» " Similarly, he showed the macho
American
.... _» — » . MJB - * ' *»* t >—» *> * confident in victory and brave in death. These stereotypes were pretty much taken foi
and endorsed, even u.i.u knowledged, b)

. •
.-*
granted U society in the 1950s and early 1960s
.1
ol both
who continued to tl'cd these images to their audience of teenagers
the illustrators
because tfaq repres. nted intasy
teenagers themselves found them appealing
i I
107. Tony Abruzzo, panel from "Run For I ove!' in Secret Hearts, no B3 (Novembei sexes The
would hud everlasting love with
'
D.< ( >- that many hoped would translate into reality: the heroine
upL raising th< ideal
s.„e foreve, for the peril
her hero, and America would be made
America's new role as a world powe, and an
American family. This fiction was based on
ofWorld War II. but it also ted on Amei i, a feai ol its
economic giant after the victory

Postwai prosperity and advances
u
powerful new adversary in the cold war that followed
providing much of the nation with .
technology changed the way people

lived,
compi b, ,en a glimmer

these changes were not
I
a,
imaginable material comfort, but
.
i
,i . challenge to conventional sexual stereotypes.
denned gender rol« was gr d pari oi
Enforcement of separate, rigidly
stratagem II anything il «*s even strong, ,
and a carefully cal< ulated a!

American life
tole reve, ;al that
had bec, before, as a protective stance againsl the
lfter the war than it
and the workplace while the

men « q
had become widespread in the home
Roy Lichtenstein, Drowning Girl, 1963 >U and Magna on canvas, 171 <> K
left 106. <
Women had taken ova the jobs of the absent me ffi. « and
Mm. um Modern Art, New York, Philip flghting the war. when
66 i inches) I Ik- ol
ne les. Hut
,f these wo discovered tha, they liked the,,
Bagle) Wright
and „,.
lohnson Fund indgiftofMi indMrs
119 Chapter 5: Girls, 1963-65

We
ROSE UP
SLOWLY
...AS IF
WE DIDN'T
BELONG
TO THE
OUTSIDE
WORLD
ANY
L0N6ER
...LIKE
SWIMMERS
IN A
SHADOWY
DREAM...
WHO
DIDN'T
NEED TO
BREATHE...
108. Roy Lichtenstein, We Rose L'p Slowly, 1964 Oil and Magna on canvas, two
panels; Left 172.7 x 61 cm (68 « 'i inches); right 172.7 k 172 7 cm (68 n 68 inches);
i ill Museum mi Modernt Kunsl Frankfurt
 ii mstadt
the soldiers returned, they expected conditions to go ba< k to the
wax the} had been, with
*We men as the breadwinners and women resuming their traditional duties .it home. Any
rose up
SLOWLY deviation from this norm was frowned upon. Women who chose to have careers often
...AS IFt made great personal sacrifices to <.\o so; men who chose to uetv the male Stereotype to
WE. DIDN'T knowledge that mosl oi
become artists, writers, composers, or performers did so with the
BELONG
ro THE them would become marginal Among the fe>A ex< eptions to this norm were
to society.
OUTSIDE who portrayed career women in the movies or on TV. These women, the
the actresses
WORLD Hepburns of the 1940s, were role models
ANY [oan Crawfords and BetteDavises and Katharine
LONGER for many young women m the 1950s and afterward who today are business executives.
LIKE
...
moved m men's ircles and
$WIMMERS ,,, hitects. law vers, and the like. Tough and ambitious, the\ I
SN A them at their own game. The) could also be glamorous and. when .In n
Often outwitted
SHADOWY ourse, but also the
their guard, vulnerable. This was anothei stereotype,
ol
DREAM... let down i
more often portrayed the media

WHO complement to the femme fatale or the helpless female in
DIDN'T and acted out m real life, as exemplified by Marilyn Monroe. While Warhol ,
on. entl Ited
NEED TO m keeping with tollywood notions of celluloid
on creating images of these stereotypes
l
BREATHE.
tabloids). Lichtenstein focused
glamour (or in terms of celebrity images perpetuated by the
women performing the- roles onsigned to them b)
the equally stereotypical images of
i
on
Romances, no si (January 1962), comi.
:„,,. panc ] from "Sincerely
Yours," in Girls'
those romanticized in the pages of newspapers and
society and the media, especially
omi< -
books.
early choice o) subje, matti was nol
Lichtenstein was a produce of this era, but his
I i
be exploited his position on the fringe by

disingenuous; it was deliberate. A- an artist,
his own understated but wryh.
humorous way
attacking social and cultural stereotypes in
right on targ
seems that some of those dunces were
I
In the politically engaged 1990s, it
loplans, "R ein: An Interview; in Roy /.„»— U .
, Lichtenstein, quoted in John (
th .he Walker An . M fob 196 ')

p 16; th,
( P„,d,n, Art Museum, incollabon
no 9 (May 1967), where the q, I
was printed as
'
ralking with R ht< nstein' - 5,
passage appears on p. 39.
2. Ibid.
3. Conversation with the artist. Southampton, N.Y., September II. I"''
Chapter 5: Girls. 1963-65

l2 l
w.v.v:
110. Roy Lichtcnstcin, Nurse, 1964 Oil ind Magna on canvas 121.9 x 121.9 cm
Pi i\ hi i oll< i
iK'ii
Love You, Too But 1964 »il and
111. Roy Lichtenstein, Oh, Jeff. I . <
Edlis oil,,,
Mag, ,, tnva! 121.9* 121.9 48x48inches) Stefan I <
112. Roy Lichtenstcin, Blonde Wailing, 1964 Oil and Magna on < in\ IS, [21 9 X
mi (48 x 18 mi li< -m ( ollei nnii i irrj ( lagosian, New Ybi I

wd Magna on canvas, 121.9 x
113. Roy Lichtenstein, Frightened Girl. 1964 Oil
ollection Irving Blum. Nov York

121.9 cm (48 x 4S inches). (
»
1 14. Roy Lichtenstein, Sound of Music, 1964 ( >il ind Magn oni i m\ is 121.9
m hes) * olli el Barbara and Rj< hard s I tn<

and Magna on anvas
115. Roy Lichtcnstein, CM with Hair Ribbon. 1965 < '.I
121 9 k I 21 9 cm 4s x 48 inches) Private i ollection

w
9
%w^ %mmmmw %wm % m m • m 9 m^ m^ >!•!• • !•
»X«Z«I«Z*NNNNNl«NNNl< 2*2*2*2*2*2*2»2*!*!«!*2*t*t*!*2*!»! # t # 2 # 2 # !••
>x«i*z*i*z#z*x«x»z*x#x«z*x«x<
116. Roy Lichtemtein, Sinking Sun, 1964 ( >il and Magna on i anvas, I
nchcs 1 1 linn, t ollecrion New York

In 1964, Lichtenstein began painting landscapes, a subject that lias fascinated artists
throughout history. They represent his first con< erted efforl at working in series. As such,
they afforded him an opportunity to test the full potential of the landscape image as an
artificial construct, using the formal devices he had introduced in his early comic-strip
paintings, such as black outline and Bcndav dots 1'amters as diverse asj. M.W. Turner,
Claude Monet, and Paul Cezanne altered the conventions of depicting nature, but without
undermining its fundamental verity, where. is 1 u htenstein denies th.n reality altogether,
asking us to recall landscape through its reproduction in the mass media.
The influence of mechanical reproduction on the fine arts has been a strong one,
beginning with the invention of photography in the nineteenth century. Such artists as
example, used photographs as basis for some

Edgar Degas and Vincent van Gogh, for .1
of their paintings. The invention of photomontage in the 1920s by Russian ( onstructivists
and German Dadaists has been an influence on the art of the 1980s and '90s; and
illustrations in mail-order catalogues, which played a significant role in the work of Max
media-orient work ol Pop
Ernst and Joan Miro, found a contemporary parallel in the
.1
artists. None of the latter, however, used

the conventions of the media to simulate
natural phenomena.
both of them related to the
Lichtenstein created two kinds of cliches for landscape,
first established m his comic-Strip paintings.
he first, inspiri .1 b)
conventions that he had
I
best represented by his Sinking Sun (fig. 16), L964; and the
comic-strip imagery, is 1
the omi< strip paintings, is

second, determined by the formal means he developed in <
suggested in his White Cloud (tig. 1 19), also L964.

from that to, omic-Strip painting in thai a
^The source for a landscape painting differs , 1
or cartoon already once removed Iron, real life, Even though 1 u liters,, in
comic strip is
real in origin, he otters us radically simplified

has here shifted to a subject that .s clearl}
that subject, which challenge reality much the waj his comi. itrip
and altered facsimiles of
landscape -its shapes, its volum. S, its
paintings do. He presents the basic elements •-. a
shorthand version ofil I- deprivi th.

light and shade, its reflections—but gives us a
he has rendered some of the bla< I and whiti as

landscapes of much of their reality,
to depi. earth, -I
25. 1961]) or used primary colors -
si
j
he did with Black Flowers [fig.
,\o
heav, black outlines thai
water He has bent nature to his design, a design that includes
not exist in the landscape. He has changed organi( forms inl M I « md b*

orderly
highly structured image from a less realit}
created a
the comic-Strip paintings is in th. U
Where the landscape paintings differ from
are so
stereotypical, many ol the landscapes
emphasis, tor although both are deliberately
nearly abstract that their subject

matter and the degree ol utifi MlQ
in thai
p ^ng
true ol White Cloud
success as paintings. This is especially
subject are less essential to their
minimum of imagery and consist prima, ,1, ol
md other reductive pamtmgs. which have a
simple areas of color, all translated
mtc
an incisive silhouette and one or two
obvious cliche ^^ landscape, is among
the s
Benday dots. Yet Sinking Sun. an

strikes such an effective
bal;
largely because it
successful of these landscape paintings,
demands of, P •,,
and the
Ing subject, the conventions of the comic
its
strip,
htenstein propose
of the comic-strip-derived bnds, *
a
Z stressing tne artificiality
I u
enabled
The predetermined fiction of the CO Strip
new formL landscape painting.
Chapter 6: Landscapes. 1964-69

131
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[17. Roy Lichtcnstein, Cloud and Sea, 1964 Enamel on steel 76.2 > 152 1cm
Pi ivatt i ollei cion

I
vas, '" 4 |7 ~
118. Roy Lichtenstein, Littoral, 1964 < >il and Magna «
J6 \ 68 in. hes) Private colle< don, [apan

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119. Roy Lichtenstein. White Cloud. 1964 Oil and Magna on canvas I
inchi « -II" i
Irving Blum Nevi York
him to present the illusionistic image oi the landscape in terms that confirm the Active
reality ot the picture plane. As lie had in the past. 1 ichtenstein was able to subvert the
representational subject matter by belying its reality and conforming instead to the reality
ot a reproduction and, ultimately, the even more fundamental reality of the cm i
Beginning in L966, Lichtenstein created a series of collages using a plastic paper called
Rowlux to further underscore the artificiality of his landscapes. In the earliest of these
works, which are tongue-in-cheek commentaries on Cubist collage and its use ol trompi
I'oeil materials, he divided the image area into two horizontal sections, one part
containing the heavily patterned Row In -, piper, the other consisting ot .1 screen ofBenda)
dots. The contrast between the reflective Surface ot the Row lux paper and the matte
surface of the painted dots was sufficient to create the illusion ot movement, I ichtenstein
increased this sense of trompe I'oeil by attai Inn.: 1
, a motOl behind several of the collages.
which enabled the Rowlux section to move up and down. In a later development, he used
two different types of Rowlux separated by a narrow band ot Benday dots, as in Electru
Seascape #/ (fig. 120), 1967. To the top of the collage, he attai hi d a revolving light drum,
which projected a few inches in front of the image; when the light drum r< volved, it
suggested different times of day. Lichtenstein played with illusionism and trompe I'oeil in
several other ways too: he combined Rowlux and vinyl to 1 reate .111 exciting visual
contrast between translucent and reflecting surfaces; he painted .111 image on l'lexiglas m
make it look even more translucent; and he combined a photograph ot the sea with a
Benday-dot screen representing the skv. In 1964 .\\k\ 1965, I ichtenstein also produ( ed I
series of landscapes in baked enamel on steel to further heighten the sense of art it n iality
(see Cloud and Sea [fig. 1 17], 1964). As he has indicated, he wished to make the ephemeral
concrete, to reduce nature's reality to an abstraction, and to re-create nature in a tangible
new form. In these relatively brief experiments. Lichtenstein explored variou W i] to
which appealed to his sense ol iron)

create the illusion of nature using industrial materials,
and to his belief in nature as a synthetic construct in painting.
Lichtenstein ^\\v great autonomy to the Benday dots in his landscapes In White ( 'loud
o\\\ red screen on top of a blue reen to make

and other paintings, he used an overlay S<
purple, and to suggest the haziness of the atmosphere, no matter

how contrived I le
few instances freeing it from

continued to perfect the dot pattern, enlarging it ...id in a
not the most powerful, ot

the confinement of the black outline. In the most radical,
it
L964, the entire painting consists -I nothing bul

these images, such as Littoral(f\g. I
18),
Benday dots.
paintings are horizontally oriented, a format that, ai ording

Most of the landscape 1
eves see, and conveys the spa< iousness ol an a. tual

to convention, imitates the way our
particular motif sue as the single larg.
landscape. In the landscapes that focus on
I.
a
large loud with setting sun ... Sinking Sun -the

cloud in Cloud and Sea or the single c
makes the scene look like a los. up,

proportion of the motif to the overall im
,
distance betwe. H them and the lands( ap<

giving viewers the illusion of having very
little
omic -strip paintings. he image ould

Sinking Sun puts a new tw.st on I ichtenstein's (
I «
ID Igazini id Ill he, IS florid

almost be an enticing come-on for a vac at.on parad.se. life I
.
omposition .s divided horizontally

md overblown as White Cloud was lean and spare. I he .
different aspect
four distinctive modes, each one
detailing ,
into four separate registers, in
135 Chapter 6: Landscapes. 1964-69

'>•.•-•.••-
**!*!*!*!•!•!•!*!*!•!•!»!•!»>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>:»:•!•>:»>>>>•".•.•-•»••••• • tettttttOW^
120. Roy Lichtenstein. Electric Seascape Ui, 1967 ( ollage Rowlux and papei
1 28 inches) I i metal Iding and lamp, 56.8x72.1 cm
ilomon K Guggenheim Museum, New York Gifi "t
Mi i
-in-. Sosland Kans i
i
of the landscape: rolling lulls, sun. clouds, and sky. The billowing curves ol the i loud
formation are emphasized by white borders edged with black lines, recalling the graceful
curves of the waves in Drowning Girl (fig. 106), 1963. 1 he use ol hl.uk dramatically defines
and separates the four registers, and is one ot the most active elements m the composition,
reinforcing the shape of the Benday-dot clouds and hills Because man} ol I ichtenstein's
forms are defined by a bold black outline, they are more pronounced than his depiction ot
the sun's rays or the portion of the sky just behind them, which are rendered without a
silhouette. While this gives us the impression that the ravs are situated behind the clouds,
the overall image reads up and down, without any sense of depth.
Lichtenstein rendered a fluid landscape into a static one in very much the same mannei
in which Seurat stylized nature. He abstra< ted nature's forms into his own construct, using
a series of dots, lines, shapes, and colors to transcribe the image oi a landscape onto the
canvas. What we are offered, then, is a series of conventions for landscape with whi< h we
can amuse ourselves, but which we come to recognize as the artist's way of telling us that
the image is not what it appears to be. These conventions generally hold trui fol ill
representational painting, which requires of the viewer the willing suspension ol disbelief,
asking them to accept the painted image— at least for the moment as the objei I Ol si ene
itself. However, unlike Cezanne or Monet, whose depiction of nature usually balan« - d
abstraction with observation and a certain verisimilitude, I ichtenstein emphasizes the
artificiality of his representation of landscape. When we ao epl thi fai I thai the image has
relation to reality, we are faced with the realization Hi. n the image as a representation
little
Although, to certain extent in his landscapes,

of reality is only one of many fictions. a all
it is true that white can equal a cloud, that a combination of blue and red Benday dots i an
represent the sky, or yellow the earth, without much of an attempt to approximati OUl
sense of actuality, the differences between Sinking Sun and White ( :ioud have mon to do
to a comic-strip landscape than will, then relation

with their resemblance or dissimilarity
'bud seems to be a looser
to nature. Both are representations of landscape, but White <
ichtenstein might have created entirely from his imagination

rathei
rendition, one that I
more Temple [polio (fig. 121 1964,

than basing it on a reproduction. Sinking Sun is like oj j.
and Temple II. 1965— stereotypical examples oflandscapes that we know from the history
of Western art.
ated In- most absti m
other landscapes from 1964 and 1965, htensi i
I i«
In several
date. In these paintings, an image is suggested men \)

u th« ju ta| ion
compositions to
dots. In Littoral, sea. land, and sky are suggested
of two or three large areas of Benday
and blue dots tog dots, red
by the use of bine double-pattern Benday
respectively,
representation Iron, a new dire
and bine dots alone. Paintings like these approached
a cursor, notal Uthe.
An examination ofhis sketches reveals that he started with only
did, he went ,1 to working With
than developing an elaborate drawing, as he usually
>ne an conclude the result
Ins Benday screens the image lor the painting.
to create
I i
making this painting was to discover j. - fa he could

that his primary ambition in
this
have an image. To emphasize
,. al
reduce us constituent elements and still
as any areas ol pure whiti

.pproach to his landscapes. ichtenstein eliminated line as well
-
I
fe, m the image; and because the aUover pattern of each Benda,depth
dot:
anywhe he
unmodulated, there is no suggestion of volume or perspective

*• •*••!•! •!•!•!• *••*•*!• ! , «*I*v! ,, !''''!'^B»' «''' •'•"•• '•'•'•'.•'.''•'
,
l2!.RoyLichtcnstei„. Ihttple oj ipotlo, 1964 Oil and Mag net.
"""'
125 i
cm
with so information,
painting. In order to convey the impression of a landscape
little
masses, with the larger, denser-blue mass (the

he divided the canvas into three unequal
KOPINOOI(APXAIA) blue double-dot pattern) at the bottom representing the water, the narrow, reddish-purple
upper edge) representing

strip in the middle (with its characteristically uneven, "hilly"
the top representing the sky. It is possible to

land, and the blue single-dot pattern at
conclude from paintings such as Littoral that Lichtenstein found in landscape an
opportunity to embrace a certain level of abstraction, thus loosening almost entirely the
links between the object and its conventional representation that had been so critical for
the paintings of 1961-63.
With Temple of Apollo and Temple II. Lichtenstein initiated a series of paintings related to
the landscapes of the same period but based on classical references. The temple paintings
are closer in subject matter to his paintings based on Cezanne, Mondrian, and Picasso than
common objects as Golf Ball (fig. 31), 1962, or Luê Spool
to those depicting such
1963, with which they otherwise share a formal similarity. In the temple
(fig. (.2).
paintings, the relative weights of land, sea, and sky, or just land and sky, are conveyed by
between solid color and Benday-dot pattern(s). Traditionally, we hav<

the simple contrasts
been taught to expect an accommodation of every three-dimensional

volume to the two-
dimensional canvas. In discarding conventional perspective. Lichtenstein

tendered a drastic
to the problem of representation in the 1960s.

and far-reaching solution
Temple of Apollo conveys a sense of context somewhat similar to that of earlier paintings
Mr. Bellamy 49), 1961, or Masterpiece (fig. 53), 1962, but with even less detail.
such as (fig.
The background in Temple of Ipollo suggests a landscape, but a rather minimal one that
does not define the temples location. Lichtenstein \ depiction of the temple in the
extreme foreground seems to make the background recede into the distance. This
distinction is reinforced by the perceptual anomaly of the image representing land— the
122. Soi I i> In. ii. i. in. Tempi oj Ipollo, 1964

yellow strip at the bottom —appearing to occupy a different plane than either the black-
and-white temple or the deep blue Benday sea and paler blue sky. The division of the
and sky stabilizes the temple and acts as an effective foil to its
landscape into land. sea.
"monumentality" — a conceit that is also reduced by the heavy black shadow that falls over
the ground and the temple steps and breaks the temple's form. Lichtenstein
diminished tin
mass of the temple by eliminating the rear portion of the structure and by indicating
volume in only the most cursory fashion. This summary treatment was extended even to
the detailing of the lower steps, which on the left-hand side have some definition but on
the right are rendered only as a Mat shape. However, the nearly straight line of the upper
part of the top step appears to be aligned with the horizon line and the top and bottom
edges of the canvas. Although we know that this type of distortion can occur in the
rendering o\\\ three-dimensional structure in perspective, it has been used here to
emphasize the image of the temple as an artificial construct.
The idea of painting an image o\\\ temple came from the silver stenciled wallpaper
containing repeated images of the Parthenon at one of Lichtenstein's favorite Greek
restaurants. He began a painting with the wallpaper in mind, but abandoned the work
before it was finished and instead used a postcard with the image of the Parthenon
(fig. 122) as the model for Temple of Apollo. His rendition of the temple adheres closely to
sunlight, the
the postcard image, with the same horizon line behind the temple, the raking
deep shadows, and even the cracks in the facade. Yet the painting, with its mu< h largei
s< ale, and its contrast of stark black and white with a brilliant yellov ground and
atmospheric blue Benday dots, communicates something of the magnitude of a temple

that the postcard could not. In tins painting, he once again addressed the question of
art's legitimate subjects, first raised in the comi< sti ip p tintings, and reiterated the notion
of evoking an object or an image by painting ii \ ia the intei vening filtei ol .1 meeli.mie.il
reproduction.
Temple //. derived from an illustration of .1 temple rragm< nl that I ii htenst( in ( ame
across in .1 book, is similar in many respects to Tempi oj [polio. It has all the trademarks
ofa reproduction faithfully enlarged to the scale of the canvas. Like the earlier painting,
it reproduces all the features we re< ognize in a temple and its sui roundings, dov n to the
barren landscape and the scorching sunlight of midday. We ma} not have visited the site.
but we recognize the temple from all the ads or travel hroehures that we have seen. It is
a generic one, and is meant to be read thai way rathei di. 111 i" re< ill an} partii ular
monument. By depi< ting a temple nun. I ichtenstcin alludes to the fragmi ntai J
11 itui
>>ni knowledge of the past, and Imi.ilK i«) the surviving fragments of ancient civilization
that often serve as om primary or even oiu onl\ soun e ol knowledge oi those
cultures. The absurdity oi .1 6 w 1 olumns meant to signify an entire 1

ulture ippeali d to
lum. much as the idea ol .. cartoon 01 1 omii strip panel transformed into a p tinting had
a few years earlier. The iron) "t representing "< ivilization" in terms ol a reprodui tion also
appealed to him. with its translation by the media into a series ol signs. It was these signs
that Lichtenstein painted, using them to symbolize how we haw 1

hosen 10 represent
ourselves and our culture.

the same oloi
Lichtenstein also completed several versions of the -real pyramid with 1
and white that he used in the Stretchei Frame paintings

scheme ot yellow, black, first
(see figs. I'l and 123). The pyramid paintings are a continuation ol the "monument"
but in this group -1 paintings he breaks down the
theme thai began with Temple ,•/ [potto,
between tin 01 iginal pyramid and the finished image. I it had also begun .1
relationship
be assembled ...to threi di sional forms.
series of prints 0,1 the same theme, meant to
printed, he started to sign .hem, then realized that

many
After an edition of300 had been
the ink was
were ruined because the printer had si u ked them on top of each -In 1 befor
.un\ pla< ol them in configuration similai to th.

He took three of the spoiled prints
..
dry.
.he photographs as the sou,, e for one ot
muds of Giza, photographed them, and used
paintings demonstrates a stage ... the su<
the pyramid paintings. I a< h ol the
two dimension; tage th it ... some

disintegration of the mass of the pyramid into a
hai than pyramid. Three

instances looks more like a child's triangular papei part) 1
pyramids whii h, b)
Pyramids (fig. 123). L969, 1 onsists ot three receding overlapping
of silhouette, appear more convincing

as a set ol
exaggeration and .1, precise rendition
triangles than pyi imicls

admired, .hex wen infr. qu. ntl}
Although the Egyptian pyramids were very mu< h
interest in them
Ellsworth Kelly, in 1964, discussed his
depicted by twentieth-century artists.
"" lllJl '"

"" ll1 ''
'" '
[like to work ftom things that Is.
binat fth. two. Once ma while I work diiectl^ I

h I
legs; crimes
window, or a fragment ofa piec. of architecture, o. 1
like a

mm
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123. Roy Lichtenstcin. Three Pyramids, 1969 < )il and M.igiu on i am is
•13.4 > 564 2 cm (84 x 204 inches) Prn ite i ollei tion
?:*;•
124. Roy Lichtcnstcin, Rouen Cathcdr.il (Seen at l \m Different Times pj tin Day)
Set HI, 1969 OilandMagn; canvas, five separate panels, 160 x 106
42 mi hes) < a< li Private i ollei lion

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• • • •
.-••re******
•••••••-
•••?-
•••••••
THE PAINTING H4AS DESTROVED . . . THE When the Brmh<twkv paintings o\ 1965-66 were first exhibited, they were generally
VOICE 'WAS SILENCED... thought to be .1 comment on Abstract Expressionism. I he .mist admitted as much in
interviews he gave at the time. 1 lcluenstein's interpretation of the bravura brushstroke,

replete with drips, seemed to be a hilarious spoof on the subject of the mannerisms of the
New York School. Aesthetic issues ot vital importance to artists such as de Kooning,
Pollock, and Kline — gesture, and the involvement ot the entire body in the act of
painting, which Harold Rosenberg redefined as a spontaneous "action" or "event"
were reduced by Lichtenstein to the single brushstroke, which became the raisotl d'etre
tor an entire series of paintings. In satirizing Abstract Expressionism by focusing on its
characteristic brushstroke. I ichtenstem unlinked process (the action or event) \nd end-
product (the record of that action or event) and thus diminished the ineffable mystery «>l
artistic creation. His emphasis on one of the most obvious i

haracteristics ot New Ybrl
School painting of the 1950s would seem to have summed up the obje< dons to which he
gave voice m his interview with Gene Swenson two years earlier.' Similarly, the fact that
he singled out the drip, one of the most distinctive features of Action Painting, could be
interpreted as a sly dig at the way in which an important component ol an Original
painting style bad been corrupted into an obligatory signature by lesser painters m (In
movement. Furthermore, AKTnews magazine was notorious for frequently emphasizing
127. Panel from "The Painting," in Strang* Suspensi Stories, no 12 (October 1964) details of paintings in its pages during the 1950s, so much so that this emphasis lent itself
Charlton ( omio to parody by artists less in thrall to the movement's mannerisms than its supporters
realized. Generations of younger Abstract Expressionists also became known in the late
1950s for their slavish emulation of de Kooning's style of painting. Their pair imitation ol
genius in capturing on canvas the spontaneous interaction between the painter and Ins
his
have induced Lichtenstein to reinterpret a style that had

innermost feelings could easily
become a stereotype in the hands o( less-capable artists.
Although there is a real connection between the Brushstroke paintings and Absti.u i
source for the series was a panel from the comic strip " I he
Expressionism, the initial
Painting" (fig. 127), in Charlton Comics' Strange Suspense Stories, no. 72 (Octobi i 1964).
a direct repr.se of that panel. In this painting, a hand

Brushstrokes (fig. 126), 1965, is
orner ol the anvas while above il to the right

holding a brush .s situated at the lower-lefl «
i
of paint and Ted drips. iditenstein

few bold horizontal and vertical strokes I
are a
way wl.x the
liked the summary rendering of the hand holding the brush and the ... I.
developed a series ofworks that explored

cartoonist indicated paint. Iron, this image he
various aspects of painting, from the most basic

house paint to the mm-' i Si
commentary on the art of painting.

that the ovi iding ;our< e foi th< Bru hstrok
In a recent discussion. Lichtenstein stated
1
1
the Kena.ssa n Seventeen. I, entl

series is the body of painterly painting from .
mentions in tins context.

Dutch portrait painter Trans I [als, whom In htenste... frequently
beir to a
a foremost example ot a painterly painter, one whose extravagant brushwori is
is
AbstKU iSlOIUStS
European art and an obvious pre( ursor to the t J
rich tradition in
,
technique was no ...ore cxccss.vc than Ins gesticulating

paintings While Hals's painting
ichtenstein. lals takes l.,s pi u - beside many
figures, it was Ins brushwork that interested 1
I
appears to be an
for whom the spontaneous gesture
left 126. Roy Lichtenstein, Brushstrokes, 1965 Oil and Magna on
canvas. 121.9 x Other painters, both past and present,
Private collection
end in and of itself
121 9 cm (48 x 4s inches)
151 Chapter 7: Brushstrokes. 1965-66

128. Roy Lichtcnstein, Yellow Brushstroke //, 1965 Oil and Magni i m\ a
91 4 J i
'•<•
x 108 in< hes) Private coll( i tion
i
!
Brushstroke paintings" origins, it
[udging from Lichtenstein's varied comments on the Brushstroke I (fig. 132). 1965, foi example, like the single-object paintings of 1961-63, is
for him. Above all, it is about the

appears that the series had several differing meanings centrally placed in relation to the framing edge. I [ere, the brushstroke is furls active and
of painting and the meaning of a mark or brushstroke, as interpreted by suggests movement. We follow the curve of the shape n travels up from the middle-left
essential nature .is
contemporary art, and advertising. anvas and w hips ba<

Lichtenstein from the multiple perspectives of
history, part <>f the < k dov» n toward the lowei I* tt hand corner, onh to turn
painterly, Lichtenstein's
Since his is a style of painting not generally thought of as once more and swing up again toward the opposite corner. The drips in the lower-right
appropriation of this subject is no less tongue-in-cheek than

Duchamp's possession of the corner of the canvas create a subtle balance to the upward curve of the brushstroke. And
Mona Lisa, the source for that Dada artist's rectified readymade L.H.O.O.Q. (fig. 67), the drips that run off the bottom of the lower edges of the brushstroke funiK an< hoi the
1919, In the manner of Duchamp, Lichtenstein has seized upon the salient aspects of the form m place. As it to reinforce the three-dimensionality of the image, Lichtenstein has
and claim to the history of art using the brushstroke as both added an extra drip that appears to tall of) the lower-right- hand portion of the canvas, past
rich tradition of painting laid
the subject and the content of this body of work. In isolating and identifying the the bottom edge of the canvas support. He enhances the sense of volume by using broad
brushstroke as a subject, Lichtenstein created a painterly equivalent of the found object. strokes of black paint to suggest shadows. I he notion of painting a brushstroke .is ,i
With this goal in mind, Lichtenstein could establish a new set of criteria for the concrete form, carried to the extreme degree of precisely shaped dl ips, is, ol i
OUK( a
brushstroke. Although the project involved some complex mental juggling on caricature of the painterly tradition. Moreover, the Benday dot pattern provides a sharp
Lichtenstein's part, the subject is fairly limited as a visual construct, and the results appear contrast to the freedom of handling that is characteristic of painterly painting
to be relatively straightforward. There is no trace of the fluid style that characterizes the Lichtenstein's method of painting a brushstroke — non-tactile and totally uninflected is
paintings of main artists throughout history in his unyielding brushstroke, which is made diametrically opposed to that kind of facture.
symbiotic relationship to the picture plane. However, it is in Lichtenstein took particular note of Abstract Expressionism's emphasis on the visibility
even more intractable by its
means and m his exaggeration of the obvious that he forces of the artist and the record of the painter's hand in a work of art I [< foi used on then
the simplicity of Lichtenstein's
new form. In altering the way in brushwork as the signature o\' a style and used it as he had y\^\\c with the signature styles
the viewer to confront the issue of painting itself as a
which we see a two-dimensional brushstroke, in adjusting one brushstroke in relation to of Cezanne, Picasso, and Mondnan -to address the issue of xx hit i
I in l< terizes Style in art.
another, m overlapping them or placing them side by side, in conveying the merest Is it defined by an artist's brushstroke' Is it the result of the transmutation "I om form into
suggestion of shadow by means of a few black marks, or in his placement of a series of mother? Or could it even be determined by an artist's signature on a common objei ti Or
drips, Lichtenstein converted a simple form into an image with multiple meanings. does it embrace all of these? In White Brushstroke /ami other paintings of tin- period,
Lichtenstein implies that painting tan be reduced to a sign and thai a brushstroke in I"
Unlike the comic-strip paintings, which depended on the preconceived format of the
I
comic strip for their impact and efficacy as paintings, the Brushstroke paintings vary in size the means by which we recognize not only style bul i onteni
Yellow Brushstroke 11 sets up an almost perfectly symmetry il relationship with the canvas
and format and are more improvisational. None, except the painting from 1965 cited
rectangle. In this painting. In htenstein reated the essence of a brushstroke, suggesting Hi
above, contain any direct reference to the comic strip that inspired the series. Before
(
way in which paint can be dragged across the surfa< ol a anvas. I >ir< tion is iuggested h\
no concrete
i
Lichtenstein painted this series, the brushstroke had been a construct with
i i
the uneven contours of the form, while the blai k lines onvej il" notion ol speed Hut
identity of its own, usually acting only as a signifier of form in painting. By enormously -
the Benday-dot background freezes the form in time and place. Lichtenstein's ability to
enlarging the brushstroke and making it self-referential, as the subject of the paintings, he
convey the illusion of movement while containing his forms within the picture plane is
has provided it with such an identity. The Brushstroke paintings from this period fall into
particularly striking in Yellow and < .ion Brushstrokes, tor example, where thi i< tivit) ol the
three basic categories: those that are similar in configuration to the aforementioned 1965
brushstrokes is depicted much the way he had shown explosiv a< Hon in some of Ins earliei
painting entitled Brushstrokes, such as Little Big Painting (fig. 131), 1965, and that may be
large-scale paintings, such as Whaam! (fig 90), 1963, and I I Opened Fin (fig 91), 1964.
loosely related to images from the comic strip; those that recall the earlier single-object
Both the Cubists and the Futurists conveyed movement and speed by fragmenting and
paintings in their emphasis on figure/ground relationships, such as Yellow Brushstroke II (fig.
faceting their forms within the shallow plane ofthe picture support. Picasso and
Braque
12S), 1965; And those m which allover imagery takes precedence, such as Yellow and Green
gave us portraits m which the sitter was viewed from multiple slutting perspectives, whili
Brushstrokes (fig. 129), 1966
such artists as (iiacomo Balla and Carlo Carta portrayed figures in motion I he Futurists
This series did not allow Lichtenstein the wide variety of options offered by the comic-
often employed the Cubist method of creating a scaffolding for their shifting tonus to
strip paintings, but they did permit him to combine some of the comic strips' pictorial
Mondnan extrapolated from Llbism a onstru< based
devices with the simplicity of the landscapes. Thus, the Brushstroke paintings contain the align them with the picture plane. < i
I
non-objective paintings.
on a grid of plus and minus signs. In his otherwise implacably Hat
clear outline, process colors, and Benday-dot screen of the comic strip, but, like the
Mondnan created the slightest perception -I movement at the intersection of Ins signs and
\54-55 129. Roy Lichtcnstein, Yellow and Green Brushstrokes, 1966 Oil and laiuKi apes, they eschew narrative in favor of reducing a subject (in this case, painting) to
end one or more of Ins forms just short of the
cm (84 x at the edges of his canvas when he chose to
Magna "'-•-.
160 180 inches) Museum fui Moderni Kunst, its most basic symbol (the brushstroke). Much of their impact stems from the relationship
edge. Beginning in the 1950s, Pollock created a sense of shallow depth and dynami*
Frankfurl Gift of the Scrohcr famil) Darmstadt between the choice of subject matter and the way in which it is depicted. White

132), L965, for example, like the single-object paintings of 1961-63,
is
Brushstroke I (fig.
brushstroke and
centrally placed in relation to the framing edge. Here, the
is fairly a< tive
suggests movement. We follow the curve of the shape .is it travels up from the middle-left
part of the canvas and whips back down toward the lower-left-hand corner, only to turn
once more and swing up again toward the opposite comer. The
drips in (he lower right
cornel of the canvas create a subtle balance to the

upward curve of the brushstroke. And
the drips that run off the bottom of the lower edges of the brushstroke hrniK anchor the
As to reinforce the three-dimensionalitv of the image. I ichtenstem has

form in place. if
added an extra drip that appears to fall off the lower-right-hand portion of the canvas, past
the bottom edge of the ( anvas support. I le enhances the sense of volume by using broad
The notion of painting a brushstroke- as a
strokes of black paint to suggest shadows.
shaped drips, ofcoursi
form, carried to the extreme degree of precisely
is. I
con < rete

Bcnday dot pattern provides sharp
caricature of the painterly tradition. Moreover, the
a
freedom of handling that is characteristic oi painterl) painting

contrast to the
brushstroke no., tactile and totally un.ntlec.ed— is
Lichtenstein's method of painting a
diametrically opposed to that kind offacture.

particular note of Abstract Expressionism's emphasis
on the visibility
I Khtcns.cn took
hand work of art. le focused on then
and the record of the painter's in a I
of the artist
it—as he had don. with the signature StyL

brushwork as the signature o\a style and used
Picasso, and Mondrian -to address the issue of what char., tei iz< Style in arl
Of Cezanne,
n the result <>i .h. transmutation ol one form into
K it defined by an artists brushstroke? Is
even be determined by an artist's signature on a common obj< Ctl <

>r
another? Or could it
and other paintings oi the pel iod,

does it embrace all of these? In White Brushstroke I
brushstrok. an be
redu( ed to a sign and that a
Lichtenstein implies that painting can be
Style but content.
the means by winch we recognize not only
almost perfectly symmetrical relationship with
.1
Yellow Brushstroke //sets u P an

the essence ol a brushstroke, suggesting the
rectangle In this painting, Lichtenstein created
anvas. Direction is suggested 1,
across the surfa. of a
way m which paint can be dragged e (
hues convev the notion oi speed But

the uneven contours of the form, while the black
ichtenstein's abilit) to
the Benday-dot background freezes the torn, in time and pla( e. 1
of movement while containing his forms within the picture plane IS
convey the illusion

where the tivit, ol the
example, ...
particularly striking ... Yellow and Green Brushstrokes, for
brushstrokes is depicted much the way he had shown explosive a, tion ...
Opened >64
such as Whaaml (fig. 90), 1963, and As 1
Fin (fig 91), 1
large-scale paintings,
fragmenting and
Both the Cubist, and the conveyed movement and speed by
Futurists
Picasso and Braque
faceting their forms within the
shallow plane of the picture support.
perspectives, vim,
portrait, ... which the sitter
was viewed Iron, multiple shifting
gave us
mo he utunsts
figures in I
and Carlo Carra portrayed

I
such artists as ( ,
no Balla
forms to
scaffolding for the,, shifting
employed the Cubist method of creating
a
often
Mondrian extrapolated from Cubism. «*taed
them with the picture plane.
align
on^gridofplus and minus s^

movement at .he intersection of h.
gns nd
Mondrian created the slightest perception of
L, forms ,USt
at the edges of his canvas
when he chose to end one or more ol
depth and dynamic
created a sense of shallow
edge Banning in the 1950s, Pollock

Uchten*teln l Big PaI«ttng No.6,
1965. OU and M*
130. Roy
I M '— ' ngNordhein-We.tfalen, Mori
movement in his series ofintricate labyrinthine paintings (see Autumn Rhythm [fig. 78],
1950, for example). In placing an unprimed canvas on the Moor and moving around it
while he poured paint onto its surface, Pollock created an allover image that carried with
it the imprint of his method of painting. Depth was suggested in the superimposed layers
of thick and thin paint and in his occasional use of found objects, and movement was
suggested by the complex network of interlocking forms. De Kooning conveyed the
impression of movement by splicing his figures and repositioning their limbs in different
portions of the canvas, and activated their surfaces and the space around them with richly
textured paint and vivid, contrasting colors. I ichtenstein chose to suggest depth and
movement not by fracturing and faceting tonus but In enlarging a detail o\ a brushstroke
into an active shape aligned with the surface plane of the painting. 1 le i ai i< atured the
activity of the brush and the character of paint as it is brushed onto the canvas. From the
Cubists and their successors, from Mondnan. and from the Abstract Expressionists,
Lichtenstein derived a construct in which a brushstroke exists on one plane or in slightly
overlapping layers. Both the figure .\nd its field, however, were bound into the
composition by means of the Benday dot. He enlarged surface incident, so important to
the concept of painterly painting, and made it the subject oi this series. In enlarging the
detail, he made a microscopic form carry all of the weight and significance ot the
macrocosm from which it was bom, painting itself.
Other works in this series, such as Little Big Painting, < oncentrate even more strongly on
the physi( al quality of a brushstroke. The extreme magnifii ation ol the brushstroke,
similar to the close-up imagery of the comic-strip paintings, gives it Added impact. The
powerful thrust of the brushstroke is reinforced by its compact form. As a result, this
painting more nearly approaches the kind ofglorious brushstroke of the most significant
gestural painters among the Abstract Expressionists. Little Big Painting is one of several
paintings —of which other examples are the large canvas of the same year, Big Painting
No. 6 (fig. 130), and the aforementioned Yellow ,/>/</ Green Brushstrokes—in which
Lichtenstein used overlapping forms rather than centering one form or placing two sidi b)
side. This arrangement of dense, impacted tonus creates the illusion of active shapes in a
shallow space; but because they lack any sense of relief or depth and have been reduced to
Hat colors and a single bold outline, without any subtle contrasts between light and shade,
they read as flat forms on a Hat plane.
In Big Painting So. 6 .\nd Yellow and Green Brushstrokes, I i< htenstein dramati< ally
enlarged the size of the canvas and increased the dynamic activity that was so mu( h a p. ii i
of Little Big Painting. Although Yellow and ( Ween Brushstrokes has a very defined form, the
shape of the brushstroke recalls Pollock's. I his can be attributed to the type of loop or
continuous curve we recognize from Pollock, though In no means as complex a form.
Even the selection of colors — particularly those of the principal form >|'|" " s to
paraphrase the value contrasts in Pollock's paintings, without being m direct emulation -I
u htenstem's broad sweeping gesture, however, is also reminiscent

the older artist's color. I
ot Pollock's, as is the intimation of space between the two forms ind between the forms
And their ground. To make a painting that refers to a master of twcnticth-c enturv painted)
tradition is neither inconsistent with the theme ot the series nor out of keeping with
Pollock's influence on 1960s art. And of course, there are significant differences between

movement in his series of intricate labyrinthine paintings (sec Autumn Rhythm [fig. 78],
1950, for example). In placing an unprimed canvas on the floor and moving around it
while he poured paint onto its surface, Pollock created an allover image that < arried with
it the imprint of his method of painting. Depth was suggested in the superimposed lay< rs
of thick and thin paint and in his occasional use ol found objects, and movement was
suggested by the complex network of interlocking tonus 1 v Kooning onveyed < the
impression of movement bv splicing his figures and repositioning their limbs in different
portions of the canvas, and actuated their surfaces and the Space around them with ih hi}
textured paint and vivid, contrasting colors. I ic htcnstcin chose to suggest depth and
movement not by fracturing and faceting forms but by enlarging a detail of a brushstroke
into an active shape aligned with the surface plane of the painting I [i i
nuatured thi
activity of the brush and the character of paint as it is brushed onto the canvas 1 rom the
Cubists and then successors, from Mondnan. and from the Abstract Expressionists,
Lichtcnstein derived a construct in which a brushstroke exists on one plane or in slightly
overlapping layers. Both the figure and its field, howi vei were bound into the
composition by means of the Bend.i\ dot. He enlarged surface incident, so important to
the concept of painterly painting, and made it the subject of this series. In enlarging the
detail, he made a microscopic form carr} ill ol the weight and significance ol the
macrocosm from which it was bom. painting itself.
Other works in this series, such as Little Big Painting, concentrate even more strongly on
the physical quality ^( .\ brushstroke. The extreme magnifr ation ol the brushstroke,
similar to the close-up imagery of the comic-strip paintings, gives it idd< d impai I 1
1"
powerful thrust of the brushstroke is reinforced by its compa< I form. As a result, this
painting more nc.irK approaches the kind of glorious brushstroke ot the mosl significant
among the Abstract Expressionists. Little Big Painting is our ol several

gestural painters
paintings—of which other examples are the large canvas of the same year, Big Painting
and the aforementioned Yellow and Green Brushstrokes -in which

No. 6 (tig. 130),
two b)
Lichtenstem used overlapping forms rather than centering one form 01 pla< ing sid<
illusion ol a< tive shapes m a

side.This arrangement of dense, impacted forms creates the
or depth and have Inc., reduced to
shallow space: but because they lack am sense of relief
a single bold outline, without any
subtle contrasts between light and shade.
flat colors and
they read as flat forms on a fiat plane.
ichtenstein dramatically
Big Painting No. 6 and Yellow and Green Brushstrokes,
I
1,,
enlarged the size of the canvas and increased the

dynamic activity that was so mu< I. a i
Brushstroke hasaven defined form, the

of Little Big Painting. Although Yellow and Green
an be attributed CO the typ< ol loop
01
shape of the brushstroke recalls Pollock's. his I .
form
recognize from Pollock, though by no means
as >le> a
continuous curve we
form ipp< an to
Even the selection ofcoloi particularly those of the principal
pamt.ngs. without being in direel emu! mon ol

paraphrase the value contrasts in Pollock's
••••••••••••••••••••••••i5 #
••••••••••••••••••••••••••• mmiscent
the older artist's color. Lichtenstein's broad sweeping gesture however, is all
?.%?•%!•:•%?•:•?•?•:•:•?•?• and between the
space between the two forms
I
of Pollocks as is the intimation ol

maste, of twentieth entur) painterl,
Roy Lichtcnstein, Utile Big Painting, 1965 Oil and M igna on invas
make painting that refers to a (
131-
and then .round, [b a
i
With
lOinchi Whitney Museum ol VmericanAn New York neither inconsistent with the theme of the series nor on. ol keeping
tradition is
Purchase with funds from th< Friends of du Whitney Museum ol \mcrican \ri
Pollock's influence on 1960s art. And of course, there are signifl- - difl between

the work of Lichtenstein's predecessors and Ins own rendition of that painterly tradition
In representing the archetypal Abstract Expressionist brushstroke, he lias codified the
notions of intuition, chance, and randomness without practicing them. In his Brushstrokes,
they are conspicuously absent, as are the rich palette and the myriad effects of light and
shadow, atmosphere, and depth usually associated with painterliness. Nonetheless,
Lichtenstein summed up a grand tradition in its single most obvious structural element,
the brushstroke, focusing attention on the role that it has traditionally played in painting.
In introducing the element of parody into this series, he drew our attention to a subject
that had been neglected since the 1950s. He has succeeded m raising new questions about
the meaning of painterly painting and has created some of the most < ompelling and
provocative works in his entire oeuvre.
1. See Lichtenstein, quoted mjohn Coplans. "Roy 1 u htenstein: An Interview," in Roy lichtenstein, i Khib.
cat. (Pasadena Art Museum, in collaboration with the Walker Art (enter, Minneapolis, 1967), p. IS, this
'Talking with Roy Lichtenstein" in Artforum 5, no. 9 (May L967), where th< pas
essay was reprinted as
referred to appears on p. 36.
&om ighi Painters, Part ARTnews 62, no. 7

2. See G[ene] R. Swenson, "What Is Pop Art?: Answers I
I,"
(November 1963). Lichtenstein's discussion is on pp. 25, 62-63 ofth( tftii l<
the original sour, fori ht< nstein's firsi

3. Matthew Armstrong located the i omi« strip panel that served as i ii
work based on a brushstroke. My thanks to Matthew Armstrong lor providing us with th( C( 1 k
containing the panel.
4. Conversation with the artist. Southampton. NY. August 1992.
163 Chapter 7: Brushstrokes, 1965-66

the work of Lichtenstein s predecessors and his own rendition of that painterly tradition
In representing the archetypal Abstract Expressionist brushstroke, he has codified the
notions of intuition, chance, and randomness without practicing them. In his Brushstrokes^
they are conspicuously absent, .is are the rich palette and the nun. id effet tS oi light and
shadow, atmosphere, and depth usually associated with p.inueiimess. Nonetheless,
Lichtenstein summed up a grand tradition in its single most obvious structural element,
the brushstroke, focusing attention on the role that it has traditionally played in painting.
In introducing the element ot parody into this series, he drew our attention to a subject
that had been neglected since the 1950s. He has succeeded in raising new questions about
the meaning of painterly painting and has created stun, ol tin- most compelling and
provocative works in his entire oeuvre.
1. See Lichtenstein, quoted m fohn Coplans, "Roy Lichtenstein: An Interview," in Roy Lichtenstein, i
>chib
cat (Pasadena Art Museum, in i elaboration with the Walker An Center, Minneapolis, 1967), p. 15; this
essay was reprinted as "Talking with R<>\ I ii htenstein" in .lithium 5. no. 9 (Ma) 196 '), where the passage
referred to appears on p. 36.
2 See G[ene] R. Swenson, "What Is Pop Art ; Answers from

:
I
ight Painters, Part I." [RTnews 62, no. 7
(November 1963) Lichtenstein 's discussion is on pp. 25, 62 63 of tru .mule
3. Matthew Armstrong located the comi< stop panel that served .is the original source foi I ichtenstein's firs!
work based on a brushstroke. My thanks to Matthew Armstrong foi proi iding us with the comi< book
containing the panel.
4. Conversation with the artist, Southampton, NY. August 1992.
!•!•! •!•»?• T»?»T»r»T«I»~«
132. Roy Lichtenstcin, White Brushstroke /, 1965 * >il and Magna l> IS
121.9 x 142.2 cm (48 x 56 inches Collection Ronnit ind Samuel Heyman,
New York

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!
he Modem series began with a poster that 1 ichtenstein designed in the summer of 1966
for Lincoln Center (fig. 133). Its subject is the architecture and design of the 1920s and
1930s. Although Art Deco originated in Paris in 1925 (with the Exposition Internationale
des arts dkoratifs et industriels modernes), it began to attract attention outside Europe soon
afterward and slowly infiltrated American design. Lichtenstein was interested in isolating
and re-creating the most significant motifs oi the period: the stepped-back skyscrapers oi
Rockefeller Center in Manhattan, the ornate detailing on theater marquees and

throughout the interiors of the grandest theaters and movie palaces—exemplified by the
plush overstuffed furniture, brass ornaments, geometrii wallpaper, and other decor at New
York ( Sty's Radio City Music I [all (fig. I
*5) and the period's elegant accessories and
streamlined industrial design. But he also wanted to convey the general mood of the era.
Thus, the paintings haw a feeling of nostalgia about them for the innO( em e of the 1930s,
its love of ornament, its patterns, textures, and colors, us movie madness, and its murals.
However, as m all of I khtenstein's work, such com ems are subsumed by his overriding
interest in form and composition. While the preceding series of Brushstroke paintings w
departure from Lichtenstein's practice of using eithei i ontroversial subjects or recognizable
imagery, the Modem series represents a return of sorts to a less esoteric subject. 1 hey
encapsulate a style that was not popular when he began to work on them, but it has
Vnier while
become all the rage since then. Lichtenstein designed the poster for 1 in< oln (
he was still working on the Brushstroke paintings. The Art I >e< o tonus provided an
alternative to the Brushstrokes, and he began the first in a series of Art Deco paintings
shortly after he completed the poster.

on defined style and period, lent itself to
top 134. Frank Stella, Harran II,
!'"•" 1'olymci and fluorcsccni polymer paini on Although the Modern series focused a clearly it
Solomon R Guggenheim Museum, comparisons with the geometric paintings of such Dutch De Stijl artists .is Mondrian,
canvas, J04.8 sdiw.i.cra il2<) \ 24(» inches)
influenced Art
New York, Gift ot Mr Irving Mum. IW2 Theo van Doesburg, and Georges Vantongerloo, whose work had strongly
when he painted
bottom 133. c.r.ind Foyer Stamisc. K.uiio Cit\ Musk H.iII. New V..ik
Deco. Lichtenstein first expressed an interest ... the De Stijl movement
L964 (see Non-objective I [fig. 41]
h,s versions ofMondrian's non-objective paintings in
here, he re-created the prototypical "Mondrian" U

and Non-objective II [fig. 42]). I
image. le
signature style rather than by appropriating any single
I
synthesizing that artist's
might appear reproduction, thus

was intent on capturing the look of a Mondrian as it in
making Mondnans style of painting his subject, but within the boundaries thai
as his own formal idi as ind signature style I

he
Lichtenstein had already established
Color Field painting. h« re is an un< ann} though
series also parallels late 1960s
I
Modern
design and repeated patten,, ol rank
coincidental, kinship between the geometric
I
134], for example), begun ... 1967, md

Stella's Protractor paintings (see Harran II [fig.
decorative motifs in
Lichtenstein's paintings; both series were derived from similar
Modem
has not commented on the spe. ifi<
1930s an hitecture and design. Although i< htenstein I
relationship of h,s Art Deco paintings to

works by the Color Field and Minimalist
shared many of
similarities, espe( ially since he
painters, he was obviously aware of certain
their formal concerns.
Lichtenstein has noted that the 1930s were

"kind ofblindl) geometric." I hi
appealed to him:
geometric forms of the period and the naivete of the Style
in -Ik- rational
was art he> believed Ver> mu< h
think the) believed that simplihed b> 1 isi \rt Posten New Yori andlogi. il
167 Chapter 8: Art Deco and Modern, 1966-70

The Modem series began with .1 poster that I ichtenstein designed in the summer of I
1
"-'*
for Lincoln Center (fig, 133). Its subject is the architecture and design of the 1920s and
1930s. Although Art Deco originated in Paris in 1925 (with the / xposition Internationale
des arts dicoratifs et industrieh modernes), it began to attract attention outside Europe soon
afterward and slowly infiltrated American design. I ichtenstein was interested in isolating
and re-creating the most significant motifs of the period, the stepped-back skyscrapers of
Rockefeller ("enter in Manhattan, the ornate detailing on theater marquees and
throughout the interiors of the grandest theaters and movie palaces —exemplified by the
plush overstuffed furniture, brass ornaments, geometric wallpapi r, and other decor at New
York City's \<.\d\<^ ( itv Music I lall (fig. 135)- and the period's elegant accessories and
itreamlined industrial design. But he also wanted to 1 onvey thi general mood of the era.
Thus, the paintings have a feeling of nostalgia about them for the innocence of the 1930s,
its love of ornament, its patterns, textures, and colors, its movie madness, and its murals.
However, as m .ill of Lichtenstem's work, such com ems are subsumed In his overriding
interest in form and composition. While the preceding series of Brushstroke paintings was .1
departure from Lichtenstem's prai ti< e "i using either 1 ontroversial subjects or recognizable
imagery, the .Modem scries represents a return ol soils to .1 less esoteiu subjei 1 I
h •
•
encapsulate a style that was not popular when he began to work on them, but it has
become all the rage since then. 1 ichtenstein d( signed the poster l<>i I m< "In ( enter while
he was still working on the Brushstroke paintings. I he Art Deco forms provided an
alternative to the Brushstrokes, and he began the first in a series ol An I )eco paintings
shortly after he completed the poster.

134. Frank Stella, Hit r rati II. 1967 Polymer and fluorescent polymer paint on focused on defined style and period, H lent
fop
Although the \dodem series a clearly itsell to
(.hums. 304 8 x 609 6cm (120x240 inches) Solomon k < iuggenhi im Museum comparisons with the geometric paintings of such I Hitch 1 )e Stijl artists .is Mondl ian,
New York. Gift <>f Mr Irving Blum, 1982

Theo van Doesburg, and Georges Vantongerloo, whose work had strongly influenced Art
bottom 135. Grand Foyer Staircase, Radio < it) Mum. Hall, New York Deco. Lichtenstein first expressed an interest 111 the I )e Stijl movement when he painti d
his versions of Mondnan's non-objee :tive paintings m 1964 (see Non-objective I [fig. 41
and Non-objective II [fig. 42]). There, he re-created the prototypical "Mondi 1. 111 by
synthesizing that artist's signature style rather than by appropriating any single image I
[1
was intent on capturing the look of .1 Mondii.m ,is it might appear in reproduction, thus
making Mondnan's style of painting Ins subject, bin \\ nliin the bound u ies th.it
Lichtenstein had already established as his own formal ideas and signature style. I he
Modem series also parallels late l

(
>()Os Color field painting. I here is an uncanny, though
the geometric design ,un\ repeated patterns of rank

coincidental, kinship between I
Stella's Protractor paintings (see Harran II [fig. 134], foi example) begun in 1967, and
paintings; both series were derived from similar decoi itiv motifs in
Lichtenstem's Modem
SEPTEMBER 12-22 196 1930s architecture and design. Although I ichtenstein has not
works bv the Color

1
ommented on the
field mk\ Minimalist
specifii
relationship of his An DeCO paintings to
4'"^ FILM -FESTIVAL

painters, he was obviously aware
their formal concerns.
Lichtenstein has noted that the 1930s were "kind of blindly ge
geometric forms of the period and the naivete

of 1 ertain similarities, especially since he shared
of the style appealed to him:

ri( Hi-
many of
[think they believed that simplicity wasarl rhey beli. much in the rational
left 133. Roy Lichtenstein. Lincoln Center Poster, 1966 Screenprint, 116.4 >
PMILWAPMONIC-MALL JOinches) Published b) List \n Posters Mew York and logical I- me there is something In rous mi being thai logical ind rational

about .i work ol art- using a diagonal thai goes from one corner ol the picture to
another and using arcs that have their midpoint at th< edge oi the picture. All these are
very logical things: dividing pictures into halves oi thirds oi repeating images threi
times or five tunes I hey used these formulas because the) thought that il they did it
would be art. Aetn.ilK it i in be There are two things here: the naive quality ol
believing that logi< would make art, and the possibility thai il could
Lichtenstein constituted the compositions of these paintings out of a basic set ol
forms circle semicircle, rectangle, square, and triangle —arranged in the mannei ol
classic Art Deco design (in sets of threes or fours, foi example). These subdivisions and
repetitions activate each composition, creating a huh of energy contained only by the
parameters of the canvas. I mes of speed or vectors appear to converge or diverge among
the densely packed forms. The energy generated by these strategies is boosted by the
tension between jagged or irregular silhouettes and self-contained geometrk shapes.
Because I lchteiistcin's images, if not his means, are so active, there is rarely a sense ol
quietude in his paintings. There are exceptions, such as Modem Painting with < 'lassu Head
which has the frozen classicism typical oi 1930s Si ulptural reliefs, despite
(fig. 136), 1967,
even in the most dynamii ol
the variegated forms and patterns of the background. But
these paintings, the forms are locked in plai e l>\ a series of domm.
mi verticals and
horizontals and the activity is somewhat neutralized by the abundance ofBenday screens
reased in
throughout each composition. Lichtenstein \ stenciling of these screens, whi( h in<
technical proficiency and in the size of the dots during the 1960s,
serves two different
functions in these paintings. Applied as a uniform screen over many of the forms, they
some an ol ofthe
reinforce the two-dimensionalitv of the picture plane; hut in
IS I
dots to convey sculptural shading Iverall,

paintings, Lichtenstein graded the size ofhis
(
reinforced by the black outlines

the feeling of two-dimensionalitv reigns, further
ot Hat color.
surrounding most ofthe forms and by areas
-
Modern Painting with C/e/(fig. 137), 1967, a large
work in three panels, is a key paii
ofthe series, and among Lichtenstein \ most complex statements

to date m which both
successfully balances its
popular sources and non-objective motifs play dominant
roles. It
resolution as a painting. Although it and many others in th<

Art W-co sources and its
representational seems to contain some

series are almost entirely abstract, even the least
work refers to the stylized but .ull gnizable image

degree of allusion. The title of this
height ofthe canvas where the first and second panels are
Of a G clef that spans the full
contain some son ol representational imagery

joined; similarly, most ofthe other paintings
ichtenstein evokes tin- ;tyl. ol the
or period references. In Modern Painting with Clef, I
and the nearly perl

period through triple and quadruple repetitions of geometric forms
shapes, whi. h
asymmetrical bal in, e ofthe painting. lowever, two ire u ol freely drawn
I
layers n. louds, lend some relief from the

resemble isolated segments of landscapes or
,
ike a plant form or a sunburst pattern m ..
rigid geometry that dominates the painting. 1
areas interje. note -I -he unexpected amid

1930s painting or design, the two free-form
i
a
_ 1
"'
" 71 137. Roy Lichtens ein, Modern Painting with Clef, I
( >il
period's sophistication and

panels. 2S4 3 x 152.7cm 100 «60 inches) all this "rational" geometry and show something ofthe
Magna, and pencU on canvas, three
Museum penchant tor sivlization.

eac h »54 4ss cm (ion < OH inc ho) overall Hirshhorn ind
had worked to establish
J K i I
preceded the Modem ser.es. Lichtenstein

L \\. ahington " lifi of |oseph 1
In the paintings tha(
Smithsonian
I
S< ulptun iatden Insi I
he
the stability ol the picture plane.
(
I
Benday dots as the principal elemenl maintaining

Hirshhorn, 1972
169 Chapter 8: Art Deco and Modern. 1966-70

iboul a wi trk ol art — using .1 diagonal that goes from one cornet of the pi< ture to
the edge of the picture. All these are

I
anothei and using arcs thai have theii tnidpoini a,
\cr\ logical things dividing pictures into halves 01 thirds, 01 repeating images three
\
times or five times I hey used these formulas because they thought thai it they did it
would be hi \i tually, it can be. There are two things here the naive quality ol
believing that logic would make in ind the possibility that it could
Lichtenstein constructed the compositions of these paintings out ol 1 basi< set oi
forms — circle, semicircle, rectangle, square, and triangle — arranged in the manm t ol
classic Art Deco design (in sets of threes or fours, for example), rhesc subdivisions and
repetitions activate each composition, creating a huh of energy contained onU b) the
parameters of the canvas 1 ines of speed or vectors appear to converge Ol diverge among
the densely packed forms. The energy generated by these strategies is boosted by the
tension between jagged or irregular silhouettes and self-contained g< ometri< shapes.
images, not his means, are so .hum there irel) sense ol

Because Lichtenstein s if IS 1 .1
quietude in his paintings. There are exceptions, such as Modern Painting with ( 'toil Head
(fig. 136), 1967, which has the frozen classi< ism typical o\ 1930s sculptural reliefs, despite
even in the mosl dynami< ol
the variegated forms .uk\ patterns of the hack-round. But
a series of dominant verticals and
these paintings, the forms are locked in place by
somewhat neutralized by the abundan< e ol Benday s< reens
horizontals And the activity is
of these screens, whi« h in. reased in

throughout each composition. I ichtenstein's stenciling
the (
>(>ns, serves two diff rem
technical proficiency and in the size of the dots during
l
functions in these paintings. Applied as a uniform screen over many of the forms, they
reinforce the tWO-dimensionalit) of the picture plane;

hut in some areas of mm ral ol the
dots convey ulptural shad...-. Overall,

paintings, Lichtenstein graded the size ol his
... s(
reinforced by the black outlines

the feeling of two-dimensionality reigns, further
surrounding most of the tonus and by areas ol flal 1

oIoj
large work ... three panels, is I

ey painting
Modern Painting with Clef (fig. 137), L967, a ,
most complex statements to date in whi. h both

of the series, and among Lichtenstein's
dominant roles. It successfully balances its
popular sources and non-ohjcct.vc motifs play
Although and many others in the
Art Deco n es and its resolution as ., painting. ii
even the least representational seems to contain some

series are almost entirely abstract,
work refers to the stylized but still recognizabl. 11
degree of allusion. The title of tins
where the and second panels ar,

clef that spans the full height of the canvas
first
ofa G
some sort of representational im;
paintings ontain
joined; similarly, most oi the other
5
,
or period references. In Alo.lm, Painting

with ( U I U htenstein evokes the Style
Of the
.onus and the nearly perfect

period through triple and quadruple repetitions of geometric
di iwn shap. , whi. h
of the painting. lowever, two areas of fie
L>
asymmetrical balance I
or of clouds, lend so,,., rek, m the

resemble isolated segments of landscapes
layers
plant form 0. a sunburst pattern m a

rigid geometry that dominates the painting. Like a
••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
ject; ie unexpected ;
areas
1930s painting or design, the two
I
free-1
pages 170-71 137. Roy Lichtenstein, Modern Painting with Clef, 1967 < >u\
and
geometry and show something ol the period's sophistication
Roy Lichtcnstcin, Modern Painting with Classic Head. 1967 Oil and Magna cm all this "rational"
136. Magna, and pencil on canvas, three panels, 2^ J x 152.7 (100 60 in
208 2 m (68 x 82 don Irving Blum, Ncv. York Hirshhorn Museum and penchant for stylization. ,
on canvas, 172.7 \ < in< In s) * oIle<

each; 2^4 J -. 4Ss i
Cm (100 x 180 erall
had worked to estabhsh
H ta the paintings that
preceded the Modern series, Lichtenstein
Sculpturt Garden, Smithsonian [nscicudon, Washington, DX Gifi ol |oseph
he
maintaining the stal he picture plane, I
Benday dots as the principal element

Hirshhorn, 1972

Modem paintings represent a shift ill direction, due in large measure to the fact that Ins
subjects were almost entirely 11011 -representational and two-dimensional, and therefore
did not require the same type of treatment. Where a figure is introduced, as it is in
.Modem Painting with Classii Head, Lichtenstein has integrated it into the composition
as a two-dimensional image. In this painting, he used 1930s stvh/ation to render a
three-dimensional form as .1 two dimensional shape h\ translating its volumes into Hat
planes, without even a hint of modeling.
To reinforce the flatness of this figure, he has
merged her forms with those surrounding hei hus a curve that begins I
at the middle n\~
the lett edge of the canvas, cropping her long tresses of hair, reverses direi tion to form a
sweeping arc running behind her neck from one side to the other. This 1 urve also
reinforces the sharp thrust of a tripartite diagonal form that divides the painting nearlx in
half as it stretches from just left of the bottom middle of the canvas to the upper-right
corner. At the same time, the figure's occupation of the entire left third ol the canvas
effectively offsets the energized diagonal and anchors it in place. As in a gieat deal ol
1930s art and design, Lichtenstein is careful to stuk. 1

balam e between verticals and
diagonals, curves and straight edges, dynamic and static tonus. In keeping with the best
examples of the period's style, he used repetition held in check by fixed geometiu form.
Preparedness (fig. L38), 1968, also in three panels, is I ichtensteins conscious attempt to
paraphrase the themes and the look of murals commissioned by the government's Works
Progress Administration (W.P.A.), which was inaugurated in 1935. I u htenstein noted as
much in an interview: "They are pseudo-murals, W.I'. A. murals, and they mutate the
social-political look of the 1930s. They have an eager optimism. You realize that I'm not
serious about the glory of defending our shores against foreign devils, as these works
would imply. But the purpose isn't onl\ tin reverse. It is also a statement about h< roi<
composition." Preparedness recalls Fernand Legers The I ity (fig. 141). 1919, another
painting in which the dynamic of the modern city was meant to 1 onvey a sense of hope
about the future. In Lichtenstein's painting, the row of helinctcd heads symbolizes
America's military and industrial strength —most likely a referem e to our nation preparing
itself for World War II — but it also serves to 1

n ate .1 striking pattern of receding forms in
the lower portion of the middle panel. The division ol Preparedness into three panels is
emphasized here by the difference in colors between the left hand panel and the two to its
right. In making such a distinction, he was echoing Renaissance precedents in which the
exterior wings of panel paintings served as an introduction to the images deputed on the
pages l~- -<
138. Roy lichtenstein. Preparedness, 1968 ( >il and Magna on canvas interior. This panel. .1 study in blue, black, and white, depicts the smoking chimneys ol .1
three panels. MM H\ \H2 'an (12o \ 72 inches) each; ''"4 8 k 548 7 cm (120 x munitions factory mk\ the cannons it builds, recalling similar vistas in paintings ot the
216 inches) over.ill Solon on K c iiiênheiin Museum, New V< -rk

1930s by American artist Charles Demuth. The other two panels, whose tonality is
predominantly red and yellow, feature workers m^\ details of girders and machine parts.
I'll 139. Roy Lichtenstein, Modular Painting with Nine Panels, 1968 Oil and Lichtenstein brilliantly accomplishes the transition from the left-hand panel to the other
M igna ram.is, mnc p.i icl$. M>(. 7 \ Kin 7 cm (42 x 12 inches) < ich; 120 x ^n^n two by means o\.\ blue quarter circle, some segments of blue Bcnday dots, and a
(12'. \ 1 2n inches) overall Private collection, New York constellation of diagonals whose fulcrum bisects the black vertical boundary ol the first
two panels. Benciay-dot screens in all three panels again 1 onve) eithei volume or flatness.
pages lift ~~ 140. Roy lichtenstein. Peace Through Chemistry. 1970 Oil and Curves, which were free-form in earlier paintings, such as Drowning Girl (fig. 106), 1963,
on . anvas three p>nels. 2^4 \ I ^2 I cm (100 x 60 im he$) each; 254 x 45 and White Cloud (fig. I 19), 1964, are absolutely mechanical in this canvas. In another
(100 x ISO inches) overal Private collection three-panel work. Peace Through Chemistry (fig. 140), 1970, Lichtenstein repeated the color

Modem paintings represent a shut in direction, due in large measure to the fact that Ins
subjects wee
almost entirely non-representational and
two-dimensional, and therefore
did not require the same type of treatment. Where
a figure is introduced, as it is ,n
Modem Painting with ( lassi< Head, I

it htenstein has integrated into th
it nposition
as a two-dimensional image. In this painting, he used 1930s stylization to render a
three-dimensional form as two-dimensional shape by translating
.,
its volumes into flat
planes, without even a hint of modeling, fo reinforce the Harness of this figure, he has
merged her forms with those surrounding her. rhus a curve that begins at the middle oi
the ed-e of the canvas, cropping her long tresses of ham reverses
left
direction to form a
sweeping arc running behind her neck from one side to the other. This
curve also
reinforces the sharp thrust o\' a tripartite diagonal form that divides the painting in.,,K ,,,
half as it stretches from just left of the bottom middle of the canvas to the uppei right
corner. At the same tune, the figure's occupation ol the I ntdre Left third of the canvas
effectively offsets the energized diagonal and anchors it in place. As m a great deal ..I
1930s art and design, Lichtenstein is careful to strike a kilan. e between verticals and
diagonals, curves and straight edges, dynamic and stati< forms In keeping with the best
examples of the period's style, he used repetition held in check by fixed geometrii form
Preparedness (fig. 138), 1968, also in three panels, is I ichtenstein's conscious attempt to
paraphrase the themes and the look ol murals ( ommissioned b\ the govt I nment's Works
Progress Administration (W.P.A.), which was inaugurated in 1935. I
icht< nstein noted as
much in an interview: "They are pseudo murals. W.P.A. murals, and they imitate the
social-political look of the 1930s. They have an eager optimism. You realize that I'm not
serious about the glory of defending OU1 shores against foreign devils, as these works
would imply. But the purpose isn't only the reverse. It is also a statement about 'heroii
composition." Preparedness recalls Fernand I
eger's The ( 'ity (fig 141), 1919, anothei
painting in which the dynamit ol the modern city was meant to conve) asenseofhopi
about the future. In Lichtenstein's painting, the row "i helm< ted heads symbolizes
America's military and industrial strength - most likely a referen< e n> our natii mi prep 11 ing
itself for World War II — but it also serves to create a still ing pattern "I ling forms in
the lower portion of the middle panel. Hie division ol Prepared^ into thre< |
>.n u-K is
emphasized here by the difference in colors between the left hand panel and Hie two i" its
right. In making such a distinction, he was e< hoing Ken.iiss.nn e prei edents in whii h the
exterior wings of panel paintings served as an introduction to the images depi< ted on the
172 ~* 138. Roy Lichtenstein, Preparedness, 1968 ( >il and Magna "ii cam is,
interior. T his panel, a stuck in blue, blac k, adA white-, depi< ts thi smoking chimni i »1 i
threepancb 104.8 x 182.9 cm (120 x 72 inches each J04.8 x 548.7 cm (120 munitions factory and the cannons it builds, recalling simil.n \ IStas in paintings of the
216 inches overall Solomon R Guggenheim Museum New York 1930s by American artist ( harles I )enniili I he othei two panels, whose tonality is
predominantly red And yellow, feature workers and details of girders and inn hine parts.
left: 139. Roy Lichtenstein, Modular Painting with Nine Panels, 1968 < >il and Lichtenstein brilliantly a 12 inches) each 120 x 120 cm two by means of a blue quarter circle, some segments of blue Bendav dots, and i
(126 x 126 inches) overall Private collection, Nevi York constellation of diagonals whose fuleruin Insects the black vertical boundary Ol i he first
two panels. Bendav-dot screens in all thn i panels again c onvev either vol e 01 flatness.
pagi 176 " 140. Roy Lichtenstein, Peace Through Chemistry, 1970 ( >il and ( urves, which were free-form in earlier paintings, sin h as Drowning Girl (fig. 106), 1963,
Magna on i am is, three panels, ^4\ 152.4 cm (100 x 60 inches each 254 < \S1 2 cm and White Cloud (fig. 119), 1964, are absolutely mechanical in this canvas. In another
140), 1970, Lichtenstein repeated thecoloi

|lMI • 180 inches overall Private colle< tion three-panel work. Peaa Through Chemistry (fig.

different motifs and restricting
scheme and compositional devices of Preparedness, using
the areas of Bcnday dots to their flat,
unmodulated mode. Here, the middle panel lacks the
well as the blue of the left-hand panel), but the
yellow Of the two outside panels (as
differences are much less noticeable than the color shift in Preparedness.
Modem series, the diagonal is the principal
In Preparedness and other paintings of the
of energizing the composition. This is
means of dividing and organizing the space and
Panels (fig. 13';). 1968, Lichtenstein's most
especially true of Modular Painting with Nine
images, ,n which the play of curve against
successful attempt at working with repeated
curve, arc against arc, diagonal against

diagonal reaches its apogee. Lichtenstem, who was
interested in the type of repetitive structural units made by Donald Judd during this
panel could be placed anywhere in the

period, created h.s Modular works so that each
pattern. In this respect, Lichtenstein's Art Deco
square's grid without changing the overall
despite their similar sources. Whereas
paintings differ markedly from Stella's of that time,
into three panels, each of which is a
I htenstein divided a painting such as Preparedness
i,
potentially separate image. Stella conceived

each of his paintings as a single unified image
Pernand Uger, The City, 1919 Oilon canvas 231 x 150.8 cm (91 x
141. Lichtenstem was
I
within a corresponding shape. Though cognizant of shape and edge,

Philadelphia Mus< "in ol \ri A iallatin ( oilcction
Modem
I I
In the series, the

primarily concerned with the internal organization of a painting.
manner in which he divided his space still has its roots in Cubism, whereas the
Stella's Protractor paintings has its roots in the allover painting of
organization of space in
own late 1950s/earl) 1960s Minimalist style. And, of
1950s Abstract Expressionism and his
i ourse, the reference to reality, no matter how diminished, is always a factor in
work, whereas is peripheral in Stella's, for. although we are aware of the

I
1, htenstein's it
relationship of Stella's motifs to the 1930s, this aspect is not the most significant feature of
his work's overriding emphasis on abstract form.

Lichtenstem summed up the difference between his Art Deco paintings and the art and
attached to
design of the 1920s and 1930s by stating that there was a "kind of absurdity
their concern with logic." With regard to his work and that of his contemporaries, he
noted, "In my work I like to relate the 1930s to todays rational art. But today's work has a
kind of irony. It knows it's unusual to be rational The same can be said of Lichtenstein's
."'
Modem paintings, but the statement is also m insight into his work in general, for
I u htenstein views all art — especially his own — as partly rational and partly ironic.
I i u htenstein, quoted in Paul Katz, "Ro) I ichtenstein: Modern Sculpture with Velvet Rope," Art \o\r
Xnr York I. no I
(J.
iihi.ua 1969), n p
2. Ibid
I ichtenstein, quoted in Diane Waldman, Roy Lichtenstem (New York Harry N. Abrams, 1972), p. 26
I
4 [bid., p 28
Chapter 9
Mirrors, 1969-72,
and Entablatures, 1971-76
Lichtenstein*s Mirror series, begun in 1969, constitutes one oi Ins most successful discourses
TYRE BROTHERS
<
class company
to date on the nature of reality and illusion. 1 le was living on the Bowery ii the time tnd
was attracted to the printed brochures he saw in the windows ot the stores that sold glass
.\nd minors (see fig. 143). He liked the way the brochures rendered mirrors "with ail
brushed mirror symbols, reflecting nothing." Lichtenstein had toyed with the idea 1
ol
reflections in some of his early Pop paintings, drawings, and enamels, as well as in his
Gold L»af Ovol
2301—Glass Suo 20«3O
Overo" Modern paintings and sculptures, but now he began to explore them more thoroughly, in
terms of image, shape, reflection, light, dn^ shadow. Mirroi U I (fig. 142). 1969, is the first
in the series. It connects several ofl i< htenstem's earlier com ems In uniting a circul.n
cam-as, as in Cat (fig. 43), 1961, the black-and-white imagery of Black Flowers (fig, 25),
1961, the opacity of Magnifying Glass (fig. 44), 1963, and the pattern ofrefli i
tions in Him
(fig, 144), 1964. Just as the initial Pop images had been based on reproductions, these nev»
Gold L*af Oval

2302— Glass Slie. 2O«30 images of mirrors were modeled on illustrations in the catalogues he found in the Bowery
Overall 22x34 Vi
or reproductions from one of his regular sources, such as the Yellow Pages. Inspired b\
their cursory renderings, he began to take photographs ol cosmeti< mirrors used to
magnify the \.\cl\ in which he noticed patterns that wen- already abstract oi discovered
shapes, shadows, and reflections that he liked. He was nol int( rested in a clear im Igi
reflected in a mirror, but in images that did not refle< I exai il\. He used all of these sources
Gold Laaf for his series ot Mirror paintings.

2304—Glass SUo 2O..-.0
Overall ZAVtnAAVt
28T.I Glass Si"
Overall, 34Vi«44Vi In early still lifes such as Black Flowers, Ik htenstem's reprodu< tion oi a newspaper
2862 -Glass Sue 30«4fl
Overall 34V..52V.
illustration was essential to the dialei ti( that he established between the representation ol a
popular subject and its re i reation as a painted image. Similarly, in Mirroi H I Ik- sought to
make a painting o\\\ common household produc t resemble .i reprodui tion from a mil roi
catalogue. Initially, he was only partially successful for, as he noted

143. IVc from bro. lure for Ivrc Brothers Glass ( ompan) 1 os tageles
mirrors to people required lml<-
M\ first mirror p.imiin^s didn'l n all) look like li a
k-.irnin^ to make them understandable .is mirrors I think tin- same thin - is true ol
the brushstroke paintings. I like to make vcr) com n ti lymbols foi ephemeral things.
2
Reflections, i<>i example.
Lichtenstein was correct in comparing the \dirro\ paintings to the Brushstroke serii
(see chapter 7) in the sense that brushstrokes and reflections are more elusive subjects
than most, less immediately accessible to the viewer than i i omi< -strip image, due to
Lichtenstein's emphasis on the images' abstract qualities and (in the Brushstrokes) radical
However, whereas his images of brushstrokes arc t >! r< cognizable

alteration of scale.
I
made the Mirror paintings hardei fol iewers

as brushstrokes, the blank reflecting surfaces *
to decode. Furthermore, the brushstrokes i ould be made into shapes with distint
were more difficult to compose into P COgnh ible images.

Silhouettes, while the mirrors far
the Mirror: evolved into a sees in which the ultimate

Like the Landscapes (see chapter 6),
objective became a discourse on the abstra< I nature of reality and pure form.
the pattern for the
Mirror #/. though rendered only in black and white, establishes
employs a predominantly abstract image consisting ol a set oi i odes— in
entire series. It
this instance, an overall oval shape and a pattern ol elongated, irregular black-and-white
mirror, giving us just enough information BO uze what it is.

motifs—to represent a
m Magnifying Glass, one of Li. htenstem's first

An early example ot this type of image exists
onsists of one abstract shape (a circle filled with dots)
142. Roy Lichtenstein, Mirror #i, 1969 Oil and Magna on canvas, 152.4 K invented images, whit I. I
flat,
121.9 cm (60 x 48 inches) Collection] Douglas S Cramer, Los Angeles
183 Chapter 9: Mirrors, 1969-72. and Entablatures. 1971-76

Lichtenstein's Mirror series, begun in I
1
"'" constitutes one ol his must successful discourses
to date on the nature of reality and illusion. He was living on the Bower) ai the tunc and
was attracted to the printed brochures he saw in the windows of the stoics that sold glass
mk\ mirrors (sec fig. 143). He liked the way the brochures rendered minors "with air-
brushed mirror symbols, reflecting nothing."' 1 ichtenstein had toy d with the id, a ol
some of his early Pop paintings, drawings, and enamels, as well as in his
reflections in
Modern paintings and sculptures, but now he began to explore them more thoroughly, iii
terms ofimage, shape, reflection, light, and shadow Mirro\ B I dm 142). 1969, is the first
concerns b\ uniting miliar

in the scries. It connects several ofl lchtcnsteins earlier I
i
43), 1961, the black-and whiti imager) ol Black Flowers (fig. 25),
canvas, as in Cat (fig.
44). 1963, and the pattern of reflections in Him

1961, the opacity of Magnifying Glass (fig.
Pop images had been based on reproductions, thes< tu w

(fig. 144), 1964. Just as the initial
illustrations in the catalogues he found in the 3ow< ry
images of mirrors were modeled on
Yelk™ Pages. Inspired by
or reproductions from one ofhis regular sources, such
as the
ol cosmeti< mirrors used to

their cursory renderings, he began to take photographs
ed patterns thai wer. already abstra. 01 discovered
magnify the face, in which he noti.
I
le was not interested ... a leai im ig<

shades, shadows, and reflections that he liked.
I <
reflected ... a mirror, but ... images thai ^\ no! p fl. 1

1
- m tly 1 1« us< d ..II ol these sour,
for his series of Mirrm paintings.

reprodui tion ol a tu pap.
u htenstein's
i
In early still lifes such as Black Flowers, l
was essential to the dialectic that he established between the representation ol a

illustration
Minor #* he! ghtto
popular subject and its re-creation as a painted image. Similarly, in
household product resemble reprodu, tion from mi, roi
make a painting of a , ommon a .
he was only partially su< i essful for, as he noted:

catalogue. Initially,
ompanj os Vngeles Itreq ilitd.
look like mirrors to people
I
&om bro. hure foi lwt Brothers ilass (

I
My first mirror paintings didn't really

(
143. Page
rs think d» samethingwas I
[earning to make them understandabl. as I
.ymbolsforep althi
che brushstroke painting,. I like to mak< ver
R»eflei tions, foi i Kampl.

tings to th( Brushstrol
Lichtenstein was correct in
paringtheM r,
tin- sec tha. brushstrokes and refle, tions are m lusw, subj
(see chapter 7) in
.an; « strip imag due to
immediately, ssible to the vie>
than most, less
Brushstrokes ij*ed
on the images' abstract quahties an,
Lichtenstein's emphasis
whereas his images of brus okesar. » '«
deration of scale. However, -rs

.detheiW ,
gsh«de
fjlnokes. the blank reflecting surface
t0 decode Furthermore, the brushstrokes

louettl, while the mirrors were n
;,:;,, /.W.,,, .see eV
ore
theMn
could be made
d
into shapes
~
«
"ff
todnew
^ ''
and pure!
became a discourse on the abstract nature ofreaUty
objective
mL#J, though rendered only in black and white,,co

Mm n for the
e^
I
ge go ase a
^lie,Item* i predominantly absu
ent
pattern of e.ong
tab* .nd-wfcte
hTTnZce, an ovendlov!d shape and a
»^^->rr?tTS^S^*-
^tiTto^re
-
asfirssixs; •
ablatuRES. 1971-76
M.RRORS. 1969-72, ano En
,
183 Chapter 9:
representing a magnifying glass—superimposed on another (a square filled with smaller
dots). Using Ins characteristic Benday screen, Lichtenstein treated a compelling graphic
image without describing any of the surface characteristics of the magnifying glass,
showing only an opaque surface composed of bold black hues and Benday dots and not a
hint of shimmer or reflection.
In the Mirror series, 1 ichtenstein further complicates the issue of illusionism. As he
had in several of the / andscape and Brushstroke paintings, in which he deputed a rolling
landscape to look like a flat, two-dimensional image (see fig. 1 16, for example) 01
magnified a brushstroke into a fully developed, concrete image (see figs. 126, 128, and
I2 l
>. for example), he again plays with the notion ot pen eption. As a pictorial device, an
image reflected in a mirror was used in Western painting to create the illusion ot space. In
|an van Eyck's Giovanni Arnoljini and His Bride (Wedding Portrait), 1434, and in Diego
velazquez's The Maids of Honor, L656, a mirror is shown reflecting figures that are clearly
placed outside the frame of the painting. Centuries later, Juan Gris elaborated on this
concept in his Cubist collages, among them The Washstand (fig. 145), 1912, b\ including
actual slivers o\\\ mirror in his work, (ins spoke of this m I'M 4:
You want to know w In I had to stick on a piece ol mirror! well, surfaces can I" n
i reated and volumes reinterpreted in .i picture, but whal is om to do iboul i mirroi
whose surface is always changing and which should reflect even the spectator? rhere is
nothing else to do but stick on .1 real pi<
Like his predecessors. Gris used the mirror as a means of transforming pictorial spa< i
Unlike van Eyck or Velazquez, however, who were intent on translating real space- into
of a painting's picture
an illusiomstic pictorial equivalent, Gris accentuated the flatness
plane and embedded the mirrored glass into its surface as a non lllusionistic way ot
played with
circumventing the medium's limitations. Like van Eyck and Velazquez, (iris
suggest reality and to subvert

the notion of ambiguity, using the mirror fragments to
it.
box constructions such as I Entitled (Chocolai Menier),

American artist Joseph Cornell, in his
Juan Gris, The Washst.nd, \'>\2 Oil and pasted glass on canvas, 24 18 cm dimension oi spa( e in his boxes, and to
1952, also used mirror fragments to enhance the
N
145.
"he ephemeral and the intangible.

suggest that even something solid can convey
(35 x In '.- inches) Private i< lection
I
a s< rise oi
distance between his image and its basis

In Mirror #/, however, lichtenstein widens the
reproduction of rudimentary illustration ->t mirror as his
in reality. By choosing a a ..
three-dimensionality, thus beginning the proi SS ol ..presentation

source, he eliminates
l
its
already two steps removed from the real thing. Hie mo hani. all) n produ. ed image
making easier to reduce it even further into a flat

represents only the -idea'' n[\i mirror, it
shapes, and colors. Thus, is impossible for the iewer to embrace the
amalgam of lines, it <
as one could the illusion ... even the most

illusion contained within the Mirror paintings
or Cornell, because Lichtenstein's are
metaphysical work of van Eyck, Velazquez, (ins.
are ultimately unattainable. Moreover, he-
reductive images of intangible reflections that
abstract, taking his dies not from the
has made these .mages intentionally opaque and
uses the tropes of the shadow 01
realm of art but from the realm of advertising. He
us just enough ot these deta.ls so
reflection as they are rendered in the media and gives
that we can recognize the image as a mirror.
the tond. and oval canvases that followed

were Lie htenstc.n's most
/«/r 144. Roy Lichtenstein, Vim, l%4 < Iraphite and louche on paper. S4 S x Mirror #/ and
exploring the issue of painting as object. Their most
42.9cm(21 ix16 -.inches). The Saint Louis Art Museum. concentrated efforts to date in
1971-76
185 Chapter 9: Mirrors. 1969-72. and Entablatures.
glass—superimposed on another (a square filled with smaller
represent!.,- a magnifying
Ins characteristic Benday screen, Lichtenstein created a compelling graphii

dots). Using
haracteristics of the magnifying glass,
image without describing any of the surfai i i
lines and Benday dots and not a

showing only an opaque surface composed of bold black
hint of shimmer or reflection.
As he
In the Mirrot series, I u htenstem further complicates the issue of illusionism.
of the Landscape and Brushstroke paintings, ... which he deputed a rolling

had in several
two-dimensional image (see fig. 16, fol example) or
landscape to look like a flat, 1
developed, concrete image (see figs >6, 128, and

brushstroke into
I
magnified a a folly
129, for example), he again plays with the notion

of perception. As , pi, torial devi< e, an
Western p anting to create the illusion ol spa( e. In
image reflected in a mirror was used in
His Bride (Wedding Portrait), L434, and in
Diego
(an van Eyck's Giovanni Arnolfini and
Honor, a mirror is shown reflecting
figures that are clearly
Velazquez's The Maids of L656,
Centuries later, Juan iris laborated on this
placed outside the frame of the painting.
«
<
his Cubist collages, among them The

Washstand (fig. 145), 1912. by including
concept in
work. Gris spoke of this in 1914:
actual shvers of a mirror in his
a piece of mirror? Well, surfaces can b« re

You want to knew why I had to stick on
but whai one to do about a mirroi
in a pi< ture, is
created and volumes reinterpreted
even sp. tato. here is
always changing and which should refli I th. i
I
whose surface is
.
nothing cist- to do but stick on a real pie< e
spa,
mirror as a means of transforming pictorial
Like his predecessors, Gris used the
Unlike van Eyck or Velazquez, however,
who were intent on translating real space mto
painting's picture
.,„ illusionistic pictorial equivalent, Gris accentuated the flatne i
glass into surface as a non-illusionisti< way oi

p] tne and embedded the mirrored its
van Eyck and Velazquez, I li is played with

circumventing the medium's limitations. Like
to subvert
mirror fragments to suggest realit, and
..
the notion of ambiguity, using the

su, b as 'ntitled I lal Men*),
Cornell, in his box constructions (<
-
American artist Joseph

in hisb, tid to
cm to enhance the dimension oi space
on canvas, 24
1952 also used mirror fragments
N 18
145. Juan Gris, 77.. Washstand, 1912 Oil and pasted glass
and the .ntangible.

can convey a sense of the ephemeral
(35 x 10 inches) Private collection suggest that even something solid
widens the distance I- image and its basis
In Muror #/, however, Lichtenstein
illustration ol a :ror as ms
reproduct.on of a rudimentary
m reahty. By choosing a
the process of representation
three-dimensionality, thus beginning
source he eliminates its
removed Iron, the real thing. The mechanically reproduced .mage

already two steps
easie, to redu, e it eve,, further into a flat
represents only the "idea" of a mirror, making -
impossible for th, *e to embrace the
n
oflines, shapes, and colors. Thus,
is
JLlgam
as one could the ill. » -
lllusi ; n contai „ed within the Mirror paintings

^physical work of van Eyck. Velazquez, Gris, „r Cornel,,
because are I**"""
Moreover, he
reflections that are ultimately unatumable.
reductive images of intangible
abstract, taking his cues not from the
nude these images intentionally opaque and
has
o the shadow or
realm of art but from the realm
of advertising. He uses the tropes
enough of these details so
the media and gives us just
reflection as they are rendered in
mirror.
that we can recognize the image as a
most
that followed were Lichtensteuis
paper, S4 s x M.norUl andthe tondi and oval canvases
Roy Him, 1964 Graphite and touche on
object. Then most
left 144. Lichtcnstein,
the issue of painting as
42.9cm (21 *x 16% inches) [*he Saint Louis Art Museum concentrated efforts to date in exploring
1971-76
185 Chapter 9: Mirrors. 1969-72. and Entablatures.
147. Roy Lichtcnstcin, Mirror: 24" Diameter #7, 1970 * >il and Magna on canvas,
146. Roy Lichtcnstcin. Mirror: 24" Diameter UN, 1970 ( >il and Magna on - mvas,
«,i , ,,, >4 in« l'. diami t< i Privat< olli i cion
(l) cm i
illection Mitchell I ichtenstein
right 148. Roy Lichtcnstcin, Mirror (48" Diameter), 1972 Oil and Magna on
, anvas, 121 9 cm i4« inches) diameter Private collet cion

own oeuvre arc the paintings he made using the image ol a
notable predecessors in Ins
76), 1964, for example, i. htenstein
school notebook. However, in Composition 11 (fig. 1
oi the object and its painted vers,,,,, by relating

established a correlation between the shape
differentiating between the matte surface of the
the image to the canvas rectangle and bv
notebook binding and the glossier surface of the cove, h, the M paintings, he used the
to establish Such a correspondence.

chape of the canvas, rather than the image,
The oval Mirror paintings (see figs. 150 and 151) are lean and elegant images that
overlaid with Bencfcn dot sevens .,,,,1 onh.
Lichtenstein created out ofa white held
leaving most ol theii surface calm
and
, minimal application oi color and line,
high degree of abstraction in a way that

uninterrupted. In these works, he achieves
a
of pure abstraction as Non-objective I (fig 1
transcends even such deliberate evo,

1
is
(see figs. 146. 147. and 148),

and Non-objeetive II (fig. 42), both 1964. In the Mirrortondi
in his charai istii manner,
Lichtenstein has applied color, line, and Benday dot patterns t, i
each panning and bordering the anvas with a

generally select,,,- one color to dominate
<
sparse areas ol dots, and small

narrow band consisting variably n( segments ol black line,
which he interrupts a field ol color by
wedges of color. Exceptions to tins are the tondi in
more To create the rippling effect of reflections and shadows in

uiding one or colors.
lights and darks that he found ,„ Ins
these.' as in other Mirror paintings, he depicted the
areas ol solid black and
photographs of reflections in mirrors by juxtaposing amorphic
others of graduated Benday dots

panned several large-scale mnln panel
Along With the tondi and ovals, Lichtenstein
large-scale lolor Field paintings and shaped

paintings that rival the best of the
(
Vfirror
one such example, an array
Si* Panels (fig. 152), 1971,
is
canvases of the 1960s. Mirro, in
and
,„ unmodulated zones of red, white, and yellow complemented by diagonal sections
few (remarkably fev hes ol bla< k, and sliver .,
bands of Bcndav
.«
vertical dots. .,
exemplify htenstein's superb sense ol

,„ Mirror in Six Panels
I i<
of blue The reflections
abstract torn,. This painting
and others like it, such as the four-panel Mirro, m (fig 1
19)
abstract,,,,, -Ellsworth Kelly color

L971 are both an acknowledgment of 1960s color
« .range, Red [fig. I
53], 1966) as do the
panels come to mind (such as Blue, Green, Yellow,
cousin of such monumental canvases as his own
paintings ofNoland and Stella-and a
and Preparedness (fig. 138), 1968

Painting with Cle) 137), 1967,
multi-panel Modem (fig.
Pop works, Uve Ammo

five-panel forma, in one of
Ins earliest
(Lichtenstein used .,
when was displayed pubh, K

1962, which was shown as an ensemble it firs,
fin 86-89]
thereafter, bu, was divided up
and sold as a
at several sites
t the Leo Castelli Gallery and
some of his more
This sublime painting of a minor
recalls
diptych and three single panels,
achieves a heightened sense ol light and shade.
landscape paintings in whi. h he
abstract
Il rUection. It also recalls Monet's epic see Nfe« «- L** »

tits arencv.
by .eying the atmosphere o
essence .atural torn, ,
which Monet captured the very

ichtenstein did no. depart fr s
paintings,
water garden in Giverny. In the Mirro,
1
his
paintings 5 ed « fo,
very
derived from Ins firs. comic-Strip
1
system of formal elements

rely on the look ofa
panning as reprodu, nonol m .,
afferent ends. He continued to

enough to apply then, to an
elements and altered the concept JUS.
Minor 4 perils If X 6% 1971. CM .....I \1 original but refined the
1,11 149. Roy ichtenstein. ttt (it,
was tree o
abstraction. Now that he
had established his system o codes, h,
roiup,„eU.243>ls4S7an(96» 18 inches) each; 243.8 182.9 cm exploration of
I
textures, he
I
.
urns
colors,
Through the economical use of forms,
"2 inches] iiwi ill Prune ce.lkclion
Jprovise on any subject.
1971-76
189 Chapter 9: M.rrors. 1969-72. and Entablatures.
notable predecessors in his own oeuvre arc the paintings he made using the image of .1
school notebook. However, in Coiii/wifioi/ // (fig. 76), 1964, for example, 1 ichtenstein
established a correlation between the shape of the object and its painted version by relating
between the matte surfa< e of the

the image to the canvas rectangle and by differentiating
the glossier surface of the cover. In the Mirrot paintings, he
used the
notebook binding md
correspondence.
shape of the canvas, rather than the image, to establish such
a
The oval Mirror paintings (see figs. 150 and 151) arc lean and elegant images thai
Lichtenstein created out

:"
oi a white held overlaid with Bcndav dot screens and onl)
a minimal application of coloi and line, leaving most of their surface calm and
uninterrupted. In these works, he achieves a high degree of abstra< tion in .1 way that
Son-objective (tig. 41)

transcends even such deliberate evocations of pure abstraction
.is I
In the Mirrortondi (sec figs. L46, 147. and *8),

md Non-objective II (fig. 42). both 1964. 1
patterns his chara< manner,

Lichtenstein has applied color, line, and Bcndav- dot
... tei isti(
generally selecting one color to dominate each painting and bordering the canvas will. ..
narrow band consisting variably of segments of black line, sparse areas of dots, and small
to this are the tondi in which he interrupts field of color by
wedges of color. Exceptions .,
To create the rippling effe< ol reflections and shadows in

adding one or more colors. 1
.he lights and darks that he found ... his

these, as in other Mirror paintings, he depict, d
mirrors by juxtaposing amoi phi( areas of solid bla< k and
photographs of reflections in
others of graduated Benday dots.

mult, panel
Along with the tondi and ovals, Lichtenstein painted several large-scale
Mirrot paintings that rival the best

of the large-scale Color Field paintings and shaped
1971, is one such example, an arraj
canvases of the 1960s. Mirror in Si* Panels (fig. 152),
omplemehted b) diagonal se< tions and
of unmodulated /ones of red, white, and yellov, 1
few (remarkably few) touches of black,

and a sliver
vertical bands of Bcndav dots, a
Panels exemplify i< htenstein's

superb sens, ol
ofblue The reflections in Mirror in Six 1
abstract form. This painting and others like it, such as the fou, panel Wrroi M (fig. 149),
-Ellsworth K< Ik oloi

are both an acknowledgment o\ 1960s color abstraction -
1971
ISM- 1966), as ,1,. the
panels come to mind (such as Blue, Green, Yellow, Orange, Red [fig.
as his own
paintings ofNoland and Stella-and a cousin of such monumental ,
anvases
1968.
137). 1967, and Preparedness (fig. 138),
multi-panel Modern Painting with C/e/(fig.
of his earliest Pop works. Uve \m
(Lichtenstein used a f.ve-panel format in one
ensemble when it was first displayed publN K
[figs 86-89] 1962, which was show,, as an
Gallery and at several sites thereafter,
but was up and sold dÛA I
it the I eo ( :astelli
This sublime painting oi a mirror recalls

some of his more
diptych and three single panels.,
and shade
he achieves a heightened sense ol ighl
abstract landscape paintings in which
also recalls Monet's epic series of Nymphias (Watet Uhes),m
transparency, and reflection. It
form by conveying the atmospher,

ol
which Monet captured the very essence of natural
his water garden in Giverny. In the Mirror paintings. ichtenstein

1
not depart from M his
tor very
derived from his first comic-strip paintings but used ,
system of formal elements
on the look of a painting as a reproduction oi an
different ends. He continued to rel)
them to an
and altered the concept just enough
... appl,
149. Roy Lichtenstein, Mirror M (in 4 panels 8' x 6'), 1971 >il and M Original but refined the elements
left
<
that he had established his system

Now ol codes, h was tree to
exploration of abstraction.
canvas fourpanels 243.8x45.7 cm 96 x 18 inches) each; 243.8 x 182.9
colors, and textures, he
the economical use of forms,
i
rail Pi ivate ( oil* i rion
improvise on any subject. Through
1971-76
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• • <•••«
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. . • •
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Magna on
Roy UchttBMtoln, Oval Mirror 6* *3'M, 1971 Oil ind
151.
150. Roy Lichtcnstcin, Oval Mirror 6' xJ'W, I'M ( h\ and Magna on
lemi J6 inches) ollcction Da ft in
,
[g2.8 x ''i .' • I
canvas, 182.8x91 4 cm (72 x 36 inches] Collection Irving Blum New York

151. Roy Liehtenstcin, Oval Mirror 6^ V Ul. 1971 Oil and Maglli
oUecrion David ichtensiein

canva,, isjs >c91 h i
'
I
Orange, Red. 1966 on anvas, five succeeded in depicting the subtleties ofephemer.il reflections while he staked OUl new
153. Ellsworth Kelly, B/iu\ Greet,, Yellow,
* »il i
609 m 60 240 inches) territory in the area ofhis abiding interest, uniting image and abstrat tion into a new
p.mck 1 52 3 v 1 21 ''cm ((><> x 48 inches) each 152 3 x 5 i k
entity. Perhaps the nature of the subject itself, all reflections and shadows, treed him from
/;':'
overall Solomon R Guggenheim Museum. New York
the sometimes confining equation of art-as-reproduction-as-abstraction, and

enabled him
to appropriate from the Abstract Expressionists the domain chat they had < laimed foi their
M
•'•/••I
own — that of the sublime. In these paintings, the canvas became the arena foi a series of
world and the meaning oi hi itself.

meditations about the beauty of things in this
In 1971, while continuing to work on the Mirrors series in his studio on the Bowery,
often Entablatures (see figs. 157 and 158, for example). We

§ Lichtenstein began
have already established

a series
his tendency to alternate one type ol work with another-
example, following the Abstract Expressionist Brushstrokes of the mid-1960s with

the
for
Art Deco patterns of the Modem series m the late 1960s and now he went from the
surfaces of mirrors to motifs derived from architei im.il reliefs. Although the
shimmering
many of the same formal issues as the Mirrors, he was fori ed to
Entablatures deal with
find different solutions to paint such .1 different subject, lor this series. I ichtenst< in
':'•
•
m the financial district oi ower Manhattan (see figs. 155

photographed some buildings I
newspapers, selecting oi
and 156) and tore out photographs of banks from
a vai ietj
architectural details primarily from friezes adapted from Greek and Roman originals. Just
;;•;:•
his painting of the Temple Apollo (fig. 121), 1964, on a

as I ichtenstem had based oj
photograph o\ a temple, so he enjoyed the idea of working

postcard reproduction oi a
mot. Is. which had been widely used to

with these thrice-removed images ofarch.tectur.il
'.';;..•
?•;.'•
... America earlier in this
adorn facades of banks, courthouses, museums, and hbrar.es
buildings midday, time when the shadows and
century. Lichtenstein photographed the
at a
sharp He used this dramatic pattern oi light and dark as the

details showed up in relief.
group of paintings, of the... rendered black and white

PS basis for his initial
I hese Entablatures include significant areas of solid

all
white
...
... the canvases, as ... the
present the visual equivaleni ol their subjects'

Minors. But in contrast to the Mirrors, whii h
unvarying
fluid, reflective surfaces, the
images in the Entablatures are charai ti rized by
esses to create the impression ol solidity and three-
geometry and deep shadows ind r. 1
also used the frieze motif to emphasize the

surface plane of the
left 152. Roy Lichtenstein, Mirror in Six Panels, 1971 Oil ind M dimensional form. He
ichtenstein established a long horizontal
format
.... cm canvas. In this hrst group of Entablatures, I
cam, 3J55.8 cm (120 x 22 inches) each; 304.8 x 335.2

s (120 x
h. MX, Mil tloll to parallel that of an actual frieze from one of Manhattan's stone buildings. Despite the
.! I II ivati
l\ .It, , <>ll< ,
193 Chapter 9: Mirrors. 1969-72. and Entablatures. 197!

wink- he staked out new
on anvas fiw succeeded in depicting the subdeties of ephemeral reflections
Green, Yellow, Orange, Red, 1966 < Ml
153. Ellsworth Kelly, Blue,
image and abstraction a new
territory in the area ofhis abiding interest, uniting
i
152.3 x 121 9 cm (60 x 4s inches) each; 152 3

x 609 5 ,
m (60 « 240 inches)
pancls
reflections and shadows, lived him from
entity Perhaps the nature of the subject itself, all
Solomon R Guggenheim Museum, Ne« York
reprodui tion-as-abstraction, and enabled him
overall
the sometimes confining equation ofart-as

their
to appropriate from the Abstract
Expressionists the domain that the) had laimed foi i
became the arei aseri.

In these paintings, the canvas
t
own -that of the sublime.
meditations about the beauty of things in tins world and the meaning ol ai I its. II
in his studio on the Bowery,

In 1971, while continuing to work on the \dirrors series
157 and 158, tor example). We

Lichtenstein began a series of ten Entablatures (see figs.
Ins tendency to alternate one type ol work with mother

have already established
Expressionist Brushstrokes ol .he mid 1960s « ith th,
tor example, following the Abstra. I
and now he wen. Iron, the

Art Deco patterns of the Modern series in the late 1960s
from an hitectural reliefs Ml gh th,
of mirrors to motifs derived
shimmering surfaces
issues as the Mirrors, h, was for, ed to
ntablatures deal with man, ol .Ik- same formal
I
Fo. .Ins series, I htenstem

such a different subje( .(
find different solutions to paint
I
(see figs 155

district of Lower Manhattan
photographed some buildings in the financial
tet) o
ofbanks from newspapers, selecting a va.
and 56) and tore out photographs
I
primarily from friezes adapted iron,

Greek and R tgmals.just
architectural details
his painting of the Temple ol [polio (fig. 121), 1964 on a
„ 1 k htenstem had based
pi so I me idea ol working
gi tph ol
postcard reproduction of
I
a
p
lei, used to
architectural motifs, wind, had bee
with these thrice-removed images of
museums, and libraries in Amen, a earner in
this
adorn facades ofbanks. courthouses,
the buildings a. midday, a time
when .he shadows and
century. Lichtenstein photographed
'Ugh. and dark as the
details showed u, harp relief. He used tins dramati, pat.
in bla, k and white.
initial group of paintings, all of them rendered
bas i s for his
as ol solid white in .1-
anvases as m the
These Entablatures include significant an
subjects
which present the visual equivalent o. then
Wnm . liut in contrast to the Mirrors,
by unva, ymg
fluid, reflective surfaces,
the images m the Entablatures are ,
hara, te
te impress solidity and h cc-

geometry and deep shadows and
recesses to ere;
the e plane of the
used the frieze motif to emphasize
a,
Lensional form. He also
left 152. Roy Lichtenstein, Mirror in Six Panels, 1971 < '.I and Magna on
Lichtenstein established a long
^formal
i « panels M)4.8 •
55 8 cm (120 > ich 104.8 > tZlln this first group of Entabl s,
one ol Manhattan s stone buildings. I Kspitc the

to parallel that of an actual frieze
from
lies) overall Private i olle< tion
1971-76
faithful rendering, however, the paintings are more closely related to the photographs on
which they were based. Mis translation of architectural forms into two dimensional images
based on photographs helps maintain an appeal m< i
oi artifit iality. I [ere again, he has
re\erted to black and white, as in his early 1960s series ol still lifes, such as Golf Ball
(fig. 31), 1962, while the subject can also be considered an elaboration on his mid 1960s
paintings of monuments, such as Temple qj \pollo and Temple //. L965. These paintings of
friezes resemble images that one might find in a commercial catalogue, thus keeping intact
the connection between the monument and its reproduction, whi< h together form the
subject of these new paintings.
After Liechtenstein completed this group of Entablatures, he went on to paint a series of
still lifes, which preoccupied him from 1972 to 1976 (see next chapter). Between l
l
)74
and 1976, however, he also painted another, very distinctive group of Entablatures (see figs.
154 and 159, for example). In these later works, he reduced the size of the canvases, as
though he were giving us close-up views of a smaller section ol i building, and intTOdui ed
metallic paint and sand to lend the images a greater sense of texture- and mass. I ike the
Mirrors, these later Entablatures < onve) i

i ertain neutrality, appearing to be fragments oi a
building of no particular style or character, images one recognizes as vaguely classical. Bui
they are striking paintings in terms of their color, texture, size, and quality of light.
Moreover, he no longer limited himself to the unmodulated surfaces and primary olors I
that he had long favored, thus making his first significant departure from the nexus
frfrrtr/rt/rrtrttiffftrifttrrf/rrrffft/f/frrff/ff*
..I
formal elements he had been using since his early paintings. And he relied less on his
photographs to give him the specific details he needed to make the paintings look
convincing as architectural friezes. I le began to invent lot ins with a generic look and
alluded to architectural details in only the most cursory fashion. Although his use of
the
metallic paint and sand imparted a quality that emphasizes the sculptural relief lat< I
Entablatures appear even more abstract than the earlier ones. Together
with the Mirrors,
these paintings represent ichtcnstcins most complete statement to date about color and
1
abstract form, an area pioneered by Kelly, Noland. .\nd Stella, and which he fust
155, 156. Photographs t.iki-i by Roy Lichtcnstein of various entablatures around
approached almost a decade earlier when he began the series of Modem paintings with the
\l mli ill. m. I
.1 1970
Roy Lichtenstein, Entablature, 1974 Magna paint with sand 133). 1966 he later Entablatures retain a
poster he designed for Lincoln Center
154. l
>i] ind metallii (fig. I
x 254 new range of colors into Ins work,

n olle< tion
minimal reference to architecture while introducing
1.4 i in (60 x I iihi s Pi in i
a
and bear comparison to Noland s horizontal paintings o\~ 1966-70. Unlike Noland. who
ichtenstein used oil paint. Magna, metallic paint, and
stained the canvases with acrylic, I
sand. Hut both artists divided the canvases into horizontal bands of unequal width, and m
Nolands Trans Median I. 1968, ichtenstein painted
most of the later Entablatures, as in I
narrow bands of color near the top and bottom ofthe canvas, m
contrast to the field in
and black). he
between (which he restricted to a palette of predominantly white, gray,
I
expand the concept of reductive form to .\n entire bod) of work, well beyond
Entablatures
its initial purpose m paintings ofthe early 1960s such as GolJ Ball.
landscape paintings, the entire series of Mirrors, and the Entablatures are
Several ofthe
among the most minimal paintings in I ichtenstein \ oeuvre. In the landscape painting
landscape through the
Littoral (fig. 1 IK). 1964, for example, he created the illusion of a
simple forms made from stenciled screens of un>lonn-s./e Bcndav dots
juxtaposition of
Bendav dots. In the MirrOi
and other forms made from overlapping screens o( different-size
195 Chapter 9: Mirrors. 1969-72, and Entablatures, 1971-76

faithful rendering, however, the paintings arc more closely related to the photographs on
which they were based. I lis translation of architectural tonus into two-dimensional images
based on photographs helps maintain an appearance oi artificiality. 1 [ere again, he lias
reverted to black and white, as in his earU 1960s series of Still hies, such .is Golf Ball
31). 1962, while the subject can also be considered

an elaboration on his mid-1960s
(fig.
paintings of monuments, such .is Temple of Apollo and Temple II. L965. These paintings of
friezes resemble images that one might find in a commen ial i atalogue, thus keeping inta< I
the connection between the monument and its reproduction, whi< h together form the
subject of these new paintings.
After Lichtenstein completed this group oi Entablatures, he went on to paint ., series of
still lifes, which preoccupied him from 1

1
>72 to 1976 (see next chapter). Between L974
and 1976, however, he also painted another, very distinctive group ol ! ntablatures (see flgS
154 and 159, for example). In these latei works, he reduced the size of the canvases, ..s
lose-up views of a smaller section olfa building, and introduced

though he were giving us c
greater sense of texture and mass e the

metallic paint and sand to lend the images .. 1
il
Mirrors, these later Entablatures convey a certain neutrality, appearing to I- fragments ol a
as vaguely classical. But

building of no particular style or character, images one recognizes
they are striking paintings m terms of their color, texture,
size, and quality ol light
ind primary coloi

Moreover, he no longer limited himself to the unmodulated surfaces
his first significant departure from the nexus ol
that he had long favored, thus making
paintings. And he relied less on his
formal elements he had been using since his early
specific details he needed to make the paintings lock

photographs to give him the
le began to invent forms with a generic look and
convincing as architectural friezes. 1
Although h.s use ol

alluded to architectural details in only the most
cursors fashion
the latei
metallic paint and sand imparted a quality that emphasizes the sculptural relief,
more abstract than the earliei on. fog thei with the Mirrors,
Entablatures appear even
\ most complete statement to date al -'I- and
these paintings represent Lichtenstein
I
Noland, and Stella, and which he first

abstract form, an area pioneered by
Kelly,
entablatures around
155, 156. Photographs taken by K<>\ Lichtenstein of various
when he began the series ol Modem paintings With the
approached almost a decade earlier
M >nli itl in i 1970
retain a
133). L966. II, late. Entablatures
i
poster he designed for Lincoln Center (fig.

reference to architecture while introducing ,
new range ol colors into his work,
minimal
70. Unlike Noland, who
and bear comparison to Noland's horizontal paintings of 1966
oil paint. Magna. metalli< paint, and
.Ah. lichtenstein used
Stained the canvases with a. -
unequal width; and m

sand But both artists divided the canvases into horizontal bands of
lllMllmr , as in Median I. L968, u htenstein painted
Noland's Trans I
most Qfthe |
,„., ,
held
of the canvas, in contrast to the
in
narrmv bands oi\o\or near the to P and bottom
predominantly white, gray, and black .The
between (which he restricted to a palette of
well beyond
torn, to an entire bock ol work,
Entablatures expand the concept of reductive
Bali
its initial purpose in paintings of the early 1960s such as < MJ
the entire series of Mirrors, and
the / ntablai
Several of the landscape paintings,
painting
Lichtenstein s oeuvre. In the landscape
among the most minimal paintings in
through the
Uttoralite US). 1964, for example,
he created the illusion ol lands, tpe x
made from stenciled screens of uniform -size tad* to*

juxtaposition of Simple tonus
size Benda, dots, in the Mirror
screens of different
and other forms made from overlapping
1971-76
195 Chapter 9: Mirr ors. 1969-/2. and Entablatures.
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158. Roy Lichtenstein, Entablature ##, 1972 ( >il ind Magna on
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159. Roy Lichtcnstcin, Entablature, 1976 Oil Magna ind metallic paini with (and
,„, | invas i
i
i .
192 ini he$) Solomon R < luggcnhi im Musi urn,
New Ymk. Partial and promised gifi ol thi artisi

paintings, he used these stenciled screens, supported by broad expanses of color or black
effect o\\\ mirror's
line, to evoke the sensation of pure reflection and to capture the
distortion on an objects shape and its shadows. The Entablatures are essays in reductive
form, which, with just a tew details of one repeated pattern or another, convey the
connoting Greek Revival architecture. In his use of flat

illusion o\\\ flat plane as a frieze
color, equally flat black lines, and unmodulated Benday-dot screens for most of these
the Minimalist
works, Lichtenstein was exploring some of the same aesthetic territory as
and Color Field painters cited above, although he departed from their goals by
establishing
from the first his interest in representation, however stylized or abstract.
Each of these series has expanded his initial exploration of formal issues, and enabled
him, as comic strips and consumer objects had earlier, to make a relatively banal subject
the focal point of a dialectic with Modern and contemporary art and the history of
culture. Impressionism and Post-Impressionism, such twentieth-century innovators as
Picasso and Mondnan, classical Greek architecture and its Neoclassical revivals
Lichtenstein roamed in time among the various forms of art and culture of Western
Europe. He has also addressed American culture, in the form of the iconic figure of
George Washington, the aesthetics of Art Deco and Abstract Expressionism, and the larger
realm of Fop culture. The Entablatures are part of his exploration of American cultures
complex relationship to its European ancestry, first as Europe's artistic stepchild, then its
hen. then its rebellious and independent cousin. Lichtenstein tackles such momentous
subjects with modesty, wit, and irony, as well as ambition, using the format that he
derived
from the comic strip as the armature on which he built his response.
htenstein, quoted in "An Interview with Roy Lichtenstein." in Roy Lichtenstein Graphic Work:
I I i<
1970-IVMh exhib. cat (New York: Whitney Museum of American Art, Downtown Branch,
I ii tober 14-November 25. 1981 |, n.p
2. Ibid.
3. (.ns. quoted in Daniel-1 lenry Kahnweiler,Jw*H Gris: His Life and Work, trans. Douglas Cooper (London:
Lund Humphries. 1947), pp. 87-88.

Lichtenstein's 1970s still-life paintings differ significantl) from those of the 1960s. In
the earlier still lifes, lie tended to favor images of familiar household staples siu h .is a steak
rib, a roasted turkey, hot dogs, an ice-cream soda, or .1 sli( e of cherry pie, .is featured on
TV commercials or in newspaper advertisements or supermarket fliers, rather than more
traditional genre subjects, with the outstanding exception of Black Flowers (tig. 25), 1961
In his 1960s paintings, the single object was usually isolated against .1 field composed
of a flat plane of solid color or a screen of Benday dots. In either case, the emphasis was
on a generic product, a common item with high image recognition. In his still lifes from
the 1970s, Lichtenstein turned his attention to the idea of traditional still-life painting
and explored a new range of subjects. He alternated between depicting arrangements of
simply rendered objects such as yellow bananas and grapefruit or a bunch of green grapes
in a bowl, or a group of objects in his studio, and compositions based on his own earlier
work or on images derived from the work of other artists. Aiming the latter is SHU I
ife
with Goldfish Bowl (fig. 160), 1972, based on Henri Matisse's Goldfish and Sculpture
(fig. 161), 1912. Lichtenstein composed his Matissean still life using the same motii ol
three goldfish in a cylindrical glass howl on a table, and situating them in an interior as
Matisse did. In Matisse's version, the goldfish bowl is a< COmpanied by a sprig of
nasturtiums in a simple vase on a plate, which in I ichtcnstcin's version is replaced by
three lemons and a grapefruit. Following Matisse's lead, ami a centuries- old tradition in
Western art, Lichtenstein included in this painting an image ol one ol his own earlier
works, a practice he has continued to this day; bin whereas Matisse featured one of his
161. Henri Mattisc, Goldfish and Sculpture, [ssy-les-Moulineaux, 1912 Oil on sculptures, a luxurious reclining nude. 1 L( htenstein chose to show part ol Ins own
i m\ iv. 116.2x 100 5 cm (46 \ 39 - inches) I 'lu- Museum of Modern Art. New York. painting Golf Ball (fig. 31), 1962. To this ensemble I lchtcnstcm added 1
leai ol a tn 1
Gift of Mi and Mrs John Hay Whitney philodendron, using the plant to suggest nature but also to close off the rear ol the interioi
rather than opening it to the out-of-doors as Matisse had done by depicting a window
overlooking a garden.
Matisse began to feature his own work in his paintings starting in 1906, I [e made
several versions of this interior with goldfish, two «.! win. h contain the same motifs thai
are to be found in this, the earliest of the paintings. Here, Matisse placed the goldfish
bowl, vase, and plate — all painted in the same light blue-green hue — together with the
pinkish-tan terra-cotta sculpture on a blue table in a blur interior. In this color saturated
room, both the table and the surrounding interior are painted the same shade ol blue, with
only an incomplete outline suggesting the distinction between the two. The painting is an
evocation of pure color, as well as an essay in using color to suggest form and volume,
similar to the extraordinary The I'd Studio (fig. 172), 191 I. a study in
light and shade. It is
color harmony in which Matisse has bathed a studio interior and its contents in red
Matisse's consummate ability to use color both to describe Space and to suggest flatness, to
delineate living and inanimate forms, inspired Lichtenstein, who turned to h is the source
for a group of studio interiors that he painted beginning in 1973.
In SHU Life with Goldfish Howl, Lichtenstein followed some of the basic elements of
Matisse's innovative composition, while reinforcing Matisse's emphasis

on flatness and
frontahty. Even where he made changes, such as adding the lemons and the philodendron.
'•" 160. Roy Lichtenstein, with Goldfish Bowl, 1972 Oil and Magna who used these motifs in many of his paintings. Despite the
Still Life I
he was quoting Matisse,

however, there are some fundamental differences between Lichtenstem's
canvas, 132 x [06
6 cm (52x42 inches) Private collection similarities,
207 Chapter 10: Still Lifes. 1972-76

with Silver Pitcher, 1972 Oil and
Magna on canvas,
162. Roy Lichtenstein, SHU Ufe
ollection Mr andMrs Bagle} Wright

130 i ..
152.7 cm (51 i c60 inches) <
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163. Roy Lichtenstein, Sfi'M Li/r with Glass and Peeled Lemon, l
(
>72 Oil and M.ipu
"ii canvas, 107.9 x 122.5 cm (42 Vi x 48 V* inches) Helman ( ollecrion, New Yorl
version and Matisse's. Matisse's painting is a studs in sensate color and tranquil form,
which brings a particular scene to life In com. \ ing its mood and atmosphere. Matisse
applied his perceptual experien< e >>l color to his explorations of color as an abstract entity,
but he never relinquished its power to refer to its original source in nature. I ichtenstein's
palette is far more schematic, less attuned to the sensations that colors can evoke and not
necessarily determined by the objects usually associated with them. While the latter is also
true of Matisse, m Lichtenstein's case it is more extreme, because the process colors that he
uses distance the objects that are depicted even farther from nature than (U) Matisse's rauvc
colors. And where Matisse conveys a sense ot t.unili.ii ii\ and intimacy, 1 uhtenstem is
impersonal and generic.

Lichtenstein and his contemporary Ellsworth Kelly both viewed color as an
independent entity. Kelly, like Matisse, had derived his palette from forms found in nature
as well as from man-made forms, but in the early 1970s he expressed an interest in
"naming" color' — that is, m identifying a yellow as yellow, without reference to its
relationship with other colors or its common assm iation with .m object. Lichtenstein's use
of color was never completely dependent on the actual color of an object. I le derived his
palette from the media, favoring the artificial-looking process colors used in me. linn, al
reproduction. Hence, as stated earlier, the same unmodulated shade "I \> Uov could be
used in a single work to describe a girl's hair, a gold clock, and a brass bedpost (see Blonde
Waiting [fig. 1
12], iw>4). Although Lichtenstein followed Matisse's basii 1 olor scheme in
Still Life with Goldfish Bowl, he maintained the independence of Ins colors from the tonus
they described by substituting the process versions of those colors I 01 I i< htenstein, lini
continued to define form, a departure from Matisse's practi< e <>t defining shap< I
juxtaposing areas of contrasting colors ami using line 111 mik the most minimal fashion
In Still Life with Goldfish Bowl, 1 ichtenstein also brought the tabletop arrangement
much closer to the picture pi. me than Matisse did in ( toldfish and Sculpture, eliminating the
front portion of the table and most of the rear of the interior. Matisse counteracted
the flat, schematic space of his painting with his convincing though cursory depiction
of the rounded forms of his sculpture, his diminution ot obje« tS in the background.
and the view looking out into the garden. In 1 ichtenstein's version, any suggestion ol
volume is squeezed out of the painting, making every three-dimensional form look two
modulated and substituted Bend.iv-dot
dimensional. He also used flat rather than 1 olors, .1
precise black outline for Matisse's uneven contours, inflected brushstrokes,

pattern and a
and light-filled surfaces.
subsequent series ol ulptures

Lichtenstein used Matisse's goldfish-bowl motif in a Si
(see fig. 261). The relationship of three-dimensional form and two-dimensional space has
been a recurring interest of his. dating back to Ins paintings of 1961. In the Goldfish Bowl
image back into three-dunensi. in form,

sculptures, he converted Ins two-dimensional
..I
a
by casting his
updating the issue of the relationship of space and volume to
flatness
as a sculpture.
interpretation of Matisse's painting Goldfish and Sculpture
theme, such ife will, Silvei Pitchei (fig. 162),
In other variations on the Still-life as Still I
and Ufi uHth tystal Bowl

¥ 164. Roy Lichtenstein, Still Life with Crystal Bowl, 1973 Oil and Magna on Still Ufe With GlaSS and Pct'lrd UttlOn (fig. 163), both 1972, Still <
own settings, combining simple bunches

164), 1973, Liehtenstein again arranged
132.1 x 106.7 cm (52x42 inches) his
Whitney Museum of American Art, (fig.
Vu an elaborate cut-crystal goblet, a fruit bowl, or

York, Purchase, with fiindsfiom Frances and Sydney Lewis
of fruit With traditional tableware, such as

165. Roy Lichtcnstcin, Cape Cod Still Life II, 1973 Oil U>d Magna on cai
152.4 x 187.9 cm (60x74 inches) Private collei tion

a silver pitcher and tray. He appropriated the images of these objects from < ommercial
catalogues or newspaper and magazine advertisements, and placed them
in surroundings
that rivaled them in banality. Although it is evident that I ichtenstein was still engaged in
emulating the look of the tabloids in his work by re-creating the look of glass 01 silvei .is
it was rendered in the media, his compositions in these still display the virtuosity
lifes of
the seventeenth-century Hutch Still-life painters and the precision ofsuch nineteenth-
century American masters of trompe l'ocil as William M. larnett and John
1 F. PetO. 1 ike
these artists, he renders his subjects larger than lite, taking advantage ol every highlight,
every reflection on the surface of a grape, an apple, a glass, or a plate, and using every
cliche imaginable, be it a curtain and its braided tie or a lemon and its peel. In focusing on
and exaggerating these details, he makes use of both the snob appeal exploited by the mass
media and the esoteric approach of classical still life painting.
Lichtenstein continued to use his stenciled versions ol Benday-dot screens in souk ol
these still lifes. But in many of them he replaced the Benday screen with a pattern of bold
parallel black and white lines in a horizontal configuration (see. tor example, SHU Life with
Crystal Howl) or on the diagonal (see SHU Life with Silver Pitcher), I he diagonal stripes were
such an effective substitute that he continued to use them in subsequent series I I ha
represent a departure for Lichtenstein from the look of newspaper reproduction thai h id
become an inherent part of his signature style over the last di i

adi and u i
panied a
change in direction in his choice of subject matter, away from the mass produ< ed object to
embrace more traditional themes
In another group of still lifes, Ik htenstein took the most ok ions . lu hes "I the ( ape
Cod vacation — lobster, fishnet, seagull, and lighthouse — ami combined them into
paintings that recall a tourist brochure or the kind of CUrbside tOUl LSI art familiar to
anyone who has visited a seaside resort. Cape ( ",od SHU Life II (tig. 165), L973, anti< ipates
some of his later paintings, such as Razzmatazz (fig. 166), 1

C
>7K. Go for Baroque (tig. 167),
1979, and Mountain I 'Mage (fig. 211), 1985, in its complex composition and its use ol
multiple perspectives in a single painting. Men ,

I i« htenstein has fused still life and
landscape. Each of the objects in the painting seems plausible enough ,i seagull perched
on a ledge gazing out toward a lighthouse; in the foreground, a lobster, just unwrappi d,
in pride of place on a tabletop full of objects, including a pie< e of rope, a seashell, a
starfish, and the kind of net-wrapped ball that one usually finds in a beach shop lull of
knickknacks; and, flanking the table, some fishnets and pulleys. However, uh.it appears i<>
be a relatively straightforward scene is filled with ambiguities. I ichtenstein has used
multiple perspectives in deputing this still lite and its surroundings (note, tor example,
the table oriented to the grid of the canvass edges, but the wall behind n 01 iented on
the diagonal), and contradictory elements of lighting and shadow for contiguous objects
in it. He has also collapsed relative depth between the foreground and background, thus
giving us a shallow space that is supposed to be an interior room with .i window (but
could also be interpreted as a porch — neither entirely inside or outside). By deliberately
conveying the awkward drawing and rendering of the amateur painter, just as in earlier
paintings he had imitated the crudely drawn images m newspaper ads, he hoped to alter
the format of the tradition-laden genre of the still life enough to make it fresh and
unfamiliar.
213 Chapter 10: Still Lifes, 1972-76

166. Roy I ichtenstein, Razzmatazz, 1978 < > 1 1 and mvas,
i ,,11,. Hon Rob< n md fan< M< •< rhofl
i I'll." in Maryland
167. Roy Ueheenstein, Go Jot Bamqut, 1979 I >il ind
Magna i
!71 c424.1ci 6 in
Private - olli i tion

I i< htenstein continued Ins dialogue with the work ol Matisse in the series of studio
interiors he began the same year .is (\ijn- Cod Still Life II and Still Life with Crystal Bowl
Artist's Studio No. I (Look Mickey) (fig. 171), 1973, is loosely based on Matisse's
The Red Studio, Lichtenstein adopted the configuration of the room, replaced the vase ol
nasturtiums with the pewter jug and ivy from other paintings by Matisse, and included '
selection of his own paintings: a portion of Look Mickey (fig. I

1
)). 1961, two panels from
one of his Mirroi paintings, a Stretcher Frame painting, a new lands* ape one that he had
not vet painted as a full-size work (but did so the following year)-— and an image ol a
comic-strip dialogue balloon that he made up, which reads, *\i i im\i baldhj \imi> gi \
OVER THERE? THAT'S 'CURXY' GROGAN. Ill AND His MOB RUN HAL1 mi B M ki- is IN 1 1
lis
TOWN!" a joking reference to a close friend who has an obsession with gangsters I le also
incorporated his own early image n\\\ telephone (depicting it atop one of Matisse's
sculpture stands) and numerous references to other images — a door, I ( ouch, .in
arrangement of fruit, and an entablature — taken from earlier drawings or paintings. In
addition to borrowing images from other paintings bv Matisse, such as The Pewtei Jug,
169. Fernand Leger, Marie I'acrohale, 1934 Oil on canvas, 185 4 x 233.6 cm (73 \ ca. L917, he included the central image from I eger's The Baluster (fig. 174). 1925.
92 inches) G Jcrie I ouise I eiris, Paris In Artist's Studio, "Dancers" (fig. 170), l
(
>74, 1 ichtenstein again quoted Matisse, this
time ringing his changes on Still Life with "Dance" (fig 173), 1909. As he had in Still Life
With Goldfish Bowl, Lichtenstein again composed his image closer to the picture plane than
Matisse's original, altered Matisse's still life, and depicted his own carina work here, a
portion of Sound of Music (fig. 1

14), 1964. As before, he flattened and formularized
Matisse's imagery but managed to i apture some of the lyricism of the original figures.
With this painting, Lichtenstein brought to a i lose his exploration of one aspect ol
Matisse's art while he continued to expand upon his own interest in still life, albeit in a
fundamentally different form.

1972-73, Lichtenstein completed anothei series of still lifes, a group oftrompe-roeil
In
pamtmgs, including Trompe \'( )eil with I kges Head and Paintbrush (fig. 168), 1973. In this
canvas. Lichtenstein combined references to I eger with references to nineteenth century

Imitating such
American trompe-l'oei] painting and twentieth-century Cubistfaux bois.
larnett and PetO, he has depicted several unrelated items a

masters of the genre as I
of paper, an envelope containing a letter, fragment

butterfly, a paintbrush, a small square
..
faux-woodgrain wall, two of then, with nails (shown

of an image bv I eger atta< hed to a
eger head detail from h.s painting \4arie Vacrobate

with trompe-roeil shadows). I he 1 is a
nails, envelope, and woodgrain pattern are pan ol the

(fig. 169), 1934; the trompe-roeil
he
well as of the nineteenth-century Ameri. an painters
I
lexicon of Analytic Cubism as
trompe-l'oeil painting, m
paintbrush, which could easily belong to nineteenth-century
to Johns, who used such obj
be a his
play Brushstroke paintings or a reference
on own
relationship to reality. Lichtenstein also peels away
one trompe-
to call into question art's
woodgrain wallpaper, to reveal one of Ins own canvases, or rathei a

I'oeil device, the
guess
He gives us a glimpse of a stretcher frame, but leaves us to hazard a
fragment of one.
front of one ot h.s paintings.
whether tins the ba< k of the woodgrain panel or the
U to is
work also anti< ipates the paintings of achtenstein's Surrealist period,

I
In some respects, this

among the original Surrealists, Rene
''r 168. Roy Lichtenstein. Trompe I'Oeil with Leger Head and Paintbrush, 19 I from 1^77 to 1979. One of the leading painters
stripping away disguises to reveal
Oil and Magna on canvas, 116.8x91 Jem (46 x J6 inches) Privatt collection Magr.tte was a master ofillusion, and especially adept at

170. Roy Lichtenslein, Artist's Studio, '•Dancers.'' 1974 Oil U
244.1 x 325.4 cm 9i inchei Hie Mum f Modern An New^
Gift ol Mi "'.I Mi i S I Nt whousi |i

Roy Lichtenstein. ArlhiS Studio .V... / (Look Mickey), 1973 < til and Magna on
171.
cm (96 128 inches) Walker Art Centei Minneapolis. Gift ol

canvas. 244.2 x 325.4 ! k i
|ud} md Kenneth Dayton and th< I B Walker Foundation 1981

173. Henri Matisse, Still Lift with "Dance," I-a -les-Mouline lux autumn-winter
1909 ( li] on i invas, 89 k I 16 cm (35 k 45 Hi inches) The Hermitage Museum,

172. Henri Matisse, Tlie Red Studio. Iss) let Moulineaux 1911 Oil on canvas
si Petersburg
181 x 219.1 cm (71 i x 86 i inches) ["he Museum of Modern Art, New York
Mn Simi m I Suggi nheim I und

yet another mask. Although there is no overt reference here to Magntte, Liechtenstein
demonstrates a kindred spirit of play in dealing with questions of reality and illusion.
Departing from his usual practice of either depicting a single large object against a
ground or covering the canvas with a scries of closely juxtaposed images or patterns, he
used the faux woodgrain to create a frame w it Inn a frame and then placed each of his
trompe-l'oeil images against a different piece of the "frame." Despite such overlapping,
the obviousness of this fake "collage" negated the sense of three-dimensional ity that the
images might otherwise have had. He also painted a piece of string dangling from .1 nail
to unite the Leger head with the picture plane of the canvas. The woodgrain pattern
represents not only an art-historical reference to nineteenth- and twentieth-ccntui \
trompe l'oeil but also a new way for Lichtenstein to treat the surface of his canvases. It
was a striking-looking alternative to the Benday dots, and one that would remain
completely recognizable no matter how much he manipulated the thickness or thinness
of his line, played with the shape of a knot, or varied the color. This led him to
experiment with creating the appearance of other textures in his paintings.
Less obvious in this painting than his sources in American nineteenth-century and
Cubist trompe l'oeil is the likely influence of Ernst, whose frottages of the mid-1920s and
painting Tlic Blind Swimmer (fig. 179), 1934, were of seminal importance to the Surrealists
and to his admirers among American Abstract Expressionist painters, including

Motherwell and Newman. Ernst made rubbings of floorboards and other surfaces and used
them for the array of fantastic images that his imagination found 111 them. While there is
no indication of a direct link between Ernst and Lichtenstcin until 1977 — when
Lichtenstein, in a series of Surrealist paintings (see Girl with Tear I [fig. 189], for example),
referred to the image of an eye from The Wheel of Light (fig. 190) (one of the works in
Ernst's Histoire naturelle, executed in 1925 and published in 1926) and Magritte's False
m
174. Fernand Leger, The
. mi, lu is) rhe

Baluster, 1925
Museum of Modern
Oil on canvas,
Art. New
12'' 5 x
York. Mrs.
97 2
Simon
i
Mirror, 1928 —he did see the Guggenheim Museum's 1975 retrospective exhibition of
Ernst's work, which included several important frottages. It is therefore not surprising that
heim I und
he explored Surrealism more deeply in a series of works just a few years later.
From 1974 to 1976. Lichtenstein experimented with a variety of approaches to still life.
In Cubist Still Life (fig. 175) and Cubist Still Life with Playing Cards (fig. 176). both 1974,
he explored the Cubist approach. He selected some of the Cubists' favorite motifs-
mandolin and guitar, playing cards, bottle, newspaper, faux woodgrain— and combined
clouds and sky, sections of an entablature, a pattern o\
them with some of his own. such as
diagonal stripes. As Lichtenstein intended from the first time he appropriated this style, he
wanted these paintings to look like reproductions of Cubist works but also to be read as
Lichtensteins. To this end. he dissected his images and recomposed them, creating his own
variation of Synthetic Cubism. Although several of these paintings contain references to
less important
specific Cubist compositions, especially the work of Gris, the imagery is
paintings related to
than the idiom that he was trying to re-create, which is not true of his
ichtenstein's interest
specific Matisse, such as the fitter's Goldfish and Sculpture.
I
.11
'26 175. Roy Lichtenstcin, Cubist Still Life, 1974 Oil and Magna on canvas, a
art had
k 172 7 cm (90 x 68 inches). National Galley ••< Art, Washington, D.< Gift of Cubism focused on the way in which this seminal movement in twentieth-century
version of a Cubist still lite is
i
ila \cheson Wallace 1983 50 I emerged as a phenomenon of popular culture. Lichtenstcin s
a synthesis of the originals with the look o\\i hand-me-down. In
227 176. Roy Lichtenstcin, Cubist Still Life with Playing Cm/5, 1974 Oil and a homogenized one,
Magna on canvas 243 reworking Cubism. Lichtenstein introduced in these paintings elements from his previous
s v.
152 1 cm (96 x 60 inches) Private collection
225 Chapter 10: Still Lifes, 1972-76

177. Roy Liechtenstein, Coir Triptych (Cow Going Abstract), 1974 Oil and Magna
on canvas, three panels, 11 I

cm
veral] Collection Robert and Jane MeyerhofF, Phoenix Maryland

work andmvented some new touches
that fit the aesthetic of the
earlier movement just
- the Cubists had, he
incorporated sand into his pigments. From
the faux-woodgrain
wallpaper of the Cubists he made
his own painterly equivalent
of woodgrain textures
To then- use of materials he added
his own, in the form of metallic
paints, which he first
used in his series of Entablatures. That same year, he also painted Cow Triptych (Cow Going
Abstract) (hg. 177), 1974, a play
on De Stijl and Constructive artists' use ofbask
geometric forms to connote a form in nature. Using a palette of yellow, black, and white
and starting with a rudimentary image of a cow in the left-hand panel, Lichtenstein
develops a wry composition that concludes with a non-objective composition with a
shghtly altered palette in the right-hand
panel. (This third panel later served as the bas.s for
Lichtenstein s Perfect paintings, 1985-86.)
In paintings such as Purist

Painting with Pitcher, Glass, Classical ( Column (fig. 178). 1975 as
in his Cubist still lifes, Lichtenstein created his own updated version of an important early
Modern movement. Here, he appropriated the fundamental
devices of Purism, an offshoot
of Cubism, from Amedee Ozenfant,
Charles-Edouard Jeanneret [Le Corbusier], and Leger.
The elements that made the Purist style noteworthy were its focus on highly styli
neoplastic form, subdued color, and opaque paint surfaces. By delineating ea< h form with a
heavy black outline around solid areas of color, using his diagonal stripes, faux woodgrain,
and Benday-dot screens, and reducing everything to the straight line and the curve,
Lichtenstein underscored the stylized representational
aspect of Purist art. None of these
touches made the paintings look frivolous, but they did make the short-lived movement of
Purism seem less dated than it had looked since its inception in 1918. In his own quixotic
Max way, Lichtenstein renewed Purism and made
179. Ernst, Tlie Blind Swimmer, 1934 ( >il on i anvas, 92 3 K 73.5 < m its classical forms vital once again
For his office still lifes of 1976, Lichtenstein turned again
lies). The Museum of Modern Art. New York. Gift of Mr- Pierre Matisse and to commen ial i atalogues. He
Helena Rubinstein Fund
appropriated images of the most commonplace storage cabinets,
the tile drawers, desks, and
chairs to create a small group of paintings. In contrast to some of the more bombastic si, II
lifes of the period, the office still lifes are modest indeed. Like the Entablatm i h
are spare compositions, combining a few rectangular forms with equally few colors.
New to the work, however, is an unusual palette of neutral gi iys and blues, colors that
Lichtenstein chose for these works because he that they would
felt recall the most ordinary
office furniture and equipment. He used graphite borders .uk\ dense blue pigment to recall
the hues of pencils and ballpoint ink. While the paintings have an austerity about
them
that is perhaps an offshoot of the preceding series of Purist still lifes, they are becomingly
unassuming. In these paintings, Lichtenstein again dispenses with Benday dots, using
diagonal stripes instead. Many of this series' images, as well as some of its most distinctive
stylistic features, reappear in the series entitled Two Paintings (see fig. 219) of 1983 mk\ in
the series of large-scale Interiors (see figs. 233 and 236. for example) begun m 1991
By the late 1970s, Lichtenstein had exhausted his interest in painting still lifes. From it,
li 178. Roy Lichtenstein, Purist Painting with Pitcher, Glass, Classical Column,
however, came new ideas for landscape paintings, and a new freedom in handling the
9 5 Oil and Magna on canvas, 152.4x101.6 cm (60x40 inches) Collection
surfaces of his canvases. As an alternative to Benday dots, he began using woodgrain and
hristophe CastelL
diagonal stripes, and in each of the series discussed above he introduced a new set of
colors. While there is no one characteristic that unites the different groups of still lifes,
232 180. Roy Lichtenstein, Still Life with Table Lamp, 1976 Oil and Magna
they are bound by several ideas consistent with his general approach to art. They are
"• '' ss I3i
'"
54inches) Private collection
re-creations of one or more styles in art, each of which is of particular interest to

Lichtenstein as a familiar example of "high art," translated into his own idiosyncratic style.
With these works, he continued to appropriate the styles of the Modern masters and
created a variety of opportunities to quote his own early work, exploring new avenues
that he applied with even greater mastery in later paintings
I. Sec Diane Waldman, Ellsworth Kelly Drawings, < ollages, Printi (Greenwich < onn New York Graphii
(
Society, l )71), p. 24.

u
Lichtenstein. Red Horseman, 1974 and Magna on anvas, 21
Roy
i
< )il
181.
udwig, Mus. um lerner Kunst, Vienna

284 -i cm (84 x 1 12 inches) Sammlung I
i
Lichtenstein's exploration of various historical styles reached its apogee in the mid-to-late
1970s. Even in his youthful paintings of Americana, which presented subjects derived
from the Old West, or the occasional history painting in the context of early Modernism,
he showed a concern with style as a distinctive issue in painting quite apart from a work's
subject. In many ways this issue became even more charged when Lichtenstein introduced
his first comic-strip and consumer-product paintings in 1961, pointedly emphasizing the
difference between their genre subject and a high-art style. In these and in the paintings
that followed, he has continued to demonstrate an abiding interest in questions of arts
meaning, form, content, and style.
In successive series of works that Lichtenstein painted between 1974 and 1980, he
focused especially on Futurism, Surrealism, and German Expressionism. One ot the
most notable of these paintings is Red Horseman (fig. 181), 1974, which Lichtenstein
based on Italian Futurist Carlo Carra s Horse and Ruhr, also known as The Red Rider
(fig. 182), 1913, an image that exemplifies the Futurist love of movement. The first
Red Rider, 1913 Ink and tempera on
182. Carlo Carra, Horse and Rider, or Tlie
Futurist manifesto of 1909, by Italian poet Filippo Tommaso Mannetti, the movement's
26 36 cm (10 X 14 in< Iks) Riccardo and Magdajuckei
paper, pasted on canvas. X i I
founder, called for a new art that would express and encourage speed and dynamism,
,„,„, On loan to Pinacoteca di Brera, Milan.
violence and destruction:
We shall sing the love of danger, the habit of energy and fearlessness. We affirm
been enriched by new beauty: the beaut) ol speed

that the world's magnificence has a
great pipes, like serpents ol cplosivt

A racing car whose hood is adorned with i
breath — a roaring car that seems to nde on grapeshot is more beautiful than the I Ictory
'
of Samothrace
the
Led by Mannetti, the Futurist painters and poets sought to liberate Italy from
stranglehold imposed upon it by its past. They attacked the museums, academies, and
cemeteries of lost dreams and exhorted their followers to

commit themselves to
libraries as
traditional
the action of the present. They declared themselves vehemently opposed to the
world order based on modern
values of an agrarian society and fought for a revolutionary
technology. Anarchy, militarism, and patriotism

were heralded In the Futurists as a
progressive part of their agenda and led to the

embrace of their work by the Fascists under
the leadership of Mussolini.

torpedo missions by fighter planes
Although Lichtenstein had featured bombing and
his Futurist-style paintings do not include any
and submarines in his comic-strip paintings,
of the battle scenes that had preoccupied
many of the Futurists, concentrating instead on
speed, and energy. For Lichtenstein.
World War II. despite
the depiction of motion,
war fought to preserve democracy; in his
all the destruction it caused, was a justified
he chose to sidestep the political and SO, ial

appropriation of Futurist imagery however,
movement. He was
issues that War and formed the basis of the Italian
preceded World I
agendas of many of the major art movements ot the early

aware of the social and political
interested in these issues than in the images

that W p
twentieth century, but was less
as less
of the Cubist style, especially by what he regarded
produced and their adaptation
about and
Futurism. Cam's Red Ruin is all light
\8 183. Roy Lichtenstein, Self-Portrait, 1976 Oil and Magna Oil canvas, important offshoots of Cubism, such as
Cam's relatively small-scale image onto a I

u
91 cm (42 )6 inches) ( ollection Mr ...id Mrs. Robert Shoenberg. suggests constant flux. In transcribing
a rigid network or
I k
colors, Benday-screen shading, and

19: 184. Roy Lichtenstein, Self-Portrait II, 1976 Oil and Magna .... ( invas, canvas using unmodulated
sense of rapid
froze the image, suspending the
arcs and lines, Lichtenstein
intersecting
k 137 I ,.n (7ii \ S4 inches) Private collection
Ex P R ESS O N M. 1974-80
FUTUR.SM. SURREAL. SM. AND GERMAN
. .
S
237 CHAPTER 11:
.
v.Vv-v::-.
••••V • • •
V.-'-v.v-v.v.
mm.
IV • • • -• ••••••
vv.vy.v.-y//..
A* •••••• ••«•••
• • • • ••••••••
motion of the horse and rider and then progression through space and time. 1 ichtenstein
uses his typical style of painting to fashion tins statu image as an ironic commentary on
the dynamism of the original, negating the sense of speed that the Futurists believed in
with such ardor.

Many of the Futurists, including Carra, Gino Severini, and Umberto Boccioni, were
initially influenced by Cubism, Two ofLichtenstein's Futurist takeoffs, Self-Portrait
(fig. 183) and Self-Portrait II (fig. 184), both 1

(
)7(., are based on Severini's ( lubistic
Self-Portrait (fig. 186), 1912-13. The Severini portrait is a penetrating study ol the artist
seen from multiple perspectives, characterized by movement, heightened color, ind tactile
surface. Lichtenstein has simplified it. made it even more ( lubistic, and further flattened it.
He emulated Severini's Cubist style, imitating the Italian painter's fragmented and faceted
forms, but substituted his own Benday-dot matrix and diagonal sti ipes for Sevei ini's a< tive
brushwork. With the tie still in place but the cigarette and othei features of the Italian's
self-portrait eliminated, the image not only looks quite different from the original but
remarkably like 1 ichtenstein himself Self-Portrail II is more abstra< t, and just different
enough from Severini's Self-Portrait to appear totally convincing as Lichtcnstein \ own

insightful self-portrait. He has said that lie wanted to create the effect of Futurism in his
Futurist-inspired works rather than make his own versions of particular paintings, and
thus has used them not as models but more as his point of departure (with the exception
of Red Horseman). Gucomo Balk's Mercury Passing in Front oj the Sun as Seen through a
the antecedent for Eclipse the Sun II (fig. ISS), L975. In this painting,
Telescope, 1914, is oj
.un\ thrust
Lichtcnstein has captured the centrifugal force, the intersecting arcs, the energy
of the original and. as with the Severini and the Carra, made his own Stylistic
Severini, Self-Portrait, 1912-13. OU on canvas, 55 X 16 cm 21

1X6. Gino into prominent position
interpretation of the innovations that catapulted the Futurists
a
Private collection
among the early twentieth-century Modernists.
seized upon the unconsi ious

Surrealism, founded by French poet Andre Breton in 1924,
the fundamental premise of its program.
and the interpretation of dream imagery as
Tristan Tzar, were joined by such painters as f m

Breton and fellow poets Paul Eluard and
mk\ Tangu) ... their sean I. foi a nev
Arp, Salvador Dali, Ernst. Magritte, Masson, Miro,
subconscious. Ea< I. ol the Surrealist
language with which to express the nine, world of the
means of expression with which to convey this , I
painters evolved an individual

faithful, for a time, to the movement. he Surrealists found a
being and each remained
I
own experiments in the psychoanalyti( al resear. hes oi Sigmund Freud.

rationale for their
analysis and began to apply Freud's
observations on dream
The) became involved in dream
dream to their poet.N and painting I he
interpretation and the role of language in
the >ad,.sts
the irrational, and the accidental, like
I
Surrealists, exploiting the bizarre,

on the formal and rational order ot ( ub.sm he) I
before them, staged an outright assault

drawings, improvised spnd generally behaved in an
orthodox
Futurism, was stylistically diverse. Within the
highly original art which, like
tendencies can be observed, one based on a
literal
Surrealist canon, two general
Magritte, Tanguy, and
the other based on automatism
185. Roy Lichtcnstein, Eclipse of the Sun 11, 1975 Oil uid Magna on interpretation of a dream landscape,
the former tendency, Miro and
Masson with the latter;
l^T s cm (74 x 70 inches) Private 1 ollecnon Dali ire usually identified with
EXP R ES S .0 N SM 1974-80
FUTUR.SM. SURREAL. SM, AND GERMAN
, .
241 CHAPTER 11:

Ernst defies categorization. Lichtenstein usually chose the more literal forms of Surrealism
to work from.
At first glance, Surrealism would seem to be .1 subject so remote from Lichtenstein
own formal concerns as to offer him too little to work with. Lichtenstein's commitment
to a rational and formal order and to the concept of compositional unity distinguish his
work from that of the Surrealists and align it with the work of the Cubists. Although his
interest in pop culture parallels the Cubists' interest m the quotidian surroundings of their
world, his sense of irony and his intellectual detachment compete with his commitment to
Cubism. However, Lichtenstein's overview of twentieth-century art and his affinity for
histoncism propelled him to explore several art movements with whi< h he seemingly had
little in common. What attracted him to Surrealism was its very orthodoxy; it contained
within it, like comic strips or consumer-product ads — or Cubism, for that matter — the
seeds ot a stereotype, as does any form of art or culture when it is carried to an extreme.
Thus, Surrealism's characteristic style and techniques became the subject of Lichtenstein's
new series of paintings.
Lichtenstein's Surrealist imagery is often based on that of Magritte, Pali, and Ernst.
Magritte played with the relationship between reality and illusion in several different ways.
Sometimes, he juxtaposed two identical images, portraying one is real, the othei as
invented, as in his painting The Human Condition, 1933. Both, of course, are depictions ..1
reality; but the conviction with which Magritte portrayed his duplicitOUS universe was
disarming at the very least, since it so closely mirrored the world as he knew it and as it
appeared to the spectator. Magritte's "duplicitOUS universe" consists most often of

unexpected or impossible juxtapositions, transformations, or elisions, with the effe< t of
surprise achieved by contradicting or confusing our expectations of what we assume

188. Rene Magritte, The Son of Man, 1964. Oil on canvas, 115.5 \ 88.9 cm (45 A
X
x "normal" reality to be, and (usually) by creating an otherwise "normal" context for thai
ii, Ik-s) ( olleition Harry Torczyner, New York unexpected or impossible situation. Magritte frequently created a troinpe-1'oeil world in
which a figure or an object is pictured in a scale that is at odds with the other figures and
objects in the space of a painting. In most of his canvases, the figures and objects appear as
though they could step out of the stage space they inhabit and enter the domain of the
spectator. He also took pleasure in the incongruity of metamorphoses, showing a fish
being transformed into a woman, a pair of boots into feet. Because of his interest in
trompe l'oeil and transformation, Magritte is ready-made material for Lichtenstein.
Lichtenstein borrows several motifs from Magritte — a nude torso reminiscent of the body
in Magritte's The Rape (fig. 194), 1934, an eye similar to that in 77/. I ai 1
Mirror, 1^28,
and several self-portraits, including The Pleasure Principle, L937 and The Son qj Man
(fig. 188), 1 %4— for several of his paintings, such as Girl with liar I (fig. 189), 1977,
Self-Portrait (fig. 187), 1978, and Stepping Out (fig. 195), 1978, without, however,
duplicating any one painting per se. Merely to duplicate would produce pastiches 1
il
Surrealism, without challenging its styles and its stratagems. Instead, Lichtenstein brought
gamesmanship into play, merging prototypical subjects from any one ot the major
his
Surrealists with the outstanding images of another .\nd conflating them with images drawn
own work—and, in so doing, creating a new set of images in which the

from his earlier
187. Roy Lichtenstein, Self-Pot (rail, 1978 Oil and Magna on canvas, 177 S x underlying theme is Surrealism.
most memorable Surrealist-inspired images is his 1978 Self-Portrait,

m (70 x 54 inches) Private collection One of Lichtenstein's
Futurism. Surrealism, and German Expressionism.

1974-80
243 Chapter 11:
based on Magntte's paintings '/'//<
Great War, 1964, and /'//< \>»/ 0/ .\/,m. self portraits in
which the image of an apple hides most of the ai fist's face. 1 i( htenstein's painting is a bust-
portrait featuring the upper part of an empty T-shirt, executed in the rudimentary styli ol
his early 1960s black-and-white works, and a rectangular mirror (representing his head)
that, in Ml'm>r series style, shows only a tew rippling Bcndawdot "reflections" amid empty
white space and is edged with a narrow frame made up of sections ofB< ud.i\ dots, solid
color, and white. Other self-portraits that he made around that tune indicate that
Lichtenstein experimented with different attire for the figure. In two studies, he has drawn
a jacket with an open-necked floral print shirt and with .1 collared shirt and tie; while the
painting Portrait, 1977, features a slice of cheese in place of the head (.1 quotation from his
1962 painting Sii'i^ Cheese, in which a slab of Swiss cheese was depicted against a
background ofBenday dots). In the 1978 Self-Portrait, Lichtenstein negates his own tenures
with the imageless mirror, topping Magritte's visual pun b\ 1 mx ing the notion of "self-
effacing" to the extreme and confronting the viewer with a 'mirror" that reflects onl} 1
void. Magritte, in a radio interview with Jean Nevens at the end ot L964, responding to a
question about the image of the apple hiding the face in The Great War, said
At least it hides the face parti) Well so you have the apparent fac< thi apple hiding
the visible but hidden the fai e of the person It's something that happens < onsi ind)
Everything we see hides another thing, we always wanl to se< whai is hidden In what
we see. I here is .m interest m tli.u which is liut.lv n and win. h the visible doesn'i shov
us. This interest 0111 take the form "i i quite intense feeling, .1 son .>. 1 onflii t, "in
might say, between the visible dot is hut. ten nut the visible thai is apparent
Like other Surrealists. Dali had experimented with Cubism before he became
interested in Surrealism. By 1929, however, he had invented a hallucinatory form of
realism in which he depicted objects in the vocabulary of the dream. Like Magritte. Dali
was influenced by the earl) canvases of Italian metaphysical painter Giorgio de Chirico
Max Ernst. The Wheel of Light, 1925 Frottagc era) n ;
190.
emulated de Chirico's stagelike space, his use of disorienting

i2cm(9 ix 16 finches) Private collection, Switzerland
In his paintings, Pali
of visually incongruous figures. ichtenstein

perspectives, and his juxtaposition
I
191. Salvador Dali, Hie Persistence of Memory, 1931 < >'l •>" canvas,
melted pocket watch from signal Surrealist painting.

The Museum of Modern An New York, Given appropriated the image o( a I )ali's
!
J in. hes)
and transformed into Girt mil, Tear L 1977,
of Memory (W^
it
The Persistence 191), 1931,
iousI)
related paintings that he made the same year. All three paintings, as well as
one of three
ofblond hair comb...,., on with a
similar nature, feature an eve and strand
a ...
others of a
teardrop or a pair of lips (the latter probably borrowed from Man Kay's ( )bservatory
X[ m —Jhe Lores. 1932-34). In Lichtenstein's trio of paintings we can see several aspet
whereas
ts
of Surrealism, especially .ts Freudian-based emphasis on sexuality, and note that
surrogate for male sexuality, Lichtenstein chose

to recast
Dali used the limp watch as a
and its companion paintings present us

imagery into female forms. Girl with Teat I
Dali's
ot the Surrealist vocabulary and the deepl) recessed
with Lichtenstein's interpretation
Chirico, Dali. and Tanguv. while recalling
Ins own paintings ot female
dream space ,Uk
Beach lull U,
other paintings in the series, such as Girl with
I.
figures in the early 1960s. In

forms and images from
Uld /// ill Lichtenstein freely borrowed some ot the
1977
bather, beach ball, and cabana (see Bather with Beach Ball
picasso^S Surrealist paintings of a
own lauds, ape motifi and brushstroke, in
and Magna on m\ [fig 48] 1932) and combined them with his
189. Roy Lichtenstein, Girl with Tear I, 1977 ( >il i is
manner reminiscent ot PicaSSO and

ol\^ female head, in a
i
50inches) SolomonR Guggenheim Museum, New York others he paired multiple views
Expressionism. 1974-80
245 Chapter 11: Futurism, Surreal. sm. and German
(
192. Roy Lichtcnstcin, Landscape with Figures, l '77 Oil Hid
Magna on canvas, 162.6x254 cm (64* 100 inches) Stephen
and Nan Swid I oUection, New York

,
of his own early Picassoesque lltmi.m in'/// Flowered Hat (fig. 37), 1963, with part oi a
mirror and a fragment of one of his landscapes (see Female Head [fig 193], 1977). The
Gir/ in/// Tear paintings and most of Lichtenstein's other Surrealist-style works give us
Surrealism pared down to its essential vocabulary and enhanced by his own visual
commentary. While they do not share Surrealism's fund.unent.il premise — that a language
of art could be shaped from the unconscious — they have captured much of its style, a
large measure of its wit, and not a little bit oi its pathos
Recently. Lichtenstein has said that he was largely interested in the dream landscapes
of Dali and Tanguy, and that Ernst was the Surrealist artist he most admired, primarily for
his inventive techniques. Lichtenstein was undoubtedly aware of Ernst's Histoire naturelle,
executed in 1925 (and reproduced in 1926). Among the most important illustrations in
this seminal work were those that featured an eye (see fig. 190). The eye was .i re< urrent
motif in the work of the Surrealists because it represented ,i window into the unconscious,
and thus for Lichtenstein it was one of the principal symbols of Surrealism. Other aspects
of Ernsts work of interest to Lichtenstein include his pioneering us< ol &ottag( to help
him create spontaneous images. The patterns that Ernst made from his rubbings of
and
floorboards were remarkably similar to the faux-woodgrain wallpaper used by Braque
differed
Picasso in their seminal Cubist collages (although Ernst's hallucinatory images
from those of Braque and Picasso, who used the woodgrain wallpapei as an illusionistic
simulation of reality in their predominantly abstract, two-dimensional compositions)—all
of which led to Lichtenstem's use o\\\ wood-ram pattern as an alternative to his Be. .J as
form or to in the form itself

dots or diagonal stripes to create an area surrounding a fill
176], 1974, for example).

However.
(see Cubist Still Life with Playing Cards, [fig.
wood-ram pattern is meant to look like wood-rain

Lichtenstein points out that his
laminated plastic finish that is often used as a substitute for more cosdy wood.
Formica, a
Rape, 1934 Oil on canvas, 28.9 X 21.5 cm (11 1970s, bin as pari ol his
Surrealism continued to affect L.chtenste.n's work
194. Rene Magritte. Tin- of the late
fhe Menil ollection, Houston central subject. Paintings such as Stepping ( )ui
inches
generic vocabulary rather than as
<
,ts
19
(fig. 195), znd Razzmatazz (fig. 166), both 1978, and Gofot Baroquefrg. 167),
works, such as the lips. eve. and tress of blond hair

incorporate quotations from his earlier
and Others of the same series, as well as the goll

from paintings related to Girl with Teat I
)ul retains the relatlV.

bits of landscape, Swiss cheese, and office furniture. Stepping <
bill
juxtaposing lips, eve. and hair with ..
male head from
simplicity of his Surrealist paintings,
196), 1954, whereas Raz mata and i > fin
I 6ger's painting The Country Outing (fig.
murals. In these two works. Lchtenstein

the complexity of large-scale
1
Baroque have all

such as Cape od Still
elaborates on a type of imagery that
he had developed in paintings (
when he juxtaposed disparate elements a composition With m

Life II (fig 165), 1973,
h organ* and
threads his way through tableaux in whi.
multiple perspectives. Here, he
abinetS, plants, a mans
wedges of Swiss cheese, filing
geometric forms, female heads, and
.
somewhat uneasy harmony I hese are

coexist in
jacket cactus, snails, and
birds all
the viewer, the whole

which Lichtenstein re-presents his processed imagery to
paintings in
larger than the sum of its parts.
Surrealism, Lichtenstein loosened his

nod )l
193. Roy Lichtenstein, Female Head, 1977 Oil and Magna on canvas 152.4* ln hls workings ofFuturism and
left
measure of inspiration chat was

decdedly
compositional unity and brought to
them a
50 ,,,. bi ( oUectlon El.z.ibeth and MkIucI Rcj.
ConneUKUt
SS ON M 1974-80
£ »««~ EXP.E
Furu.,S«. SURREALISM, A„0 G
, ,
.
249 CAP." .1:

different from their originators. He reinfused Futurism with some of the Cubist structure
that the Futurists themselves had rejected in then work; and in Ins Surrealist paintings he
unleashed a more fanciful aspect of his nature, layering one wild form on top of another
and creating a panoply of imagery that he intertwined with forms from his previous work
When he turned to German Expressionism, he re created its most characteristic features.
Like the Futurist movement, German 1 Kpressionism was born of rebellion, but the
German movement was a rebellion that SOUght relief and renewal in nature. It developed
in the cosmopolitan cities of Dresden, Munich, mk\ Berlin, where ii prospered fiom 1910
to around 1920, a decade in which Berlin was initially the capital of the German Empire
and then became the capital of the new German republic. By 1918, the dramatic
upheavals in Germany caused by World War I were reflected in its art, which became
increasingly concerned with the political torment of the countr) and its drastically altered
social values. In Berlin during the 1920s, German Expressionism became radii ilized and
underwent a dramatic change, with devastating street scenes replacing the earlier pastoral
scenes. A leading force in making Berlin a showcase for experiment and a European
196 Kmand Leger, The Country Outing, 1954 Oil on canvas, 245 » 101 cm cultural center was Herwarth Waldcn, the founder and guiding spirit of the magazine
- 1 19 inches). Fondarion Maeght, Saint-Paul dc Ven Dct Sturm [The Storm) and the Sturm Gallery, introducing Expressionists, Cubists,
Futurists, and Construetivists to Berlin. But it was the war that changed the fa< e of the
city and inexorably altered the life oi its painters.
German Expressionism gave twentieth-century art a new artistic language, imparting
an intense psychological expression to painting through the use oi distorted forms,
jagged lines, and violent colors. Aware of their great historical antecedents. German
Expressionists reinvigorated such timeless subjects as landscape and the figure with new
meaning, reinterpreted color as it applied to form, and reinvented the woodcut. Th

turned Christian mythology into an eloquent metaphor foi the tragedy oi modern lite,
recorded the decadence of the brilliant utv of Berlin, and left us a collective portrait ol a
city m ashes. Above all, they recorded a period in history that marked the passing ot a
political era and the end of the artist's traditional dialogue with nature, whu h be< ame all
but completely overshadowed by urban life.
Lichtenstein was well aware of the work of such German Expressionists as Max
Beckmann, Otto Dix, George Grosz, Erich Meckel, Alexei Jawlensky, Ernst Ludwig
he had
Kirchner. Franz Marc, Enul Noldc, and Karl Schmidt-Rottluff. As noted
earlier,
seen many of Jawlensky's Constructivist images of heads (figs. 200. 20 I

.
and 202) from
the Galka E. Scheyer Collection when he visited Pasadena in 1968. And on a visit
to Los Angeles m 1978, during a period when he was making WOod( UtS based on
collection ot
Native-American Indian imagery, he saw Robert Gore Rifkind's important
German wood< UtS as
German Expressionist graphic works, after which he began to use
the look
the basis for some of his paintings, sculptures, and prints. Lichtenstein emulated
Expressionism principally by emphasizing its intersecting planes and r< ating

German
i
Roy Lichtenstein, Stepping Out, 1978 Oil and Magna on canvas, 218 4 X of
-
New m his colors. Portrait oj a Woman (tig L99) and Dr. Waldmann (fig 197),
in 86 v " in hes)
i
l
he Metropolitan Museum of Art, York, Purchase, sharper contrasts
works bv Jawlensky and ).x (see fig. 198, for example); and Forest Scene
on Wallace Gift, Arthur Hoppock Hearn Fund. Arthur Lejwa I und in honoi both 1979, recall I
inspired by the forest scenes of Mare. Hie vivid colors .md bold
\'P and rhe Bernhill Fundjoseph H Hazen Foundation, In< Samuel I
(fig. 203). 1980, is
brushstrokes used bv most of these artists are

Foundation, ln< . Walter Bareiss, Marie Bannon McHenry, Louise Smith contours, angular forms and impetuous
regularized by Lichtenstein into a system in

which red. yellow, blue, green, black, and
hi n < Swid, Gifts, 1980
Expressionism. 1974-80
251 Chapter 11: Futurism. Surrealism, and German
white form the basic color scheme, while diagonal stripes — which echo the hatching in
German Expressionist woodcuts — generally replace the Benday-dot pattern .is the overall
organizing device. German Expressionism's emotional intensity, psychological meaning,
and commitment to political expression are largely absent m his Expressionist works. As he
did with Futurism and Surrealism, Lichtenstein was more interested in capturing the
movement's fundamental pictorial aspects than in probing its underlying beliefs and
ideologies.
Rather than appropriating particular paintings, as he did with Matisse 01 Pi< asso,
Lichtenstein preferred to find more generic images that would read as ( in man
Expressionist. He began with the quintessential form of a female head, and continue d
with other heads, such as Dr. Waldmann, which he painted to resemble the kind ot
cosmopolitan German that one would find in a portrait by Beckmann. In similar lash ion,
he made composite landscapes that look like landscapes by Marc or Heckel without
making any attempt to particularize these compositions or to emulate every aspect of
Marc's distinctive color palette. As noted above, he worked within his own version of a
basic German Expressionist color scheme, occasionally adding a deep green and a dark
blue to evoke the darkness and depth of the forest In contrast to these dark colors,
however, he, like Marc, often left his animal forms light, using a minimal pattern ol
Benday dots to convey some sense of modeling. He made a few obligatory references to
the German Expressionists' painterliness, but otherwise preferred to rely on mechann il
black outlines and heavy diagonal stripes to recall German woodcuts.

Of the three movements that inspired the paintings discussed above, it is German
in issues ol painting
Expressionism that connects most directly with Liechtenstein's interest
and style. German Expressionist pictorial innovations led him to expand his ideas into
of landscapes and figurative paintings that are arguabU his

sculpture and into a series
answer to Abstract Expressionism, which was indebted in no small way to the pioneering
movement in early twentieth-century German)
198. Otto Dix, Dr. Mayer-Hermann, 1926 Oil and tempera on wood, 149-2 X
1. F|ihppo) T(ommasol Mannetti. "Fond......,, el manifeste du futurisme," U 1

!
February 20,
9 in< Iks) The Museum of Modern Art. New York, Gift ot Philip
W The Founding and Manifesto of Futurism 1909; in Umbro Apollonio
19(i') translated by R. Flinl as
Ml
ed.. Futurisl Manifestos (New York Viking Press, 1973), p. 21.
where the) discovered the

2 I., October 1911, Boccioni and Cam attended the Salon d'Automne ... Paris,
Fauconnier Severini introduced B ii and

Albert Gleizes.Jean Metzinger, and lenri e
I
work ofLeger, I
Kahnweiler, who show

Guillaume Apollinaire and dealer Daniel-Henry
.1 I i
Cam to poet and critic

Futurism (Nev, York Unive, Bool
Cubist paintings K Picasso and Braque See Giovanni I ista,
112.
(Nev, Vbrl larry N. Abrams, Ii» and The Menil

Magritte, quoted in David Sylvester. Magrittt
I
3.
Foundation, 1992), p 24
kfi 197. Roy Lichtenstein, Dr. Waldmann, I

')7'» Oil Mid Magna on canvas, 152.4 k
50 in< hes) Private collection
ON M 1974-80
FUTURISM. SuRREAUSM. AND GERMAN
EXP R E S S I
,
S .
253 CHAPTER 11:

202 Alcxci Jawlcnsky. ,v<». 4, I 1931 (Meditation Head), 1937 Oil
Oilonpapei mountedon 201. Alexei Jawlcnsky, Sounds of Winter. 1927 Oil on linen finish
>0Q Alexeijawlensky, Winter, 1921
on mountedo Iboard "' '
" '
cm (11 B inch. •
Norton Simon Museum, invas •
26.4cm (14 10 inches) Norton Simon board, 42.5 a J2.7 cm (16 Y* x 12 inches) i
, | 6.6 > k
Blui Foui Galka
alifornia rhe Blue Foui Galka Scheyei oil n Norton Simon Museum, Pasadena, < Jifornia, rh<
Blue Four-Galka S« heyei Pasadena, (
(
um Pasadena, ( alifornia, ["he
s, heyei * ollei don

don
199. Roy Lichtcnstein. Portrait of a Woman, 1979
Oil and Magna on canvas, 177 h \ 137 I i m (70 k 54 inches)
i
ollecdon
Lichtenstein. Forrsl Sunt. 1980 HI and Magna m is, W3.8 >
203. Roy (
"II' i I I
"
204. Roy Lichtcmicin. Indian Composition, 1979 ( >il and M I
104 8 .in (84 * 120 inche») Prima colli

•
t
»
•
•
* f tiffing #
>•
» •
••'
•.!*.
J:
4
»
•« i •••••••, 1
p
I
I
>unng the 1980s, Lichtenstein pursued both
new and familiar themes. He continued
working in an Expressionist mode, employing contrived brushstroke images (similar
at first
in appearance to his Brushstroke paintings of the mid-1960s)

in three groups ofnev, works-
' series of small still lifes done in 1980-81, group oflandscapes in 1981- 82, and , series
.,
of four Woman paintings, also 1981-82, based on de Koo g's thud sei les ol Woman
paintings. He
then began incorporating looser, more
Expressionist brushstrokes and areas
of freely brushed paint in sections ofhis Two
Paintings and Paintings series. 1982-84, and
continued this approach in a series based on traditional landscapes or on themes derived
from classical painting or sculpture. 1985-88. Ea< h work ... the Two Paintings and Paintii
series juxtaposes two contrasting styles Iron, some of his earlier series, m the Reflections
series. 1988-90, he developed this idea by combining an image of one ol flis earlier
paintings (or one by Picasso or Warhol) with motifs
from the Mirroi series In the Perfect
and Imperfect series. [985-88, and in Plus and Minus, 1988, a neu series based on the work
ofMondnan. he resumed an exploration of pure abstraction; while in Bauhaus Stairway,
also 198K, he reconsidered the merging of flgural and geometric form tl. rough an image
appropriated from a Bauhaus artist. Oskar Schlemmer.
His tour paintings of female figures (see He///,/// III. tig. 205) based on de Kooning's
monumental Woman paintings from the n.Sns (see fig. 206) are a parody of gesture and oi
gestural pamtmg. but they are also au homage to one ol the foremost gestural painters n\'
the New York School. De Kooning's third Woman series provoked controversy when the
paintings were first shown in 1953 and for decades afterward. Passionate advoi
ates of his
preceding series of black-and-white abstractions argued that the Women represented a
retreat from his earlier, more "radical" work, while other critics debated his low hate
relationship with his subject. But tin \ have come to be recognized as i< ons ol
Willem de Kooning, Woman, 1950 ( »il enamel, and pasted paper on paper,
contemporary American painting, .md it was this that attracted Lichtenstein. Although
».5cm(14 ixll hk lu si From the collection of Thomas B. Hess,

de Kooning worked with the image of the figure in the early and mid-1940s, his mi i
owned b) rhe Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York and the heirs ol
in those works was inspired b\ Surrealism, .\n influence th.it pervaded even his almosl
. n Hess, 1984 entirely abstract black-and-white paintings of the late 1940s. He began Woman /in 1950
but became dissatisfied with it after eighteen months and temporarily abandoned it He
subsequently finished it, and showed it and five other 1 1 cm,/// paintings at the Sidney finis
Gallery in March 1953. With these works, de Kooning entered ,i new phase m his oeuvre.
creating a series of female figures ot goddesslike proportions, inspired by such diverse
sources as Mesopotamia!! idols and Ameri< an i

Lilt figure Marilyn Monroe. De Kooni
was fascinated by American popular culture — movie stars, billboards, newspapi I
advertisements. ,\nd the like. In another painting in the third series, lie///,///, also 1950, he
combined the collage element of an illustration of a mouth from a Camel cigarette ,k\ with
painted limbs and breasts, and compressed his anatomical tonus .\nd impastoed surfaces
into a picture plane that appeared to bend and warp from the figures' active distortion
Like many of his New York S. hoo) i oUeagues, de Kooning often relied on one or two
details in a painting to focus the image. In the Woman paintings, the mouth, the breast,
and the eye all serve to pull together an amalgam of fractured ami fragmented forms, out
of which de Kooning created many memorable images of heroic and vulnerable women.
205. Roy Lichtenstein, Woman III, 1982 Oil and Magna on i anvas, 203 2 x He Kooning, in these works, seems to have eollaged various elements of the figure
56 inches Privat< collection together without relinquishing their resemblance to the human form; but. alter the first
263 Chapter 12: The 1980s

W//W/////////W///,
W//mpm//////t^
one, he altered his seated figure, cropping her legs and bringing her closer to the picture
plane. Lichtenstein, like de Kooning, progressed in his paintings of women from a clearl)
recognizable though dramatically altered figure to an image in which onl) the barest
suggestion of a female eye and mouth lend any
it realitj whatsoever. Lichtenstein's Woman
l\ , the least literal of the series, closcb resembles (except tor its head) One "I d< Kooning's
abstract compositions of the mid-1950s. Lichtenstein based his first painting in this series
on a close reading of de Kooning's Woman, 1950, with the eyes, month, lips, breast, arm.
and leg in the same positions But Lichtenstein's Woman II, Woman III, and Woman IV
appear to be variations on Ins own first Woman painting rather than modeled on am of the
variations m de Kooning's series. Unlike de Kooning, who used his brushstroke to build
his figures, Lichtenstein seems to have been bent on distinguishing the brushstroke from
the figure and making it an active if often separate part of the image. I [ere, he may be
parodying third- or fourth-generation followers of de Kooning who lost sight of the
primary function ofbrushwork, which is to construct form
A precedent for Lichtenstein's emphasis on the independent brushstroke can be found
in the work of Johns. In canvases such as False Start (fig. 69), 1959, [ohns depicted words
as a central element of each composition to explore issues relating to the representation "I
reality and the disjunctions and ambiguities inherent m OU1 pen eption "I il In this and
other paintings featuring the names of colors, he deliberately "mismatched" almost o
name with the color he was usmg to paint it or with the coloi of th< area surrounding il
(for example, ORANG1 was painted white, or RED was Sten< lied in black against a yellow
208. The Laocobn Gump, Roman copj of 1st ccnturj D (..reck sculpture, perhaps In
both the words and the
\
area, and so on). Johns thus challenged the identities "i i olors, and
\thenodorus, md Polydorus of Rhodes Marble, 213.4 cm (84 inches)
became autonomous. Lichtenstein, in Ins four Woman
the brushstrokes themselves
! i
.in in Museums, Rome the separation between the image and the
.
paintings, vanes this theme by emphasizing

brushstrokes that serve to describe the female anatomy 01 to situate one form in relation to
another. Creating the image of the brushstroke as an independent form .\nd neutralizing
the ground around the figure, he established a striking contrast between the brushstroke as
a volume and the canvas support as a void. Me Kooning tOO, wished to situate his figures
within an anonymous background (he called it "no-cm ironment"). but he insisted on
making it as painterly as the figures it supported. Although I u htenstein was fully
conversant with de Kooning's method of painting, he chose to distinguish between th<
three-dimensional nature of his own brushstrokes and the space thc\ Oi i up) I i( htenstem's
fascination with the brushstroke as a concrete form may originate with de Kooning's and
[ohns's painterly gesture, but it is manifested in a different fashion here. In this sen. ea< h
of the brushstrokes is silhouetted against a white ground, their tough and impassive
appearance has something ol die look of the Brushstroke sculptures he began m 1981
(see figs. 264, 270, a\k\ 27 I). The brushstroke image sets up a dialectic betwi i n thi
fabricated imitation of one. This distinction sets

"natural" hand-painted brushstroke and a
Woman series and from htenstein's

the four canvases apart from de Kooning's third
I ii
whi< h nu^\ ol his brushstrokes are more

other Expressionist paintings of the 1980s, in
more integrated within the overall composition. More like the self
painterly and
of the mid-1960s, in which the brushstroke was isolated from
referential Brushstroke series
painting a\k\ turned into An independent motif, the brushstrokes

in
-'"7. Roy Lichtcnstein, Laocoon, 1988 ( >il and Magna on i anvas, 104.8 X the other elements of a
keep their identity even as the) Coalesce into a Luge, Iigural mi

I-' 11 n 102 inches) Privat< collection his Woman series

//////////
209. Roy Lichtenstein, Reflections II, 1988 ( )il and Magna on i am is, 177 6 K
218.4 en I
oll 96 inches) Private i ollection

Lichiem.ci... Mountain -'/.,„, «1 >nd Magr*
Roy
i
I
211. '
'
i on fcoberi mdjaiu Mcyerhofl
PI ii i M iryland
Lichtenstein. Figures in landscape, 1985 ind Magna on anvas,
Roy til i
(
212.
i, is, 144 inches) < ollection Douglas S ( ramei Los \ngeles

In his Expressionist paintings such Sky and Wate\
.is
(fig. 210), Mountain I 'Mage
(fig. 211). and Figures in Landscape (fig. 212), all 1985, and Laocodn (fig. 207), 1988,
Lichtenstein applied this heightened emphasis on the brushstroke to the figure mk\ the
landscape. These bravura landscape paintings are as extreme in their p.unterliness as his
earlier landscapes of the mid-1960s were in their reductiveness. All tour are based on
traditional themes. In Laocodn, however. Lichtenstein appropriated the well-known im
of figures from a Rom.iu copy of a Greek sculpture (tig. 208), placing them in .i landsi ipi
that reads convincingly as a classical setting. By means of his painterly brushstroke,

Lichtenstein updated this image from antiquity and may also have been commenting on
1980s Neo-Expressionism. which derived some of its images from the same historical
sources. In all four, Lichtenstein is once again the virtuoso painter, a luxury that he does
not often allow himself (which he had earlier, on a grander scale, with Yellow and < wee;/
Brushstrokes [fig. 129], 1966), usually holding bravura technique in check with his sense oi
irony and detachment. Here, areas of pure painting serve no Other purpose then then
traditional ones — to define shape, articulate spaec, or enhance color. However, in the
boldness of his stroke, its size in relation to its form, and the w.i\ in which it can depict
shape and differentiate between sky and water, figure and landscape, I ichtenstein reaches
an accommodation with de Kooning m particular and Expressionism in general.
Lichtenstein modeled B,iithiiu> Stairway (fig. 2 IS). L988, after S« hlemmer's 1932 work
of the same name (fig. 216). Like de Kooning's Woman series, this painting b\ Schlemmer
intrigued him because of its iconic status, which it gained in part from its promini nl
display for many years in the stairwell of New York's Museum of Modern Art.
Schlemmer, who taught stage design, mural painting, and sculpture at the Bauhaus during
the 1920s, believed in man as ".in organic .is well as a nice ham. a] i
union."' He produced
numerous works, of which Bauhaus Stairway is arguably the best, in which he created
complex figures from geometric forms. Lichtenstein was attracted to Schlemmer's focus
on pure form (which he shared with Purists O/enfant and Jeanneiet) and his portrayal o\
mechanical movement in an urban, industrialized society (also pursued by Cam and
Leger). Schlemmer's mastery of mural painting is of special interest in relation to
Lichtenstein's later adaptation of Bauhaus Stairway .is a mural (see tig. 279).
The Imperfect paintings (see figs. 213 and 214) are abstract compositions that consist
entirely of interlocking triangles and the quadrilaterals

formed within the triangles'
crisscrossed lines; the title refers to Lichtenstein's occasional deformation "I the "perfi i I
rectangular frame, thus turning it into a shaped canvas. I le followed .i Perfect painting in
1985 with several more in 1986, and continued with a group ol canvases in 1986-88 m
which small segment of the
which the rectangle appears to be slightly warped, or in a
c.mwxs projects out beyond one of its rectilinear edges m order to accommodate one of the
triangles that doesn't "fit." Rather than truncate the triangle. Lichtenstein wittily extends
The shaped canvas had been in vogue in the early and mid-1960! imong mam.
the canvas.
Color Field and Minimalist painters. Such artists— including Charles Hmman. Sven
using a rectangular canvas,
Lukin, and Frank Stella— broke with the convention of
replacingit with a trapezoid, a zigzag,
or some other unusual shape, or altering the
extending the edge at certain points (as just described above) or In

traditional shape by
most of these works, the perimetei ol
notching the canvas (removing small segments). In

213. Rov I u hicnsuin. Imperfect Painting
{Gold)
,e| i
iv led i
>2 1x121
the canvas conformed to the logic of the overall — usually symmetrical -composition,
putting the image and the frame into perfect alignment, I he wit of Li< htenstein's Imperfect
compositions arises from the conflict that he has set up between these two elements.
In 1988, Lichtenstein took up the work of Mondrian again, basing an entire series of
paintings (see figs. 217 and 2 IS) on the Dutch artist's use of the grid. As Mondrian had in
his first abstract works around I

(
) I
2- 14. Lichtenstein arranged a series of black vertical and
horizontal strokes within an oval inscribed on a rectangular canvas, using a limited palette
of pale, neutral colors for the background. Lichtenstein chose ,i white or gra\ ground
and, in Plus and Minus (Yellow) (fig. 217), a pale yellow one — against whi( h to set his black
marks. The prominent weave in Lichtenstem's Plus and Minus series echoes the weave ol a
raw canvas, and recalls Like New (tig. 74), 1962, in whi< h fabri< is shown damaged and
then repaired. In the Plus and Minus series, as he had earlier, I
i( htenstein uses the pattern
of the enhanced and enlarged weave of the canvas to call attention to its surface. But here
he combines it with a stylistic nod to a series of paintings by Mondrian as well as with an
oval configuration featured in his own 1970s series of Mirrors, and in the process finds
another alternative matrix — if only for this new series — to his Hend.i\ dots.
Among Lichtenstein's varied oeuvre in the 1980s are two s< I sol works that mem
special consideration, a group of canvases, begun in 1982, in each of which he pairs
from
(
»*x In Two
images of two different paintings, and a series entitled Reflections, 1
and Folded Sheets 219) and Two Paintings Dagwood (fig. 220), both
Paintings: Radiator (fig.
Head 221) and Paintings: Mirro\ (fig. 222). both 1984, he

1983, and Paintings: Picasso (fig.
image domestic
juxtaposed a section of a Brushstroke painting with his of, \ u iously, a
the comic strip Blondie, Picasso head, and a Minor

interior, Dagwood Bumstead from a
pa.ntmg Two Paintings: Radiatot and Folded Sheets combine., ., framed Brushstroke with a
radiator, folded sheets, table lamp, urtained

framed scene of a room showing a ..
a (
Brushstroke painting. In this work. Lichtenstein

recycled
window, and another framed
216. Oskar Schlemmcr, Bauhaus Stairway, 1932 ( '.I on i invas, 160.9 k 114.3 cm
several of his earlier motifs, including a 1960s
image ol a i
mum and a set ol folded sheets
rhc Museum of Modern Art, New York Gift of Philip Johnson

anvases. le has depicted the Brushstroke punting and
.
15 inches
from one of h.s 1976 ( office Still Life <
I
each other on the same wall, setting up a

the domestic interior hanging next to
two -dimensionality of the former and the illusion -.1
disjunction between the obvious
In placing sue h different .mages side by side in .
a. h oi
three-dimensionality in the latter.
some intriguing questions about the realit) ol

these four paintings. Lichtenstein poses
Paintings: Radiatot and Folded Sheets, tor example, the Brush
what we see. In Two
are shown hanging on the same diagonal-
painting and the domestic interior painting
While a viewei undoubtedly reads both
striped wall, separated by only a few
inches.
two-dimensional (i.e.. as depictions of paintings), since they are both contain

images as
one can also read the domestic scene as a somewhat flattened and foreshortened
by &am es,
room with its own Brushstroke
wdMagn; anvas but convincing view of an actual thrcc-di.ncnsional
1988 Oil
215. Roy lichtenstein, Bauhaus Stairway, m the shading on
section of wall and
left
repeated on a
painting and with the diagonal stripes
238 7 k 167 6 cm [94 x 66 inches) Private collection nstem
tins scent u ht.
Next to the Brushstroke pa.ntmg and the radiator ... I
the radiator
frames what appears to be a window But the "windo^
ad has depicted a curtain that
m 278 217. Roy Lichtenstein. Plus and Minus (Yellow),
1988 <
Kl
depicted in the most reductive fashion as white and vellow squares separated
I, bold black
x 32 oUection Leo astelli

canvas, 101 6x81 2 cm (40 inches) ( (
sense ol urn ertaint>

itablishing
Oil and Magna on Lines could just as easily be an abstract painting. B> .
,
Roy Lichtenstein, Plus and Minus VI, 1988

mt 279 218.
he subverts the -real,. .1 either interpretation. I ike fohns
lb out what we are looking at,
-
cm (50 x 38 inches) Private collection

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280 219. Roy Lichtenstein, Tin Paintings: Radiator and Folded Sheets, 1983
Oil and Magna on canvas 177.8 F

0x64inchcs) The Eli and Edythe 1
Broad < i illi i don
Roy [ichtenstein, Paintings: Picasso Head, 1984

OU .ndMagnaon
S'/ 220. Roy Lichtenstein. Two Paintings: Dagwood, 1983 Oil and Magna on left 221.
canvas, 162.5 * 177.8 cm (64 1 ho Privau coll

i anvas 22* 6 k 162 5 i m (90 k 6 I in< bes) ( ollei tion Irving Blum, New York
Roy Liohtens.cin. Paintings. XUrror. 1984
O I Mag
222.
l '"' "' '"" ''

218.4ci
223. Roy Lichtcnstein, Reflections on Brushstrokes, 1990 ( )il Mid
221 x 152.4 cm (87 60 av b< Pri\ it< olle< tion

Magna 01 » u x fl
i
Repawns on Brushstrokes. 1990 )i! Mid
224. Roy Lichtcnstcin. (
Magna on canvas. 198.1x135.9 cm (78x53 inch. Pi
, ollci tion
Roy Lichtenstcin. Reflections on Nancy, 1989 I til ind Magi
225
121 9 „ |38 J cm (48 i 54 inches) ' olle. don Steve Martin

Lichtcnstcin. Reflection,: Yoo H00, L989 Ml ind Magna Oil i U
228. Roy I
,,, , „ 218 i nchi !'"• " ollecdon

229. Roy Lichtcnstcin, Reflections on Painter and Model, 1990 Oil and Ma
i
ollcction Lari New York
in False Start, Lichtenstein presents a series of ambiguities, making one "reality" contradict
the other, and thus questions the absolute validity of human perception l
his inten hange
between one form of illusion and another — a feature of such paintings as Razzmataz : (fig.
166), 1978, and Go for Baroque (fig. 167), l

l
/79 — and the bipolarity that he had begun to
use in such Surrealist paintings .is I In ( Conversation (fig. 266), l

l
J77, become the norm.
Dagwood, mirrors, Picasso, and the brushstroke are subjects that evoke Liehtenstein's
own personal and artistic history as well as the history ol arl Ami each is presented with
such conviction that we are persuaded once again to look at the juxtaposition "t an
abstract image with a cartoon. .\u idea that first surfaced in the paintings and drawings thai
just preceded his classic Pop imagery in 1961 (see /)(>//.//«/ Duck, 1958 [fig. 15], fol
example). Lichtenstein recalls that he thought of using an image of Dagwood when he
first used images of Mickey Mouse, Popeye, and Wimpy, but that he dropped the idea
when he abandoned famous cartoon images m favor of anon) mous ones. In his pairing "l
I )agWOod with an abstract painting, the cartoon figure is no longer submerged in the
overall image, .is it was in the protO-Pop paintings, but is treated as its rival and its equal.
230. Pablo Picasso, The Painter and His Model, 1928 Oil on canvas, 131.1 x In Paintings: Picasso Headznd Paintings: Mirror, I i< htenstein again combines disparate
|62.2cm(51 k 63 i inches) Hie Museum of Modem Art, New York images in different stvles and from different periods. In Paintings Picasso Head, he updates
his 1960s Temple of Apollo and Landscape series with an image of a canvas featuring a
Picasso head embellished with touches of shading (using Benday dots, diagonal stupes, and
another alternative form), and superimposes it against a painting that resembles one of his
earlier landscapes in its simple division into earth, skv. and I

loud I [e characteristically
composed of blue diagonal stripes instead of

represents the earth as vellow. but the sky is
the customary Benday dots. The ambiguity of tin. composite image is heightened by its
juxtaposition with a Brushstroke painting to its right, separated In a Strip "I frame that
consists of segments m both a simple, modern Style (in licnd.n dots) ind a more ornate
corresponding to one or the other painting but the resulting hybl id
traditional Style, each
seemmg to belong to neither. Paintings: Mirror juxtaposes a Brushstroke panning mu\ a
dissonance between two contrasting ways oi making a

Mirror painting, creating a
painting— the painterly approach of Abstract Expressionism a\h\

a more hard edged
through techniques of mechanical reproduction- -but presenting
them as
approach filtered
this series, the frames around a Brushstroke and a

domestic intei 101
competing equals. In
Dagwood flees a Brushstroke, a PicaSSO head confronts ..

subvert their various "realities,-
four paintings, ichtenstein
Brushstroke, and a Brushstroke pans off with a Mirror. In all 1
"norm for no one interpretation ol an

demonstrates that there is no such thing as the
part of the artist's ...tent, to
image is any more "logical than another. This, of course, is
sense of the ridiculous ind nvim e U! that the

enliven the discussion of illusion with a I
perfectlv acceptable because it is often allied with the beautiful. And isn't that
ncdiculQUS is
what art is all about? Or is it?
Lichtenstein closed the decade with a series of Reflections. Reflections, L985, .«nd
Landscape and Laocoon, eai h consists of a m w

Reflections II (fig 209), 1988, like Figures in
brushstrokes combined with patches ol

composition featuring loose, freely Expressionistic
incorporate his appropriation oi ill or pari of an
diagonal stripes Subsequent Reflections
into
Warhol's) with motifs from the Wrroi series spliced
earher painting (his own, Picasso's,
ifi( work, as in
it. The based on his own earlier paintings refer to a spe<
Reflections

231. Roy Liechtenstein, Reflections on Interior with Girl Drawing. 1990 < 'il and
m canvas, 5 x 108 inches) ["he Eli and Edythe 1 Broad
« olle< don
Reflections: Nurse (fig. 226), 198*. 01 Reflections: Whaaml (fig. 227), 1990; to a single
figure from a specific work, such as the figure of Pagwood in Reflection*.. )oo I loo
(fig. 228), 1989; or to a series, as in the Reflections on Brushstrokes (see figs. 223 and 224,
both 1990). Reflections on Nancy (fig. 225). 1989, is a bittersweet reminiscence on his Pop
colleague Warhol, with whom he had shared so main interests, and who had died just two
years before. In combining Warhol's painting with motifs from the Mirror paintings,
Lichtenstem treats it as an image reflected m a mirror. It has the inno< en< e and naivete of
Warhols figure, but interpreted through I ichtenstein's unique style Reflections on Painte\
and Model (fig. 229) and Reflections on Interim with < ,irl Drawing (fig. 231). both 1990, an
based on paintings by Picasso in the collection ol the Museum ofModern Art (figs. 2 SO
and 232). A comparison of the two paintings by Picasso with LichtensteuVs versions of
originals as fol
them is fascinating as much for what the younger artist has retained Oi the
what he has changed. Picasso reduced the compositional elements in both of his paintings
Interior with a Girl Drawing, 1935 on Mivas 130.7 X one

232. Pablo Picasso, ( >il (
to a few basic colors and shapes. In The Paintei and His Model (tig. 230), 1928- ol a
The Museum ofModern Art, New York. Nelson A

theme of the studio- black and whin
[95 cm pi i x 76 •
inches)
series of paintings that Picasso made on the artist's
Rockefeller Bequest
predominate, supplemented by red, yellow blue, and gray and ton. h( ol gn en and
tonus
brown, and most of the forms are delineated by a black outline, with rectangula.
used to suggest windows and a circle to describe a breasl I le i ombined male and female
single figure, and he also positioned his tonus so that figures and
sexual attributes in a
merged, much as Matisse did in The Red Studio (fig. 172). 1911. L.chtenste.n
interior are
the
altered of Picasso's basic compositional scheme but downplayed oi eliminated
little
painting's surface texture (which is an integral part

of both works), Ins Benda) dol Md
painter with his
screen to the face of the model, and overlaid hei form and that of the
composed ofBenday dots, diagonal stripes, and hands ol oloi I Ii
mirror-reflection motif
i
peach, and blue— and. most important of all,

also added three colors— a secondary yellow,
2
In Picasso's Interio) with a a, Rawing I
a frame surrounding the entire composition.

( I
(fig. and rectilinearit) of The Paintei and His Model have been
232), 1935, the flatness
proliferation of curves, organu shapes, and odd
replaced by a shallow stage space and a
fundamental arrangement of the figures and ;ome ol the

angles. Lichtenstem retained the
green, while one e again adding his mirror-n
Ction -tl.
Original colors, such as purple and

also added just a bit of m.rror-retlect.on motif to
motifi and a surrounding frame. He
(which shows the reflection nol ol the
what appears to be a mirror in Picasso's painting
and its frame) i< htenste.n
thus turned two
but of a detail of another painting
I
girl
ongoing dialogue with that artist.
signature works by Picasso into part of his
Pictorial History t890-1980{Hc* York Harcourt Brace jovanovich/

, peter Seh, Art in Ouf Times l
27..
Harry N. Abr.uus. 1980), p
ichte M "mo. ftam. '
is series ol papien colli mad, l, Picasso

the earliest precedent for
M
\ ,
2 ivrhap 1
h ol I. has ... enow '
luding U md Bottle oj Bass and Wp. and \dusu Sa u

in L914, in. <
Erame" as part of tin- image.
Chapter 12: The 1980s

297
233. Roy Lichtenstein, Interior with Mirrored Wall, 1991 < )il and ) I UIVM,
Solomon R < luggenheim Mu.i um N< w

In his recent work. Lichtenstein picks up on the theme of the domestic interior, whi< h
he first began to explore in paintings such .is Bathroom (fig. 56), 1961. Then, .is now, his
images ot domestic interiors and household products were drawn from magazine
reproductions, newspaper advertisements, or .ids in the Yellow Pages. Although the
subjects depicted were innocent enough, his alteration of the scale of the image from the
small advertisement to the much larger canvas made them appear disturbing. Bathroom
was particularly irritating because, like many of his other black-and-white subjects, such as
Black Flowers (fig. 25), 1961, it was so uningratiating, so awkward, so dumb. In 1973-74,
he approached the subject of the interior on a tar more ambitious scale, using Matisse's
The Red Studio (fig. 172). 191 I. as the working model foi foui variations on the theme of
the artist's studio. In these interiors. I lehtenstein combined elements from Matisse with
subjects that he had used previously, often featui ing some of his * ai liei works (or portii ins
of them) on the walls of the rooms he was depi< ting I

[e im orporated images ol I ook
Mickey (fig. 19), 1961, a Landscape, a Mirroi painting, ami a Stretchet Frame panning in the
first studio interior (fig. 171); another Stretchet Frame, anothei \4irroi i s< I oi i eramii cups,
and Baseball Manager (fig, 64), 1963, in a second interior; an Entablature and a painting oi
an explosion m a thud, and two drawings from 1962, Foot Medication and < ouch, and a
section from Temple of Apollo (fig. 121). 1964, in the fourth. In the recent domestii
interiors, Liehtenstein used the scale ot the studio interior but mad< majoi I hanges in Ins
subject matter, expanding upon the kind ol domestic interior that he first used in 1961
234. Page from Roy I ichtenstein's sourcebooks, ca 1990 For this series. Lichtenstein drew upon the Yellow Pages again for Ins source material.
Inspired by a furniture advertisement that he saw in 1989 on a billboard outside Rome, he

clipped images of kitchens, bedrooms, and living rooms from the Rome Yellow Pages,
along with some classical motifs. When he returned to New York, he began painting the
new Interiors, basing his motifs on these images and on othei advi rtisements thai appealed
to him, both Italian and American, I le used some of them pretty much as tin \ appeared
in the advertisements and recombined others into a nev\ i omposite form. The illusti ition
in ads and the thumbnail sketches m the Yellow Pages served up largc-s, ,|, dn mis to
a middle class that, in the 1990s, still aspires to the dream that money and mati nil
possessions can bring happiness. In I u htenstcin's re-creation ol one 01 mon ids, a
schematic drawing conveys a bedroom or living-room ensemble, a dim tte set, i hairs,
sofas, curtains, and so on; it is all there for the taking. One of the first in the series, Merioi
233). 1991, features a living-room interioi thai is relatively faithful

with Mirrored Wall (fig.
drawing in the Yellow Pages (fig. 234). Becaus. th. scali of the painting is
to the original
enveloped sensation that enhani ed
large— more than 10 by 13 feet— one a is
feels in it,
so
continued beyond the
by Lichtenstem's interrupting the image on four sides,
all as if it
the boundlessness of the overall image by

using the
edges of the painting. He compounds
K doubling To the othen
device of a mirror to enlarge the space of the room,
...... it.
banal living room pictured in the ad. Lichtenstein Med Ins own whimsical tOU.
reproductions of his paintings. He also idded second plant to

.rating the room with i
the painting, the plants are a blatant fl« tion,

the one in the .k\. Like everything else in
anything Other than two

with no attempt on Lichtenstem's part to convey that the) an
dimensional simulations of natural tonus
recapitulate Ins
Unlike the Artist's Studio interiors of 1973-74, which consistently
301 Chapter 13: Interiors. 1991-93

235. Roy Lichtenstcin. Interior with Bonsai Tree, 1991 ( )il and Magna on
I
ik N (40 inchi Private collection
and Magna ivai
Lichtcnstein. Interior with Africa,, Mask. 1991
)il
236. Roy <
and Edyth< Broad olle.

289.6 . >70.8cm(114 n 146 inches) The Eli I <
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ulm-.isti-in. Inttrioi with Yvu Klein Sculpture, 1991 )il ind

237. Roy I
*
238. Roy Lichtcnstcin. Bedroom at Aries, 1992 < >il Mid UN a
[65 m, I,, i
>
ollet tion B obi n ind [anc Meyi rhofl
ill,,, nix, Maryland

these paintings also incorporate the latest
forms of an ever-inventive
earlier motifs, some of
artist. Thus, in Interim with Extern (Still Waters), 1991, Lichtenstein quotes his 1962
34); but in Interior with Mirrored Wall

he plays havoc with
portrait of George Washington (fig.
conventional domestic ensemble by including a framed image of one of

the interior as a
paintings above an arrangement of

standard-brand furniture. Most of the
his 1980s Perfect
type that one still sees in the Yellow Pages, of

furnishings in Lichtenstein's interiors are the
a characterless averageness that is perfect

for his purposes. In Interior with Yves Klein
237). 1991, however, he adds the element

of the absurd to a commonplace
Sculpture (fig.
domestic interior. one wall, eve. , sofa, is his Benday-dot version of a portrait ot
On
on the adjoining wall, over a loveseat. is a painting of an overstuffed chair, a
Henry VIII;
and lamp; just visible at the extreme right are the hand and foot of a life-size
table, a
reproduction of the Greek Discus Thrower; and at the bottom right is what looks like a
the surface of the canvas)

very unusual plant (which he has created by sponging paint onto
1959, a sculpture
but which is actually his version of Yves Klein's Blue Sponge (fig. 239),
consisting of asponge saturated with cobalt blue pigment. (Lichtenstein also used this
sponging technique for the bonsai tree in Interior with Bonsai Tree [fig. 235], 1991.) The
Klein sculpture is completely out of place in this average living-room scene; and so is the
aristocratic, if faceless, portrait of Henry VIII, which appears even more preposterous as a
companion to the painting above the loveseat. The owners of such a domicile would think
nothing of hanging a reproduction of English royalty over the sofa, a piece of furniture
that usually takes pride of place m the average American home. Nor would they hesitate,
for that matter, to buy the entire ensemble. Nothing could be further from this culture
than the "high art" depicted by Lichtenstein in so many of his works. However, in his
Bedroom at Arks (fig. 238), 1992. based on a calendar reproduction of van Gogh's 1SSS
painting lh Bedroom (fig. 240). the image has been reduced to the level of average
middle-class taste. Today, we have grown accustomed to buying from mail-order

catalogues, and we know van Gogh better from reproductions than from seeing the
239. Yves Klein, Blue Spongt mem in synthetii resin on sponge with
originals. Because Lichtenstein's version of van Gogh's Bedroom is much bigger than the
id and stone basi 99.1 era 19 inches) high- Solomon R Guggenheim
original, its impact is enormous, but Lichtenstein's regularized forms and process colors
Museum New York, Gift of Mn Vndrew I' Fuller, 1964
have reduced the psychological intensity of van Gogh's vision. As m all Lichtenstein's
paintings that are "copies" of works by other artists, this painting succeeds in conveying
the distance between the original and a reproduction and the additional distance that he
imposes on his version.
Since 1992, Lichtenstein has been working on a group of interiors that are smaller than
the first series, but their impact is just as strong. In Interior with Swimming Pool Painting
(fig. 241). 1992, he has combined a portion of a bedroom interior with the motif from his
Surrealist Girl with Tear series, 1977, and a framed image of a swimming pool. In Interior
uitli Motel Room Painting, 1992. he has depicted a wall hung with a framed painting (of
another bedroom interior) and a portion of a room in which the back ot a canvas chair is
shown near the framed picture of the same chair as seen from the front. A third canvas in
the series. Interior with Bathroom Painting (fig. 242). 1992, features a living-room interior
with a framed painting ot a bathroom placed on a wall of the living room. To complicate
matters. Lichtenstein has subverted the straightforward illusion of the bathroom interior
by tipping the Moor plane toward the viewer — just as he skewed the perspective in Black
Flowers by adjusting the tabletop in order to bring it into alignment with the picture plane.
Furthermore, the size of the entire painting and the distortion of the image create the
impression that what we are seeing is a mirror reflecting the bathroom rather than a
trained painting of the bathroom. The image of the bathroom appears so large in the
foreground that one might almost feel that one is standing in the bathroom and seeing a
portion of it reflected in the mirror. Most confusing of all, he has painted what appear to
be two brushstroke images floating in the lower right corner, probably part of a Brushstroke
sculpture, but too isolated a fragment to be able to tell for I ertain. The result of this is
dizzying, and dazzling, for all of these ambiguities heighten the tension between the image
and what it is meant to represent. Although Lichtenstein reminds us that we are on
again dealing with subject matter taken from sources such as the Yellow Pages, he leaves
the source tar behind — as he always does in the best of his newer work — when he presents
an image with more than one meaning.
Interior with Bathroom Painting features warm and cool grays and browns, a range n(
colors new to his work, evocative of pewter and galvanized steel, materials that he used
in the various versions of his newest sculpture. Ritual Mask (fig. 268), 1992 I
[ere, as
throughout the 1970s and 1980s, he has selected colors that are quite different from the
process colors that he chose for his l
l
K><)s Pop paintings. As noted earlier, the change first
240. Cover nl" I "mcenl van Gogh l'>'>< < alendai published In Graphiquc de France, occurred in the Entablature series, when Lichtenstein incorporated silver and bron >
featuring van Gogh's The Bedroom, 1888, &om the collection ofThe \n Institute of pigment into his work (see tig. 159, for example). In Ins ( >//'<< Still Lifes of 1976, such as
I
hicago Still Life with Table /../////> (fig. ISO), he used a distinctive palette of dark blue and gl
metallic paint to simulate the feeling o\\\ sterile office environment. This predominantly
two-color scheme recurs in several of the most recent Interioi paintings.
In these 1990s Interiors, Lichtenstein restates some of his original concerns. He uses
images from the media, such as a bathroom, bedroom, or living room, which still typifj
our consumer culture, as one reality, And compares and contrasts them with the reality ol
the art that he depicts on the living-room walls — two different levels ot illusion In somi
of the paintings, without depicting a mirror, he creates the impression ot a mirror's
reflections; he alters the perspective o\ a floor to remind us of the fiction "I the painting
and suggests that everything is fiction, including reality itself. He conveys the notion that
all of art and life is a series of reflections and illusions, a notion wonderfully evoked by
Lewis Carroll in a passage near the beginning of Through the Looking-( ilas
In another moment Alice was through the glass, and had jumped lightly down into the
the
Looking-Glass room Hie very fust thing she did was to look whethei there was a fire in
and she was quite pleased to find that then u is real on< blazing awa^ as brightly
fireplace, i
behind Then she began looking about, and noticed ili.u what
as the one she had left
common and uninteresting Inn the rest

could he seen from the old room was quite
thai ill
For instance, the pictures on the wall next to the fire seemed to be
was as different as possible
back of il
and the very clock on the chimney piece (you know you c 1} ;c. th.
all alive,
old man, and grinned he.

in the I ooking-Glass) had got the hue of., little at
[nd What Alice Found fliere (Ne* York BantamBooks, 1988

I Lewis Carroll, Through the Looking-Gh
[1871]), p. I
13
309 Chapter 13: Interiors. 1991-93

above 242. Roy Lichtenstein. Interior with Bathroom Painting. 1992 Oil and
1
"': Oil and

Roy Uchtenstein, Interior with Swimming Pool Painting,
I
left 241.
Magna on canvas, 152.4 x 203.2 cm (60
152 4 on (72 x 60 inches) Private collection, New York.
Magna on canvas, in: 9 x
i I,,, pi i in/
*
Il
I
/
Over the course of the last three decades, Lichtenstein has produced a significant body of
sculpture based for the most part on images in his paintings. His
enameled steel sculptures
of 1965 (see fig. 243, for
example) are all modeled after the painting Varoom! (fig. 244),
1965 .
Between 1963 and 1965. Lichtenstein had been using enamel instead of oil paint or
Magna in many of his works, such as the paintings Girl in Mirror, Cloud and Sea (fig. I
17),
and Crying Girl, all 1964. The hard finish and reflective surface of the enamel— inspired by
the subway signs he saw in New York— had the effect of subverting the illusionism of his
representational images. With the hard, slick enamel, Lichtenstein accomplished two
objectives: he was able to more closely achieve the look of mechanical perfection that he
could only suggest in paintings such as Composition 1 (fig. 75) and Composition II (fig. 76),
both 1964, and Composition III (fig. 77), 1965, and he reinforced the role of the two-
dimensional image as an object. Most ofLichtenstein's sculptures to date have been based
on his translation of his two-dimensional pictorial images — including such anti-naturalistii
motifs as the explosion in Varoom! — into three-dimensional forms that frequently look
almost as flat as his paintings.
At the same time that Lichtenstein explored the form of the explosion as a wall relief,
as a tabletop sculpture, and as a freestanding form, he began to make a series of ceramic

heads derived from his paintings of women (figs. 245 and 246). Late in 1
(
>64. Lichtenstein
244. Roy Lichtenstein, Varoom!, 1965. Oil and M.igna on canvas, 149 H x 149 H cm found two mannequin heads in the hat-manufacturing district of Manhattan, near his
(59 X 59 inches). Collection John and Kimiko Powers studio on West Twenty-sixth Street. He painted one of them and used a Plastii ine
compound on the second one. Paintings such as Ins Frightened Girl (fig. I 13), 1964, served
as inspiration for the ceramic heads of 1965. Composed <>t an array of bold black lines and
flat areas of process colors and Benday dots, I 'lightened Girl both suggests and negates a
sense of volume. The same is true of the ceramic heads, only here it is not just the illusion
of volume that is contradicted but the real three-dimensionality of sculpture. He achieved
this effect by treating the surfaces as though they were flat, indicating in a reductive
stylized manner the waves and tresses of the hair, facial features, ami shadows, and
imposing his two-dimensional Benday-dot pattern across the entire t\cc and neck and in
highlights of the hair. In 1965, Lichtenstein also created a series of cup-and -saucer
sculptures (figs. 247, 248, and 249) — based on a painting and a drawing of a cup of coffee
that he had made in 1962 —and tea-set sculptures. These objects too c.w\ be seen as three-
dimensional equivalents of his single-object paintings. The ceramic cups and saucers and
the tea sets were objects that he made to look like real ones, but were unusable. I [e
them the look of cheap cafeteria-style dishes, and stacked some of them as it they had
just been used and were ready to be washed. To further contuse the
question of their
"reality," he decorated the surfaces of the tableware with Benday-dot ••shadows" and
"reflections," in much the same manner as the heads (and, later, the Minor paintings
[see chapter 9|).
desired look of the ceramic heads and dishes, Lichtenstein worked

To achieve the
Hui Ka Kwong, a colleague from Douglass College. They used
closely with ceramicist
molds that Hui made to Lichtenstein's spe< ifications, and glaz< .1
commercial molds, or else
colors and Benday dots.

the ceramic forms to approximate Lichtenstein's process
made of ceramic material m^\ then,
left 243. Roy Lichtenstein, Explosion II, 1965 Enamel on steel. 223 5 x 152.4 cm Lichtenstein has said that they started with "decals
with evenly punched holes whi< was fairly flexible so
(88 x mi indies) McCrory Collection. New York. primarily for the faces, I made a tape
I,
315 Chapter 14: Sculpture. 1965-93

245. Roy Lichtcnstcin, Head with Black Shadow. 1965 Glazed ceramic 38 I x
20.9 x 20.3 cm (15 x8K k 8 inches) Collection Leo < astellj

24h. Roy Lichtenstein, Head with Blue Shadow.
cm (15 Ch Pal B wdRaymondD Ns

20.9x20.3 \
( ollection Dallas, I
247. Roy Lichtcnstein. Ceramic Sculpture 11, 1965. Glazed ceramic, 19 I
Itl
inches) high Collection Betty Ashcr. Beverly Hills, California.

Lichtenstein, Ceramic Sculpture 2, 1965 ilazed ceramic, 8.8 cm
248. Roy «
(3 '
inches) high Collection Leo C jstclh.

that I could adjust it and bend to conform to the contours. Then
it I would mask off the
rest so the glaze could be sprayed. The and some
lines areas of color were painted by hand."'
The historic precedent for Lichtenstein's ceramics is Picasso's Glass [bsinthe (fig.
qj .
250), 1914, a source of inspiration for him and for Johns, whose Painted Bronze (Ale <
(fig. 5), I960, is indebted to this masterful bit oftrompe l'oeil. In the Picasso, a painted
bronze cube of sugar and an actual silver sugar-straining spoon rest on top oi a fani ifuily
painted bronze sculpture of a liqueur glass. Both sugar cube and glass are covered with
dots, and the surface of the glass has a simulated shadow painted to look as if it were east
by the spoon. Picasso thus created a dialectic between real And imaginary objects, and
between the three-dimensional bronze and its non-realistic surfat e dei oration. Johns
emulated Picasso in creating a bronze version of a real object, while Lichtenstein set up a
similar dialectic between a facsimile and its real-world model, and a surface treatment thai
contradicts its real three-dimensionality. Like Picasso, Lichtenstein sees something
humorous —and quite human — in the precarious stacking of forms, and found in the
disjunction between perception and reality an idea worth pursuing
Lichtenstein*s earliest Art Deco-style sculpture. Modem Sculpture (fig. 252), 1967, is a
linear structure that offers little to the viewer in the way o\\\ traditional concrete form
occupying a defined space. Although he made this work when Minimalism had become
the dominant sculptural mode in American art. all that it shares with that movement is
the repetition of forms and the use of industrial materials. Whereas the Minimalists soughl
to create resolutely abstract modular works with mathematii all) regulai proportions and a
total absence of external reference, Lichtenstein's Art Deco—based si ulptuies are
referential. These works consist of elements that closely resemble chromed-steel railings
and portions of Art Deco furniture, but they maintain their identity as pure st ulpture
250. Pablo Picasso, Glass of Absinthe, Paris spring 1914 l'.imted bronze with lacking any useful purpose. As sculpture, they play with various levels of ambiguity by
silver absinthe spoon, 21.6 x 16.4 x 8.5 cm (8 inches bast 6.3 cm opposing the functional with the non-functional, the complete form versus the
iik Ikm diameter. The Museum of Modern Art. New York, (.irt of Mrs. incomplete one. flatness versus volume. Modern Sculpture, consisting >>t a network of
Bertram Smith straight and curved brass rods and bars topped by a round mirroi framed in brass, is both
linear and three-dimensional at the same time. Although it has a clear orientation— i.e., a
left 249. Roy Lichtenstein, Ceramic Sculpture, 1965 ( Hazed cerami< 22 8 cm front and back — it is not at all clear how the two interrelate. I he lowei portion of the
m lu s) high. Private collection front is defined by an L-shaped base and a small curved arch that anchor it to the floor,
while the back is open at the rear. Higher up, though, there is nothing in fronl or on the
1967 right side but empty space; and the three-bar •"railing" element that rises from the flooi il
122-23 251. Roy Lichtenstein, Modern Sculpture with Tliree Discs,
346 7x48.2 cm the bottom left and stretches across the back is abruptly truncated at the right. Other
Brass .ind mirror, number tvvo of an edition of three, 94 6 x
R Guggenheim Museum. New York elements also end abruptly after extending just a bit beyond the point of intersection with
136 V: x 19 inches) Solomon
sculpture and
page 324, left 252. Roy Lichtenstein, Modern Sculpture, 1967 Brass and mirror. another element, cutting off the connections between oik portion of the
another and thus making a logical reading impossible. he entire structure, with its pla) 1
is: 8 x "x "
\ 52 em (72 \ 31 x 20 '
inches) Marcia Simon Weisman Trust
reality, its reflecting brass surfaces and shifting, unstable elements, appears
'4-25, center 253. Roy Lichtenstein, Modern Sculpture with Velvet Rope, on illusion and
In the Art Deco-style sculptures that followed,
ol three, two parts, 211.4 x to dematenalize and recompose itself.
1968 Brass and velvet rope number three of an edition
em Lichtenstein simplified the relationships among the forms and stressed the overall linearity
66 x 38 I cm (83
!
. x 2-, N is inches) and 149.8 x 63 5x38.1 (59
of each work, resulting in less spatial ambiguity. Relationships of forms to floor, tabletop
1
5 inches) Private ( ollection
wall are essentially two-dimensional, and

each sculpture reads as a single plane.
\ right 254. Roy Lichtenstein, Modern Sculpture with Glass Wave, 196 and
Lichtenstein's Modem sculptures, like his
contemporaneous paintings, are based on
Brass and glass, ..umber three ol an edition of three, 246 J x 66 x 68 5 cm (97 x 26 x
In these sculptures. Lichtenstein used

brass.
2~ inches) architectural ornament of the period.
Sonnabend Collection
321 Chapter 14: Sculpture. 1965-93

V
id
and other materials that had been popular m
alununum, mirrored glass, Plexiglas, marble,
the stair
Art Deco interiors and accessories.
They recall Rolls Royce automobile grilles or
135), or resemble the decorative
details
railings of New York's Radio Cry Mus.c Hall (tig.
Guggenheim Museum. Modern Sculpture with

that Frank Lloyd Wright designed for the
Sculpture with Three Discs (fig. 251),
both 1967, and
Glass Wave (fig 254) and Modem
Rope (fig. 253). 1968, all have the same 1930s machine
Modem Sculpture with Velvet
geometric forms, and sleek materials. The three intersecting
precision, pattern repetition,
three tan-shaped segments in the second,
and the velvet
curves in the first, the z.gzag with
period without appropriating a specific work.
rope in the thud instantly evoke the
stanchion-supported sign, Modem Sculpture with 'elvel
Rope exploits the I
Inspired by a
two very different materials to create a witty work ot art.
contrasting qualities of
frontal in orientation and reflect L.chtensteins emphasis
These sculptures are linear and
plane. Lichtenstein sees sculpture as a
two-dimensional
on pictorial illusionism and the flat
construct:
about has to do with the sense of positions
The kind of organization which I think it is
and direction from the artist Sculpture might have an

existing at a related distance
has changes within that form which create contrast. .
exterior form and then .t

.
cast shadow or in the illusion ^' a cast shadow, or contrast .an be

Contrast ma) be ... a
created ... am conceivable way. Now. as you turn the sculpture, or move your position,
differently Its the relationship of contrast to contrast, rather

you continually perceive it
work. So, even though realize is three-

than volume to volume, which makes
I .t
it
dimensional, it is always a two-dimensional relationship to me—or as two-dimensional
.is a drawing is
Since a fundamental issue of Lichtenstems art has been the contradiction inherent in
the representation of a three-dimensional form within the limits of the Hat picture plane, it
him to have pursued the implications of this issue in the realm of sculpture.
is natural for
Art Deco sculptures, they have been
Because of the two-dimensional nature of his
compared to the work of David Smith, and, indeed, both artists explored such issues as
sculptures. In the early 1950s,

pictonality, frontality. planarity, and reflection in their
influenced by Picasso and his compatriot, sculptor Julio Gonzalez

(see figs. 255 and 256),
the
Smith ( reated many sculptures that resemble "drawings in space" (see fig. 257). In
light into
early 1960s, Smith embellished the surfaces of his Cubi sculptures to incorporate
his work (see tig. 258). He wrote:
This is the only time— m these stainless steel pieces— that I have ever been able to
utilize light, and 1 depend a great deal on the reflective power of light, in this case, it is
afternoon, and there is sort of golden color reflected by the late afternoon sun in
late .1
tin winter: and it [the sculpture] reflects a rather golden color; and when the sky is
blue, there is .1 blue cast to it It docs have a semi-mirror reflection, and I like it
|st.unless steel | in that sense because no other material in sculpture can do that.
top 255. Julio Gonzalez, Woman Combing Her Hair H, 1934 Iron, 121 k 60 •
kholm Lichtenstein never strayed that far from his representational sources, but undermined their
I
-
inches) Moderna Museet, Stoi
traditional descriptive qualities. Like Smith's work from the 1950s and '60s, his Art Deco
bottom 256. Pablo Picasso, Figure, < Jctobei 1928 Metal wire and iheei mi I J
sculptures are mostly linear in orientation and often involve the play of light and
inches) Muse< Pi( asso, Paris
reflection, but they are ultimately about the relationship between the object and its
abstract form.
.
Lichtenstein's series of painted bronzes, which he began in 1977, are freestanding

sculptural versions of motifs from of the 1960s and early
his paintings late 1970s—mostly
the still hfes (see figs. 259 and 261, for example)— but some, such as Mirror II (fig. 260),
1977. and Goldfish Bowl II, 1978 (fig. 261), are based on earlier works. He chose bronze as
the medium to give these linear sculptures a sense of solidity. Lichtenstein began each
sculpture by making a series of sketches, then translating them into full-size maquettes
before casting. Several were sand-cast, while others were cast using the lost-wax process.
Most of the sculptures were painted, and some were patinatcd; all were sealed with
polyurethane enamel. In the 1980s and '90s, he continued to make painted bronzes based
on motiN from his paintings, expanding his range of subjects to include Expressionist Head
(fig. 263), 1980; Brushstroke (fig. 264), 1981; The ( 'onversation* (fig. 265), L984; Brushstroke
Head IV (Barcelona Head) (fig. 269), L987; and Airplane (fig. 272), 1990. I [( has also
worked with painted aluminum, as m Brushstroke (fig. 271), 1987, and painted galvanized
steel, as in Ritual Mask (fig 268), 1992. With Ritual Mask, 1 ichtenstein was quoting the
image of a typical African sculpture from his painting Interioi with [fiican Mask (fig. 236),
L991, and made variations of it in a variety of other materials, too. among them pewter,
plated zinc, and plated tin. Here again. Lichtenstein is commenting upon arl
reproduction, m this case tribal sculpture as interpreted by Picasso or replicated as a
commercial mass-produced object.

Between L979 and L992, Lichtenstein produced a small but notable group <»l large sc.ilc
sculptures. Most of them are based on ideas already explored in his smallei pie< es, bin the
y earliest of them. The Mermaid (fig. 273). 1979, commissioned In the Miami Beach
Theater for the Performing Arts, is unique. Made of concrete, steel, and polyurethane
enamel, and incorporating a palm tree and a pool filled with water, it is a dazzlingly silly
striped mermaid perched on her own

,
and provocative piece. Lichtenstein has envisioned a
steel waves next to a real palm tree. Threatening the otherwise perfect bliss of this tropin al
setting, he has added a cloud made of gray steel. Here, Lichtenstein is running true to
.
form, mixing the real with the synthetic, interjecting a comment or two about the setting
itself, Miami, which he saw as a model of middle-class culture, and highlighting the
8? fl absurdity of creating sculpture from such painterly forms. He enlarged upon the concept
brushstroke, in tin
of painterly sculpture by stressing painting's basic building block, the
sculptures that followed, such as Brushstroke, 1987, which consists ol
two vertical
brushstrokes linked together, and Barcelona Head (fig. 270), 1992, an explosive brushstroki
,
• -^ similar to the smaller Brushstroke Head IV (Barcelona Head). Inspired by the work oi I atalan
architect/artist Antom Gaudi, the 64-foot-high Barcelona Head, made oi yellow, orange,
and black ceramic tiles, was installed in Barcelona in Jul) 1992 to (

ommemorate
red. blue,
Lichtenstein downplayed the element of outright
fop 257. David Smith, Australia, 1951 Painted steel, 202 x 274 x 41 the Summer Olympic Games there.
sculpture in Brushstroke and Barcelona Head, to, using instead on their

107 <16 inches); base: 45.5x35.6x35.6 cm (18x14x14 inches rheMuseum humor of the Miami
By turning his brushstroke image into a
ofWUliam Rubin effective realization as trompe-l'oeil sculpture.
..i Modern An. New York, Gifi
of color mk\ gesture .\m\ other traits that we
Stain! 8 k 222.8 x graceful three-dimensional form, full
David Smith, Cubi XXVII, March 1965
'
froHom 258.
in space, Lichtenstein challenges
the
K x 34 Solomon R Guggenheim Museum, New York. normally associate with painting, .md placing it
66 J cm (111 k 87 inches)
and Smith challenged it, not with volume
nature of sculpture, much as Pi, asso I Gonzalez,
by exchange
or mass but by "drawing in space."
Overall. Lichtenstein's sculpture differs from

most other postwar sculpture, having little
Chapter 14: Sculpture. 1965-93

327
259. Roy Lichtenstein. Lamp II, 1 ''77 I'.iniud .uul p.iim.it< A bronze number one
of an edition of thre. 219.1 x 70.2 x 44.8 an (86 K x 27 ix 17 I inches). Private
. ollet cion
Mirror 1977 Painted uid patinatcd bronz. numl '
260. Roy Lichtemtein. II,
an edition of thro 151.8] 6.2 c30.4cm(59

261. Roy Lichtenstcin, Goldfish Bowl II, 1978 Painted and patinated bronze,
aumber three of an edition of three 99.1 x 64.1 x 28.6 cm [ltf inches)
Private collection
262. Roy Lichtenstein, Double Glass, L979 Painted and patinated bronze,
number three ol an edition of three 142.2* 106 6x43.1 cm (56 k42x 17 ii
Private collection
bronze
1980 Painted and patinated
lef, 263. Roy Lichtens.ein, Expressionist Head,
f six, 139.7 x 104.1 x 45.7 en,

with painted wooden baê, number four of an editi
20Xx30x20 inches). Private

(55x41 x 18 inches); base: 51.4x76.2 x 52.1
collection
Painted ...,1 patinated br *

right 264. Roy Lichtenstein, Brushstroke, 1981.
7Q-7 "Sx
s^s v 16
i<> 5cm (31 ix 13 ix6 inches)
numbei one ol an edition ol six '
I'm u t i
ollei don
in common with the Dada aesthetic oflate-1950s assemblage or 1960s Minimalism.
Instead, his three-dimensional work relates more to the sculpture thai arose out oi Abstract
Expressionism, especially that of David Smith and the generation ol sculptors inspired In
Smith. Assemblage or junk sculpture b\ John Chamberlain, Mark di Suvero, and others
also evolved out of Abstract Expressionism, but — influenced by Dada -became primarily
a street-based art of found objects. On the West Coast, Ed Kienhol/ fashioned three-
dimensional tableaux of seed) and often lurid real-life environments using urban detritus,
while his East Coast counterparts Oldenburg, Segal, and Tom Wesselmann mined similar
veins within the context of Pop art. Although I ichtenstein's ceramic sculptures of the
mid-1960s relate to the Pop objects produced by Dine. Johns, Oldenburg, k.msi henberg,
and Warhol, his Modern sculptures and later three-dimensional works haw closer links to
the sculptures of such artists as Anthony Caro and Ellsworth Kelly. British-bom C aro V
s^^sW among the most notable of the sculptors inspired by Smith. Like Smith, and unlike the
266. Roy Lichtcnstein, The Conversation, 1977 Oil and Magna mi canvas 91 4 »
Minimalists — with whom he has often been compared— ( iro < reated his own form of
minimal abstract sculpture based on ti.it color planes and linear elements arranged in
127 cm (36 x 50 inches) Private i ollecrion
horizontal configurations. Kelly also made sculpture using flat planes oi i
olor, reducing
them to simple rectangular or rounded shapes based on the natural tonus in Ins
Isomorphic paintings of the 1950s.

Lichtenstem's sculptures have focused on a range of themes over several de< ides.
including art-historical styles, Art \)^\n design, and his own invented forms. With
characteristic irony, Lichtcnstein has been addressing issues of three-dimensional space via
his sculptural versions of his two-dimensional images, translating motifs from one realm
into the other, motifs as varied as mirror reflections, steam using from a coffee cup, light
streaming from a lamp, a whiplash brushstroke, and an Expressionist head. By maintaining
the flatness, altering the scale, and applying process coloi and Benday dots, he deliberately
undermines his representation of the object and our perception of it. and continues the
tradition of such twentieth-century artists as Picasso ind Johns in exploring new paths in
sculpture.
1. Lichtcnstein. quoted m Constance W Glenn, Roy Uchtenstein Ceraml Sculpture, exhib cat (1 ong Bi ach
California State University, 1977), p 19
2. Ibid-. pp 1 7- is
Gene Bare ed "Some Late Words from David Smith," l" International 9 no
3. Smith, quoted in ,
bei 1965), p v>
I977,andthis 1984 sculpture on Matisse's

4 Lichtenstein based both his painting The Conversation
painting Conversation, 1908-09/1912
Paint, d and ated bronze

left 265. Roy Lichtcnstein, The Conversation, 1984 pi
number five ol an edition ol six, 123 2 < 104 I

1
x -" 8 - m (48 k41 x 11 K inches)
Private collection.
335 Chapter 14: Sculpture, 1965-93

267. Roy Lichtcnstcin, Archaic Head VI, 1988 Patinatcd bronze, numbi i foui ol in
i dition ol six, 148.5 x 47 x 25.4 i m (58

!
ic 18 34 x 10 in( hi •
Prh lle< tion
268. Roy Liehtcimiin, Ritual Mask, 1992 P
[29.9
left 269. Roy Lichtenstein, Brushstroke Head IV (Barcelona Head), 1987 Painted
and patinated bronze, number one ol an edition of six 108 5 x 50.8 x 26 6 i m

JO h 10 inches) Private collection.
right 270. Roy Lichtenstein, Barcelona Head, \<>'>2 C oncrete and ceramii tiles;
sculpture 14 2 x 1.6 x 2.6 m (46 feel 7 inches \ l ^ kit i inches x 8 feet <> inches);
bast < 0m (19 fe< i 8 inches) high; overall 19 6 m (64 feet 2 inches) high c Hympic
S< iport, Ban i lona

left 271. Roy Lichtenstcin, Brushstroke, l')87 Painted aluminum, 9.15 X 5.19 X
2 19 in (30 feet k 17 feet k 7 feel 6 in< ties) < ourtc%\ Stephen M.i/oh .ukI ( o . Im
right 272. Roy Lichtenstcin, Airplane. 1990 Painted and padnated bronze, .irtisi's
proof,274 l> " l.6cm 108 > 14 H x 29 inches) Private collection

t
p M
ft
I 1
kUni^v I
flyi^^v
--
H\\i\
^^^
{
•
a
^
I
^V^Npaal^gJU
. '1 OBMv»-
|*;|
ic?
n A^Vrrai
4 ....
-j
i
1
1( ^w :r#^l.«_L_i
i
|
•
^ ^
i^K
?§§
1
274. Roy Lichtenstein, Mobile III, 1990 Painted and patinated bronze,
edition ofsix. 144.8x132.1 k 33 cm (57 x 52 x 13 inches)

number one ofan
Private collection
oncrete, steel, polyurethanc

left 273. Roy Lichtenstein, The Mermaid, 1979 (
enamel palm tree, and water. 6.4 x 7.3 x 3.3 m (21 feet x 24 feet x 1 1
Miami Beach. Florida

Miami Beach fheater foi the Performing Arts,
!••<
::V.v
? ^
r% (
T
* %
^H
Lichtenstein painted his first large-scale mural in 1%4 for a building designed by architects
Philip Johnson and Richard Foster tor the World's Fair in Flushing, New York. I [e was
one often painters and -the others were Peter AgOStini, Chamberlain,
sculptors- RoU , i
Indiana, Ellsworth Kelly. Alexander Liherman, Robert Miliary, Rauschenberg,

Rosenqinst, and Warhol — who were commissioned by Johnson to make large-scale works
tor the outside wall of the circular Theaterama building of the New York State Pavilion at
the 1964 World's Ian Warhol's mural consisted of silkscrcencd images of F.B.I, mug shots
ot alleged criminals. The mur.il. entitled Thirteen Most Wanted Mni. was inspired by the
F.B.I.'s "Ten Most Wanted Fugitives" list and consisted ot twenty five panels, each
measuring 4 feet by 4 feet, arranged in a 20-foot-square grid. At the request ol fail
officials, who feared that labeling the faces as "most wanted men" might lead to lawsuiis,
Warhol painted over the images with silver paint. For his mural, Rauschenberg created an
enormous silkscreen composed of images of John F. Kennedy and Rubcnss Baroque
masterpiece Venus before a \dirrot (which Rauschenberg repeated twi< i along with a
variety of other images culled from the media. Framed as a billboard artist, Roscnejuist
created a panoramic mural in which he juxtaposed seemingl) disparate Fop images ol
( offee beans, a portion oi a car and its tire, a drinking glass ,\nd striped drinking straw, and
Uncle Sam's hat. which he executed in bright colors interspersed with broadl) brushed
, ire. is .-I p.istel tones Kelly contributed a painting and sculpture based on semii in ulai
motifs. Indiana created a 20-foot-square sign. Eat, with electric light bulbs outlining the
white letters E. A, and T set against large black disks (fabricated by the firm that employed
Roscmjuist to paint its billboards on Broadway), and it too i ausi d a probli m foi fail
officials. Many of the visitors thought that it indicated a place to eat inside the pavilion
and demanded to know where the restaurant was located, until, at the request •>! the t.m
officials, the sign was turned off. Fichtenstem's painting featured the figure ot a laughing
woman, her arms c rossed over her chest, leaning out an i

»pen w indov* I le punted the 20-
by- 16-foot image in oil .\nd Magna ow pi) wood Since the work was too large i" iii into
his Highland Park studio, he worked on it outside, placing it against the garage wall ol his
house in New Jersey and completing it there. Although I khtenstein's subject was siinil.u
to that of his other Fop imagery, the large size ol die mural painting n infon ed to a\) even
greater degree the distance between its soun e in the COmi( Strip and the image thai
resulted. However, it did not succeed as a mural, i
Inrilv because it was .i larger version ol
an earlier painting rather than a new image created tor the site and because it tailed to take
into account the circular shape of the building. Of the ten artworks commissioned for the
pavilion, only Rosenquist's and Kelly's worked with the curved wall, and onl)
Rosenuuist's succeeded as a mural perse. Nevertheless, the commission was important foi
Lichtenstein and the others in that it provided them with a publi( forum tor their work
them an opportunity to work on large stale for the first time

kjl 275, 276. Roy Lichtenstein, Brushstrokes, 1970 Mag n plasti I foul walls; and gave man) ol a
made his second mural for the University of Diisseldorf 's

School ot
two w .IK 3 6 \ I" 7 m (12 feet n J5 feet); two walls 3.6x7 6 m (12 feci k 25 feet) Lichtenstein
Medicine. The mural, entitled Brushstrokes (figs. 275 and 276), completed in 1970,
School oi Medicine, University ofDusseldorf
based on his 1960s pamtmgs of the same subject. Executed in Magna on plaster b) his
Carlene Meeker (with the help of two other assistants) from slides ol drawii
pagei 148-49 277. Roy Lichtenstein, Greene Street Mural, 1983 (desl assistant
made by the artist, the mural occupies four 2-foot-lngh walls, two of which are 2.5 feet
Magna and jilkscreened wallpaper, 5 5 x 29 2 m (18 feet * 95 feel 8! inches) I
the image of the brushstroke

femporar) installation ai Leo ( astelh Gallerj Greene Street, New York long and the other two 10 feet longer Lichtenstein enlarged
347 Chapter 15: Murals. 1964-93

c
\
%,
^
\
%
to a far greater degree than he had in his earlii i paintings but made no othei significant
changes and, as in 196 v made no attempt to adjust Ins painting to the requirements of
mural painting, "no effort to prepare the wall other than to paint it white." In tins
expanded form, Ins — which has

brushstroke image little significance in relation to the
school for which it was commissioned — served the as basis for what turned out to be in
effective large-scale work. Satisfied with its execution, 1 ichtenstein signed the mural when
he came to the university in mid-October 1970. Although he took the location into
ac( ount by wrapping the brushstrokes around the four inside walls of a corridor in the
school, it was not until the 1980s that Lichtenstein began to conceive of a mural with the
architecture of the site in mind.
Early in December 1983, he began work ^n a mural foi Leo < astelli's Greene Street
gallery in SoHo (fig, 277). The project, winch had taken mouths of preparation in Ins
studio, was completed in the gallery in eight days b\ 1 ichtenstein and Ins assistants James
di Pasquale, Robert McKeever, and Brian O'l eary. The mural w is 18 feel high n its
highest point and 95 feet 8 ! i

inches long, occupying the entire north w .ill ol the gall ry
I ichtenstein designed it knowing that when the exhibition ended on January 14. 1984, it
would be covered over. He undertook the project because he wanted to work on a I
scale, and, although he would have liked it to be preserved. appre< iated a i ertain iron} in
the notion that the work would be destroyed after the exhibition. An additional sour< i oi
humor la) in the fact that the mural was too big to be seen in its entirety from any on.
vantage point in the gallery. In this mural. 1. ichtenstein included several new images -
including those depicting a roll of toilet paper, a funnel, and a knotted red ( ord and
reprised many of Ins earlier motifs, beginning with ,\n Art \)^\^ motil ind ini Orporating
several 1960s Pop images (Swiss cheese and a composition not I I

a 1960s pyramid,
some 1970s office images (including a filing cabinet and a folding chair), and a 1980s
brushstroke motif. None of these were arranged in i hronological order, noi was the size
of any one image consistent with any othei I le elected instead to juxtapose different
images from different periods of his career, in effect creating a gigantic montage ol some
of his most memorable subjects, a diary of Ins own past, rather than a public Statement like
138), L968,orPmff Through Chemistry (fig 140), 1970,

the earlier smaller Preparedness (fig.
which also presented montages of images In creating this large-scale montage ol
that Rosenquist had used so

disjunctive images. Lichtenstein was emulating the technique
effectively in such large-scale paintings as

/•'-
/ / /. 1965
ichtenstein was o\\o\\\ the commission to design a mural for the lobby of
In 1984, I
Tower midtown Manhattan (fig. 278). I hat same v. ar, I nomas Hart
the Equitable ...
1930 31 foi the N, w S< hool foi Social

Benton's . \merica Today murals, painted in
on wall of its lobby \merica
Research, were purchased by Equitable and installed i sid.
locomotives and and ....planes, the gears

Today consists often panels that show speeding
toihng under huge ranes
machines, surging skwrapers, and Ameri. an workers
.
pistons of
advances logy hrough
nation that had been transformed by in te. I
and bridges in a
stimuli imerica Today recreates the modern urban

this -bombardment of visual .
mass media— th. inema billboard 01 illustrated

experience, especially the effects of
1
tyi 278. Roy Lichtenstein. Mural with Blue Brushstroke, 1986

M igna 01 * is,
panels could be read ... .. crisscross

Equitable fowei New York tabloid ... It has no single diagrammatic reading: thi
9.9m(68fcei iinchesx >2 feel 5 finches)
room " , htenstein began to work on the maquette
pattern or progressively around the
I
Collection The Equitable lit,- \ssurance Society, New York.

,
tor his in autumn 1984, and after the

mural design was approved there were numerous
meeting with engineers and conservators
to determine how best to prepare sun,, the
The mural was painted in Magna on canvas mounted on
was a plaster will. whi( I.
then attached to the limestone wall of the

building's atrium, lake Benton's murals.
Lichtenstein's presents a cacophony of .mages. Entitled Mural with Blue Brushstroke, it is
another enormous montage of his earlier subjects, including a sunburst, a figure inspired
by Leger (a master of the mural genre) holding a beachbaU, a hand holding a sponge, a
i lassical column, and an entablature, as well as motifs from almost ever) other series,
including the Art Deco, office interior, and
Mirrot paintings, along with references to
other twentieth-century artists including rank Stella. I
Although the scale ofth. five stor}
high mural was huge, he approached much as he did his easel
it work. < >n< e he had
selected the motifs, he made a series of drawings and then collaged them together to make
a maquette, measuring 34 Va by 17 in< hes. which became the working plan for the actual
mural. The maquette was proje< ted onto the surface of the plaster wall and its outlines
were filled in with black tape. The mural took six weeks to execute. Undei I i( htensteins
supervision, his assistants David 1 lchtenstem. Mclxecur. Arch (VI earhy. O'l cm>\
di Pasquale, and Fernando Pomalaza completed the work in January 1986
In the twentieth century, the mural form is most frec|iientlv identified with the I reatOl
ot monumental public murals dealing with issues ol greal social, c< ono and politi< al
consequence — especially artists commissioned In the W.P.A., such as Benton and Gorl J
(who created a mural entitled Aviation for Newark Airport m 1936), and Mexii .u\ painters
Jose Clemente Oro/ô mk\ I )iego Rivera. In the 1930s m^\ '4<)s. the mural demanded
public themes, and heroic ones at that, meant to inspire, lead, and tea. h I u htenstem
rejected this approach; instead he mined his past to produce an amalgam ol images from
his own personal repertoire of themes, and presented the in in a way that recalls a grand
old Times Square billboard more than a W.P.A. mural cm- a Renaissance fresco, although
there are even echoes of those. Whereas m his early Pop paintings I ichtenstein succeeded
in breaking down the barriers between media-derived subjects and a fine arl Style, Inn- he
succeeds in making their union seem inevitable mk\ appropriate.

Lichtenstein's most recently completed mural is one thai he designed fol the < n alive
Artists Agency in Beverly Hills (fig. 21')), 1989. I ike Lichtenstein's l

(
>-ss easel painting ol
the same subject (fig. 215). it is based on the Bauhaus Stairway painted b\ S< hlemmer in
l
(
J32 (fig. 216). kike his Equitable mural, it is prominend) situated in a public space, in
this case the lobby ot a two-story building designed by I M Pei I i< htenstein again \ i pi
Schlemmers composition intact, adding bolder outlines to emphasize the figures'
silhouettes, altering the colors somewhat. And using his Henday-dot matrix to provide
pattern and shading. After completing a mural for the Tel Aviv Museum in 1989, he
admitted that he "didn't think of murals as any different from paintings, though sometimes
you react to the architecture." and declared that he would "just as soon avoid the
architecture, really." However, in this public spa< i the subject of a stairway filled with
people seems emmentlv suitable, and even manag< S to evoke something of the Bauhaus's
kft 279. Roy Lichtcnstein, Bauhaus Stairway: Hie Large Version, 1989 Oil and Utopian belief in merging art and life. Here, this Utopian ideal is joined with I ic htensteins
Magna on canvas, 8.2 x 5.5 m (27 x 18 feet) Creative Artists Agenq Beverly Hills, democratizing aesthetic of replication, thus making art accessible tc all and maintaining
and consumer culture that underlies his work.

( auTornia ( ollection Mi< hael ( >\it/ the connection between high art all

—
Lichtenstein is currently working on .mother mural, Large Interior with Three Reflections,
1993 (sec the collage study for the mural, fig. 280), consisting o\\\ 30-foot-long triptych,
more than 13 feet high, to be placed on one wall, and three smaller panels, each more
than 9 feet high, designed to fit into pre-existing niches on the opposite wall. The three
panels of the triptych .ire of unequal widths, with the middle panel being the widest. The
multi-panel format of the new mural recalls 1 ichtenstein's comic-strip painting As I
<
)pened Fire (fig. 91), 1964, and. among his Art Deco-style works, the multi-panel Modern
Painting with Clef (fig. 137), 19(>7. Preparedness, and Peace Through Chemistry. In Large
Interior. Lichtenstein reintroduces the images of a living-room ensemble, a 1930s
"Moderne" sculpture, and a plant sponged onto a canvas, all from his 1991 Interiors, and a
bowl of lemons and bananas from au early still life. But he also introduces some new
images — among them, a comic-strip painting of a I940s-style detective melodrama, a
painting o\~ a nude woman lounging on a bed. a sculpture that resembles a group of
futuristic skvscrapcrs. and a small Art Deco-Style sign featuring the single word FORM
(re< ailing Art [fig. 66] and /// (fig. 70], both 1962) — as well .is sculptures based on several
of his paintings (including Swiss Cheese, 1961, and a 1980s Imperfect painting). As
Lichtenstein continued the series in 1991-92, his relatively straightforward depictions of
rooms in the first few Interiors turned into fantasy rooms composed of multiple
perspec lives and decorated with unusual objects. But this mural is positivelv zany, for
while it appears to be primarily about his 1990s renditions of 1 9(S< )s-style comic-strip
paintings' and sculptural versions of various painting motifs, it reads like a stage set or a
movie mystery filled with clues. Images that look like scenes from 1940s and 1950s films
collide with Modern art in this Pop-inflected Hollywood-style interior. One searches for
dues to the undisclosed mystery, finding them in the still-glowing cigar, the partly open
door, and the image of the nude woman and another of a hand pulling back a curtain.
Each ot the three smaller panels, rather than clarifying the mystery — it there is one
obscures more than it reveals, mcrel\ showing a mirror image oi^ portion of the panel
opposite it, complete with Benday-dot and diagonal-stripe "reflection" motifs. Most
mysterious ot all, the actors in this script are missing; or are we, the spectators, the
protagonists? Like the Mirror paintings that preceded them. Large Interior with 'Three
Reflections, the most complex of the Interiors to date, is an enigma
Lichtenstein \ murals have all of the wit and humor of his earlier work. It is what we have
come to expect of him. Early in his career, he adapted the look and attitude of advertising
images and comic strips to create a composite portrait of our consumer culture and to
celebrate the absurd aspects of our cultural condition. In his blatant exploitation of such
imagery and the commercial techniques used to produce them. Lichtenstein created a new
visual syntax that was uniquely appropriate for portraying and critiquing postwar
Amencan society and its post-industrial artifices. His dual ambition was to depict our
nation's middle-class culture through its modes of mechanized reproduction and, by
converting "unartistic" images into "unartistic" paintings, to confront the cliches of art
and the conventions that govern how we recognize art as art. In his lifelong project of
making paintings and sculptures that resemble cliches, he has pursued a style designed to
maintain a distance from his subject matter, portraying nature as artificial, conveying an
1
ironic, anti-aesthetic attitude, and capturing look of "insincerity"

a in Ins wori
Throughout Lichtenstein's career, Ins marriage of common, low-art subjects with high art
style has been an attempt to define the real-world subject matter ofpopulai culture within
the context of Modernist abstraction, making the point that what he has been presenting
to us is an abstraction of our experience oi reality. Inspired by popular culture and the
mass media. Lichtenstein and his colleagues featured .1 new urban societ) in their ait,
portraying our nation and its people in terms of their artifacts. But one of the prim. 11 \
characteristics that distinguishes Lichtenstein from his fellow Pop artists is his ability to
depict a common object as an abstract form wlnlr maintaining its basi< features .is m)
object, allowing him to transcend its literalness and subvert its reality I lis deadpan
mechanical presentation of familiar images helps to blur traditional notions of what is
"real'" ,in ( \ what is "abstract." In his use ofsuch artifice, and in our awareness of the fiction
involved in Ins present.it mi of these images.

1 Ins ,ut subverts the foundation mm which it
was created and. paradoxically, derives its strength from this subversion. ( oinu strips and
consumer-product advertising images offered Lichtenstein a wa) to tesi his own aesthetii
ideas and to question the role of art 111 the late twentieth century, and h( pi'" <
eded to
incorporate all these queries into his work. Within this framework, he has been able to
encompass the ideas of such Modern masters as Cezanne, Matisse. Mondnan. and Picasso
and the most fundamental aspects ot Futurism, German Expressionism, and Surrealism. In
modeling his own work on the work of other artists, Lichtenstein has used the same
method he first established with his cartoon comic -strip paintings: identify the SUDJei t,
isolate its features, and restate both m terms of his own style. In so doing, he- shows us that
art today —including his own— must be regarded as oik mon 1 ommodity in an endless
stream of products and reproductions.
In 1949, Lichtenstein submitted a series of poems he wrote to fulfill part ol the
requirement for his M.F.A. degree from Ohio State University. In these texts, he mappi d
out his future, his commitment to art, to perception, to understanding the myster) ol art,
to mastering what must forever remain unknown, it it is to be art If one were to chart the
course of his work, as it has unfolded ovei the course of four decades, one could sa) that it
exemplifies the idea that art is forever a surprise.
I In- truth of nature's structure
( .Hues ti> you through work
And is then projected through youi
So looking uiili- 'in touching would uncovei foi you
None of the world's sinu ture
And things would remain only
Incomprehensible col u
But yon could fathom out
Urge Interior with And understand the existence <>l things

'
2HU. Roy Lichtenstein, Collage study for
Three Reflections, 1993 rapt ind painted and printed paper on board fourpanels with touch done
cm Ybu must first teel. then

large pane] 87 it 233 91 inches reflection panel 1 71 x 53
57cm 22 inches); refleci panel3 71 x You must feel until you see.
21 inches); refle panel 2 71 x [28 k i
Ybu will s< e what you fi 1
53 cm (28 x 21 inches) Private colle< tion
355 Chapter 15: Murals, 1964-93

Wink- we are now well versed in the way in which Lichtenstein approaches art,
we can be surprised by
through the eves of the consumer and the eyes of
the artist, still
ever inventive painter and sculptor. He is an artist who can paint the most common
this
the most heroic ones, pay homage to the masters of the past and
genre subject as well as
challenged by painting and sculpture and challenges

us to join
poke fun at himself. He is
him m his discoveries. For those of us who have followed him, the voyage has been
supremely rewarding.
quoted in Paul Taylor, "Roy Lichtenstein: Naivete Allowed You to Do a Lot of Work. Now
I l u htenstein,
1 Don't Knov^ How Anyone Does Anything," Flash Art 22, no 148 (October 1989), p. 90.
nomas Benton and Progressive 1 iberalism: An Interpretation of the New Sehool

2 | mil) Braun, I I lart
America Today Murah (New York:

Murals," in Emily Braun and Thomas Branchick, Thomas Hart Benton: The
C
Assurance Society of the U.S.. ;K5). p 19.
\\ illiams < ollege and I he I quitable i ife
I
quoted in Taylor. -Roy Lichtenstein: Naivete ," P 90. I he lei Aviv mural contains a
3. Lichtenstein,
.
reference to Man ( hagall's well-known "Fiddler" image
4 < onversation with the artist, Southampton, NY. August 1993
5. From Lichtenstein, "Paintings, Drawing, Pastels" (M.F.A. thesis. Department of Fine and Applied Arts.
< >hio St. itt University, Columbus, 1949), p 5

radio
spends time designing model airplanes. Listens to
in the artist's life are si i
in bold; 1923 shows including "Flash Gordon" and "Mandrake the
Oct 27. Lichtenstein is born in Manhattan at
Roy Fox
in the in world are ••>.< in ii tli<
Magician."
Flower Hospital on 64th Street and Eastern Boulevard
and
[now York Avenue], to Milton (1893-1946)
His father, who was 1930
Beatrice (nee Werner; 1896-1991).
May 15 Jasper Johns bom in Augusta, Georgia
for the Garage
is
born in Brooklyn, is a real-estate broker

born in New
Realty Company. His mother, who was
the Upper 1931
Orleans, is a homemaker. They reside on
Broadway (at 96th feb 23 Tom Wesselmann is born in Cincinnati, mio <
West Side of Manhattan at 1457 presents Newer

Vi „, \s-Dei 5 The Wadsworth Atheneum (Hartford)
Street) until they move to 305
West 86th Street, where
Super-Realism, organized by A I vereti Austin The first
important
R.L. spends his childhood years. exhibition of Surrealist work mounted in the U.S., itfeatures works
Dall, < Giorgio de Chirico, Max Ernst, Andre"

Masson,
by Salvadoi
* 924 MirS, Picasso, and others
, ,
.
pu biicati n \ndri Breton'i I e Manifest* du surreahsme (Manifesto the Whitney Museum

2, 1932 Under Director Juliana Force,
q) .
beginning oj the Nov 18-Jan.

of Surrealism) in Paris, marking the official
,,, [merican . \rt (New York; 8 West 8th Street) mounts its first
Surrealist movement. of the Permanent Collection:

show, Opening I ichibition Pari I
Xo,: 26 ( korgt Segal is born in Manhattan

Painting and Sculpture.
1925
the arts founded in 1919 1932
[pril The Bauhaus, an experimental school foi
Dessau Jan. 9-29. Julien Levy Gallery (602 Madison [venue) presents
undei the direction Waltei Gropius, moves from Weima\ to
qj
Sunc.ihs.iK-, the first majo\ exhibition in New York of Surrealist art
n harassment by the new right-wing regional government Its

aftet sevi
Ubers, Vasily Kandinsky, MoMA moves 10 1 1 West 53rd Street
faculty includes such majoi artists as Jose)
Paul Klee, and < )skai Schlcmmei

bom in Port Arthur, Texas (He 1933
(
)a 22 I rnesi Milton Rauschenberg is
nine mouth, earlier, closes
eventually adopts July 29. The Bauhaus, which had moved to Berlin
begins to use the name Bob starting in 1957 and
,„,,, conditions imposed by the Nazis make operation impossible.
the name Robert, 1
School Fine irts in New

Oct German-bom Hans Hofmann opens his qj
York (137 East 57th Street, it moves to 52 West 9th Street in

1926
ounded by :hnsttan Zervos, \936, then to 52 West 8th Street in 1938)
Thiers d'art u published in Paris I (
Jan ( first
Nov. 2S. Albers arrives in SSorth Carolina with his wife,
Amu, to begin his
the magazine features artists qj the European avant-garde and has

new teaching position ut tin recently opened experimental school,
wide international distribution.
Black Mountain < College
Aug 15 Willem de Kooning (bom in 1904 in Rotterdam) arrives in
Shelly, and soon Nov. 29. James Rosenquist is born m Grand Forks, North Dakota.
I irginja from Holland, a stowaway on the S S
aftet sets up a studio and residence in Hoboken, Newjersey (He

New York 1927 1935
moves to West 42nd Street in in )
luur 16. James Dine is bom in Cincinnati, Ohio

Federal Art Project (W.P.A F.A.P.)
'
is
[ Ug Works Projects Administration
1927
established as one qj Roosevelt's New Deal reliefprojects, providing
Ug 23 Ulan Kaprow is bom in Ulantic City, Newjersey.
[
many including de Kooning, irshile < hrky, and
Renee born. income fo\ artists,
Dec. 17. R.L.'s sister is
Works Progn
Jackson Pollock (The name is changed to
27 Albert Eugene Gallatin, acollectoi and artist, opens Gallery qj
Dei
Gallatin frequently [dministration in 1939.)
Living Art in New York's Greenwich Village.
[une 1940 Senior photo in 1 ranklin
David Gascoyne's Short Survey ofSurrealism, the first English-language
A
Paris (including Joan Miro, Piet Mondrian, and
Pablo
visits artists in
i
Qgh S< hool m irl
works his gallery
monograph on ///< movement, is published in London.
Picasso) and buys theii foi
James Thrall Soby's Alter Picasso is published in

New York. It is theftrst
hook on Surrealism published in the U.S.

1928-36
R.L. attends kindergarten near 104th Street and West End
Avenue and grades 1 through 7 at RS. 9 (84th Street 1936
private
and West End Avenue). R.L. begins 8th grade at Franklin School for Boys, a
school located at 18 West 89th Street in Manhattan.
Dada, Surrealism exhibition is held
/>,, 9-Jan 17, 1937 Fantastic Art,
1928
Pennsylvania (He begins to at MoMA, organized by Ban. One section features comparative
1,,.: 6 [ndrew Warhola is born in Pittsburgh,
materials, including commercial art, folk art, tcientifl objects, and art
use the surname Warhol in 1949.)
Robert lark bom in New astle, Indiana (He replaces his by childn n and the insane
Sepl 13 ( is (
Zeitschrift Sozialforschung publishes "The Work of Art in the Age oj

surname with the name of his home state early in In- careei I
fiir
Mechanical Reproduction," German critu Waltei Benjamins
1929 influential cay (written m 1935) concerning th role oj art in an age
bom Stockholm, Sweden. (His family settles ot mass communication

Jan. 28 Claes Oldenburg is in
in < Chicago in 1934.)

7-Dec. 7 Alfred II Ban, Jr., organizes First oan Exhibition: 1937
Nov. 1
8-9. Picasso two satirical etchings, entitled Dream and Lie >>t
mm < I luguin Seurat, Van ( logh foi the opening oj the /.(i/ creates
iomu strips in
Museum Modern \rt (MoMA) in New York (730 Fifth ivenue) Franco, each divided into nine panels like some of the
q)
I nihil newspapers ot the period.
in Paris
1920s I eh John Graham's hook System and Dialectics of Art is published
edition*
(mid hue, in the yem in New York, in .in English-language
R.L. develops a strong interest in drawing and science and
It exploit- the role of accident and the unconscious in the creative
<
i
" Wes\ Uth Street), withgallery spaces designed by Frederick
process, automatu writing, improvisation, and ancient art, andlater Kiesh Ove\ five yea,-, tin gallery mounts solo exhibitions
becomes an important influence on the Abstract by
I xpressionists.
Baziotes, Hojmann, Motherwell, Pollock, Richard Pousette-Dart
July 12 Picasso presents his 26-foot-long mural Guernica at (he Spanish Mark Rothko, Clyfford Still, and others
Republican Pavilion qj the Paris World's Fair
R.L. enrolls in Saturday morning watercolor classes at
1943
Parsons School of Design in Manhattan (66 Fifth
The W.P.A i- officially disbanded
Avenue).
Feb. R.L. is drafted into U.S. Army; inducted
is at Fort Dix
in New Jersey.
1938
/ eb. Musician and composerjohn ( agn performs at his dibut .omen, at
/,/// -Feb. Breton and poet Paul Eluard organize Exposition Internationale
«° w '•
"'" ll • /'"" that involves musicians producing sounds using
du surrealisme at the Galerit des Beaux- In inParh lining the
unconvi ntional obn .
i-
entranceway to the exhibition the "Surrealist Street," which consists

is
March. R.L. begins basic training at Camp Hulen in Texas,
ofJem. ile mannequins outfitted byjean A, r Dall, Marcel Duchamp, ,
an anti-aircraft training base.
Ernst, Marcelfean, Mir6, Man Ray Masson, and others
Winter. Enters engineering A.S.T.P. (Army Special Training
Program) at De Paul University in Chicago, where he
1939
takes classes in math and science for two semesters
May 31. The Museum of Non-Objectivi Painting (New York; 24 East 14th before army cancels program.
Street) open- under the directorship ofHilla Rebay von Ehrenwicsen,
featuring works by Rudolf Bauer, Juan Gris, Kandinsky, Fernand 1944
Uger, and Picasso. R.L. arrives at Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi, Mississippi,
Autumn. Partisan Review publishes Clement Greenberg's "Avant-
article for its pilot-training program. Due to the enormous
( ritrde and Kitsch number of casualties of the Bulge and the in the Battle
Nov. 15-Jan. 7, 1940 MoMA presents Picasso Fortj Years of His Art, consequent need for soldiers to replace them, the
curated by Ban. program is terminated.
Reports for active duty in engineer battalion of 69th Infantry
1940 Division of the 9th Army.
Dc Kooning begins his first Woman < rit
June. R.L. graduates from Franklin. 1945

July 1-Aug. 9. Attends painting class taught by Reginald Feb. R.L.'s division is shipped to England on the ship
Marsh at the Art Students League (215 West 57th Lejeune. Overseas tour of duty includes stops in France
Street), painting directly from the model and studying and Belgium and combat engagements in Germany.
anatomical drawing and Renaissance techniques, such During his time in the service, R.L. draws landscapes and
as glazing and underpainting, applied to subjects of portraits of soldiers and other people in his
modern life. sketchbooks.
Sept View magazine premieres in New York; its editot is Charles Henry March Los Angeles County VluseumoJ \rt mounts a retrospectivt oj Man
Duchamp and Joseph Cornell later contribute covei designs
Ford. Ray's paintings, objects, and photographs.
Autumn. R.L. begins studies in fine arts at Ohio State Oct.— Nov. R.L. enrolls in history and French language classes
University and takes first drawing classes with Prof. at the Cite Universitaire in Paris. His studies are
Hoyt L. Sherman. interrupted after just a month and a half, when he is
Oct. Mondrian amir- m New York furloughed to visit his father, who is extremely ill.
Early Nov. Man Ray, who had heen living in Paris mice 1921, return- to Returns to U.S. and reports to Fort Dix.
U.S. and settles in Hollywood
1946
1941 Jan. R.L.'s father dies; later that month, he is discharged from
Jan 2 2- May 2~ \loM I presents Indian Art of the United States, the army as Private First Class, with a medal for
organized by Frederic H Douglas and Reni d'Harnoncourt Meritorious Service.
July 14 Ernst arrives in New York via Lisbon with Peggy Guggenheim In Returns to Ohio State University to complete his degree
December, they many under the G.I. Bill. Attends painting classes taught by-
Sherman and begins to incorporate into his own work
1942 the theories developed by Sherman in his "flash lab."
R.L. resides at 1968 Iuka Avenue in Columbus. March W New Yorkei miu Robert < oates coins the term Abstract
Makes paintings that are copies of works by Picasso (such as I -pi, ssionism
Portrait of Gertrude Stein, 1906) and Georges Braque. May Peggy Guggenheim closes \rtoj This Century and leaves SewYorkfoi
Feb. 9-28. Mondrian has his first solo exhibition in New York, at Valentine I urope
Gallery (55 Ea.-t 57th Street). June. R.L. receives B.F.A. degree from Ohio State University
June 25. Duchamp amir- in New York from Paris and stays briefly with Sept W <><i l'' Betty Parsons opens gallery in New York (15 East 57th
and residence at 2 in West Nth Street) with Northwesi ( oasi Indian Painting, <" exhibition
Ernst (In 1943, he sets up a studio
Street, 1959 he more- to 28 West 10th Street

and in I
organized by Barnett Newman.
Autumn. R.L. enters graduate program at Ohio State
Oct. 14-Nov.
~
Papers of Surrealism exhibition is held in New York
I irst
at the Keid Man-ion (451 Madison \venue), with works by \rp, University and joins Fine Arts department as an
William Baziotes, Alexander Colder, Ernst, Klee, Miro, Robert instructor. Occasionally returns to New York and
Motherwell, Picasso, and other-, and an installation by Duchamp that begins to visit galleries, especially Charles Egan Gallery
fills the exhibition -pace with String, like an cnoiniou- -pnlenirb.
and Betty Parsons Gallery on 57th Street. His work at
Oct. 2d Peggy Guggenheim open- Art This < )entury in Sew York the time is based on American genre paintings, with
qj
365 Chronology
recognizable subject matter, but the form is Cubist 1950
with Expressionist overtones. R.L. moves with Isabel to 1496 Perry Street in Columbus.
Dv Kooning begins Woman I, the first painting in his third Woman serii
/ >,. Hugo < Gallery in New York (26 East 55th Street) show* Cornell's
collaged box constructions, some q) which contain photographs qj
mom April, studio 35 officially closes.
/)«•, The Institute of Contemporary Art is established in Loudon to encourage

,1 th< day
interaction between artists, poets, and the public
Dec 8-Feb 25, 1951 The Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York; Fifih
1947
[venue at 82nd direct) presents AmeiK.m Art Tod.n l'»S(i, juried ,;
De Kooning begins his second Woman series (which In continues until

show with uvihs by mote than 300 artists, including Will Barnet,
1949
Isabel Bishop, Marsh, and Math Tobey
Motherwell and Harold Rosenberg publish the first ami only issue qj
Possibilities, a periodical that includes statements by Newman,

others describing the impetus behind then works
1950-51
Pollock, and
hromhly studies painting at the Art Students League, where he meets fellow
lln Museum qj Non ' )bjective Painting more, to a townhouse at 10 l
student Rauschenberg
I ifth Avenue (at 88th Street)
a 62-page handbook by Sherman Philip Pearlstein begins his early comic-strip paintings; eventually he destroys
q) Drawing
< >,i Publication In Seeing,
all but one of them.
1948
"Thi Decline 1951-57
March Partisan Review publishes Clement Greenberg's articU
American mi has finally broken R.L. works at various jobs, most lasting about six months
of Cubism," in which he declares that
with School ami attained supremacy each, including: teaching drawing at the Cooper
tin qj Paris
Autumn At Still's suggestion, Baziotes, David Hare, Motherwell, and School, a commercial-art school; working as an
Rothko form tin Subjects qj tin irtist, a school in a loft at 35 East engineering draftsman at Republic Steel; decorating
Kih Street, with public lectures by artists.
display windows part-time at Halle's Department
< it Rauschenberg begins attending classes taught by Albers ami others at Store; drawing black-and-white dials for Hickok
lila<h Mountain < lollegC
Electrical Instrument Company; making project
Ellsworth Kelly begins studies at tin tcole do- Beaux-. \rts in Paris, where he models an architecture firm.
at
meets Jack Youngerman, French sculptoi Cesar [Baldaccini], .'»</ Travels frequently to New York during his six years in
British artist I duardo Paolo Cleveland. While R.L. is in Ohio, Stanley Landesman
introduces him to Herman Cherry and Warren Brandt,
1948-49 through whom he learns about the Cedar Bar on
R.L. produces pastels, oils, and drawings. Subjects include University Place in Manhattan. He occasionally drops
musicians and landscapes. Begins using fairy tales as into the bar, which is frequented by de Kooning, Franz
subjects, and includes references to "Beauty and the Kline, and Pollock, among others, but is too shy to
Beast" and Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in make contact with any of them.
Wonderland.
1951
1949 R.L. brings paintings around to galleries in New York, such
[ftet studying at tin I diversity qj South Carolina in l
i
>4~-4X, Johns moves as M. Knoedler and Sidney Janis, carting them on top
to New York and briefly attends a commercial-art school before being of his station wagon.
drafted March 21-May 20. R.L.'s To Battle, a woodcut, is exhibited
March. R.L. receives M.F.A. degree from Ohio State along with works by more than 200 other artists in the
University. Resides at 394 15th Avenue in Columbus. Brooklyn Museum's juried show The Fifth National Print
Spring Julien Levy ( -allay < lost ?. Annual Exhibition. R.L.'s work is one of 20 selected to
,\/,i)' /'//. s;</'/< . rs .>/ tin [rtist school closes Tony Smith, a sculptoi and receive a Brooklyn Museum Purchase Award and enter
prqfessoi at New York f University, reopens it as Studio 15, with the collection. Members of the jury include Albers,
I riday evening lectures by artists and invited intellectuals, and with who the preceding year was appointed Chairman of
studio space lot New York I diversity students during the week the Design Department at Yale University.
June 12. R.L. marries Isabel Wilson (whom he had met April 30-May Manhattan, at
12. R.L.'s first solo exhibition in
earlier at the Ten-Thirty Gallery in Cleveland [1315 Carlebach Gallery (937 Third Avenue). The show
Euclid Avenue], where she is co-director). includes paintings rendered in muted pinks, blues, and
Summer. Warhol begins doing commercial work mauves, and assemblages made from found wood,
Aug. 1-31. R.L. in first group exhibition, at Chinese Gallery metal pieces, and found objects such as screws and
in New York (38 East 57th Street). drill buffers.
i mi' .v l ife magazine features 'in article on Pollock entitled "Is Ho the May 14-June 2 Rauschenberg's first \olo exhibition, at Betty Parsons
'"
> ./. atest Living Paintei m tin I S Gallery in New York.
. [utumn A group qj New York School artists, including de Kooning and Jack May 24-June W Leo Castelh and other members qj the Club mount
Tworkov, form tin Club lot diû-.>n<ir. and socializing. It meets first today's Self-Styled School of New York, an exhibition qj moths by
at an artist's studio and then in a rented loft at 39 last 8th Stret I Abstract Expressionists to protest their exclusion from tht
Through tin' G.l Ml, Robert Indiana begins classes at tin School qj tin \n Metropolitan Museum qj irt's American Art Ebda) 1950 Included
Institute qj ( Chicago in the Club's show are works by Cornell, de Kooning, Kline, Pollock,
Dec. 12-30. Ten-Thirty Gallery exhibits R.L.'s paintings with Rauschenberg, photographei Aaron Siskind, and others.
work by two ceramists. Few of his works sell. Autumn. R.L., along with several other instructors, is denied
tenure at Ohio State University. Isabel finds work as a
1949-50 decorator in Cleveland and the family moves there, to
Rauschenberg studies painting at tin- \n Students Leagw 11483 Hessler Road, N.E.
Dec. 31-Jan. 12, 1952. John Heller Gallery in New York (108 Dec. In San I rancisco, Jess [Collins] begins to use ( Ihestet < \ould\ new-paper
East 57th Street) presents a solo exhibition of R.L.'s comit -nip "Dick Tracy" in his "paste-up" series trick) ( id
work, consisting of 16 paintings based on American / >m 8-Jan. '>. 1954 Tibot de Nagy ( Gallery in New York (206 I ast 5 \rd
frontier themes, and several self-portraits as a knight. Street) i xhibits Jjxrry Rivers's painting Washington Crossing the
Prof. Sherman contributes a brief preface to the show's 1 Vl.IW.IK
brochure. One painting in the show, Death of the Wintet John- and Rauschenberg meet in New York
General, is reproduced in ARTnews and Art Digest. < Hdenburg begins classes at the School oj (hi \n Institute at ( Chicago,
exhibit- with Indiana in Chicago; and meets H (.' Westermann
1952 Segal and Kaproir meet at Douglass College, Rutgers, the State I nirer-ity of
/ /;, Museum oj Non-t )bjective Painting is renamed the Solomon R. Xeir Jerse\
Guggenheim Museum
Jan First purchase by MoMA oj works by Rauschenberg (two photographs 1954
hint-punt:- made at Black Mountain College with Susan Weil, his Rauschenberg begins making "combines," incorporating found objects ami
former wife). blurring the distinction between painting and sculpture,
March 2-22. Solo exhibition of 17 of R.L.'s works paintings, — R.L. moves to 1863 Crawford Street in Cleveland.
—
drawings, and prints at Art Colony Galleries in Begins to etnploy a rotating easel to paint.
Cleveland (11504 Euclid Avenue). One pencil drawing March 8-27. R.L.'s third solo exhibition at the John Heller
priced at S30, entitled Knight Storming Castle, includes a Gallery, consisting of paintings basedon American
collage element of a photo of a castle taped onto it; it folklore themes and others that feature depictions of
is described by an art critic for The Cleveland News as machine parts based on engineer's blueprints. Robert
"truly like the doodling of a five-year-old." The show Rosenblum and Fairfield Porter review the show for
receives an enormous number of responses from Art Digest and ARTnews, respectively.
viewers, both negative and positive. Spring Johns and Rauschenberg begin to do window displays at Bonwil lellei
Spring. First meeting of the Independent Croup (IG) at London's Institute of and Tiffany's, on Fifth [venue m New York
Contemporary Art, including Lawrence Alloway, Reyner Banham, July Kelly return- to \eir York In'in I laim
Richard Hamilton, and Paolozzi Summei Johns moves to loft on Pearl Street Begins first 1 1 tg painting
Summer Rauschenberg meets Cage at Black Mountain College and Oct I irsl exhibition oj \rensberg collection oj Dada works, at the
participates m Cage's Theater Piece #1. Philadelphia Mn-eimi oj I". -een hy John- ami Rauschenberg
Autumn. R.L.'s works shown in several national and regional Oct. 9. R.L.'s son David Hoyt Lichtenstein is born.
juried exhibitions, including shows at the Denver Art ' )ct 26 The Whitney Mn-eiim more- to 22 West 54th Street
Museum, the University of Nebraska, the Metropolitan

Museum of Art, and the Pennsylvania Academy of the 1955
Fine Arts. R.L. creates several wall-mounted assemblages of painted
Johns return* to New York and takes a job at a bookston wood.
Hansa Gallery, an artist's cooperative founded by formei students q) Hofmann Butler Museum of American Art (Youngstown, Ohio)
(including Jean Follet, Kaprow, and Segal) opens at 70 East 12th purchases R.L.'s painting The Surrender of U'eatherford to
Street in New York (In 1954, it more- to a brownstone at 210 Jackson, the first of several of his works to enter the
( 'entral Park south, when n remains until it closes in 1959 > museum's collection.
an ARTnews, introduces the term Jan Rauschenberg moves to Pearl Street building where Johns is living.
I h .
Harold Rosenberg, in article in
iction Painting
Rauschenberg paint- Rebus (a painting m which he incorporates
newspapei comics pages) ami Hymnal nrlmh contains a page from the
1952-53 Manhattan Yellow Pages and a named poster) lolm- continues to
R.L. incorporates titles and advertising copy in some make lag paintings ami begins to make rargei ami numbei
I
woodcut compositions and paintings, such as Emigrant paintings.
Train - After William Ranney and The Explorer. Jan. 9. Art Colony Galleries' three-person show with R.L.,
Christine Miller, and Louis Penfield opens. Among the
13 paintings by R.L. are Indians, A Flying Device, and
1953
Heller Perpetual Motion Machine. One critic describes them as
Jan. 26-Feb. 7. R.L.'s second solo exhibition at John
"Klee-like and surprising."
Gallery, consisting of oils and watercolors based on
April Washington Crossing the Delaware i- purchased by
Americana themes. One of them, The Diplomat, is (e Rivers's
\lo\l
reproduced in ARTnews. I
I"
Sept. Rosenquist moves to New Yorkjrom Minnesota to attend tfa
March-April. Sidney Jam- Gallery (15 East 57th Street) presents Willem
s/n,/< nts League, \4e< ts Indiana
de Kooning: Paintings on the rheme of Woman, featuring his
third Woman series. Woman purchased
1 is by MoM 1
to New ôrk- and rents a audio on ulton 1956

April Rauschenberg return- /
proto-
Bill, his first
R.L. creates a lithograph called Ten Dollar
Stieet
Sept Rauschenberg and Twombly exhibit togethei at Eleanoi

Pop work, in an edition of 25.
\5-Oct. 3.
mush composition at the New School fo\ Social Research
Ward'sStabl Gallery in New York (924 Seventh \venue) U the
( age begins to teach
in New York, Kaprow is one oj In- students

Duchamp
show, Rauschenberg meet-
Black Mountain ( ollegt ch
Sept. 20-Oct. R.L. is one of 50 artists represented in the
3. born.
March 10. R.L.'s son Mitchell Wilson Lichtenstein is
opening exhibition of Art Colony Galleries' third
May 31. Oldenburg arrives in New Yorkjrom Chicago
season. Ins is
Ug s Sept 12 Whitechapel irt Gallery (London) presents I
Nov. Receives an award for his woodcut Cherokee Brave in the

\
exhibition, including a pavilion designed

hy British Pop
orrow
Contemporary Printmaking Exhibition at Ohio State Voelckei lined 'nth lannha,
artists Hamilton, lolm Mllale, and loin,
University.
367 Chronology
"
images from the media (such as Marilyn Monroe and a real jukebox) incorporating •> portion oj the comic strip "Little ( )rphan hum-
Hamilton's collagi Just what is it that makes today's homes so < >,i 4, 6-10 Kaprow stages "IS Happenings m 6 Parts" in New York foi
different, so appealing? is used fo\ the show's poster and catalogue the openingof the Reuben Gallery "'I Fourth [venue), directed by
Anita Reuben, with contributions by Johns and Rauschenberg (they
\ug II Pollock dies in an automobile accident paint different sides of a piece offabru used during the performance)
( )ci 21. I bo Solomon R Guggenheim Museum opens in its new building,
1957 designed by lunik Lloyd Wright, at 1071 Fifth Avenue

'
)ldenburg creates Sausage, a precursor to his 1960s soft sculptures I h, 16— Feb 14, I960. MoMA presents Sixteen Americans, organized by
Rosenquist meets Johns, Kelly, Agnes \4artin, Rauschenberg, and Dorothy C Miller, featuring works byjohns, Rauschenberg, Frank
Youngerman. Stella (his series oj black paintings, shown publicly for thejirst time),
Jan. 8-26. R.L.'s final solo exhibition at John Heller Gallery, and Youngerman
consisting of paintings based on Americana theines.
Feb. I Leo Castelli opens a gallery at 4 East 77th Street in New York, with 1960
how oj works by de Kooning, Giacometti, Kandinsky, Pollock, and /,m 5-30. Marthajackson Gallery in New York (32 East 69th Street)
others shows lolm Chamberlain's sculptures made bom mangled car-body

\4arch 15 Walte\ Hopps and I dward Kienholz open Ferus ( cilery m Los parts
[ngt lei (736 I .V Li Cienega Boulevard) to show work by local Jan 30—March 17 Dine and < )ldenburg present Ray-Gun and Spex, at
avant-garde artists, Judson Gallery in Manhattan, featuring Dine's installation I he

Sept. R.L. takes position as assistant professor of art at the House mid ( Hdenburg's Hie Street, junk environments made out oj
State University of New York at Oswego. torn cardboard, paint, discarded objects, and fragments oj newspapers
Moves to 52 Church Street in Oswego. and comu strips
Begins to use Abstract Expressionist style in his paintings, March 17. Jean Tinguely's self-destructing kinetic sculpture Homage to New
which include renderings of cartoon characters such as York i.v t:\lnbiici1 >it MoMA
Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, and Bugs Bunny. [pril 16. Publication of Pierre Restany's "Les Nouveaux Realistes" (The
/ ). i Wfcsselmann begins classes at Coopei ' nion m New York Ncu' Realists), a manifesto stressing the importance oj appropriation,
in catalogue foi exhibition oj works by irman, Yves Klein, Unguely,

1958 and others at the ( talleria Apollinaire in Milan
nquisl begins painting billboards fof Artkraft Strauss m Mew York June, Rosenquist begins painting backdrops fot window displays at Bonwit
loin is includes a panel twin I incent Hamlin's l'> U comic strip
"
\lley ( fop" Teller, Bloomingdale's, and Tiffany's in New York
as a collage element m his work oj the same rule June 6—24. Martha Jackson Gallery presents New Mcdi.i — New Forms
Dim moves io New Yorkqftei completing graduate studies at ( >ln<< In Painting and Sculpture, featuring works by Arp, Alberto Burri,
l 'niversity, ami begins teaching at Rhodes School on Long Island Calder, Chamberlain, Cornell. Dine, Jean Dubuffet, Follet, Indiana,
I, m \7 Kaprow speaks at tbe Club', influences ( )ldenburg Kaprow, Klein, Louise Nevelson, Oldenburg, and others
Johns,
Ion 20 Feb 8 Johns's first solo exhibition, at loo < astelli ( lallery, R.L. resigns from the State University of New York after
featuring his forget and I lag paintings largei with I "in I aces is accepting another position as assistant professor of art
reproduced on covei qfjanuary edition oj \RTnews at Douglass College.
Feb, Alloway's phrase "popular art" appears in his article "The irts and the Moves residence and studio to 66 South Adelaide Avenue,
W. \4edia" in Architectural Design (London) Highland Park, New Jersey.
Feb 2 21 Hansa Gallery shows Segal's first life-size plaster sculptures Autumn. Through Kaprow, a fellow teacher at Rutgers, R.L.
March Hansa Gallery presents an environment by Kaprow, meets Oldenburg, Lucas Samaras (a student of
March 4—29 Rauschenberg's first show at Leo Castelli Gallery, featuring his Kaprow's the previous year), Segal (then completing
combines, including Bed, Rebus, and Hymnal, his M.EA. degree), and Robert Whitman; and through
April 15. Kaprow stages a Happeningat Dougla Collegt Robert Watts, another professor in the department, he
\ug ;
" / lofmann 's School oj I mo Irts Jews meets George Brecht, Geoffrey Hendricks, Dick and
Nov.Judson Studio opens in the basement qfjudson Memorial (dumb in Allison Higgins, and George Maciunas, all artists who
Manhattan < lallery space ^ made available to artists in the will be involved with the Fluxus group.
m ighborhood frei oj i harge (
Name is i hanged to Judson < lallery in Sept. Begins to teach adult classes in painting and drawing
February 1959) on Saturday mornings at the photography and art
Nov, 2 s
De 13 I Khibition at Hansa Gallery of a junk-filled environment center in Princeton.
by Kaprow with sound, light, and odors Attends some of Kaprow's informal Happenings at Rutgers.
Brings several of his abstract canvases to Leo Castelli Gallery
1959 (44 East 77th Street) and shows them to Castelli and
Spring Kaprow uses the term Happening fo\ the first time m punt, his wife at the time, Ileana Sonnabend.
announcing his performance at Rutgers oj "Something to lake Place, Leaves John Heller Gallery.
a I lappi ning Johns creates his trompe-l'oeil sculpture Painted Bronze, consisting oj two
Hansa ( "iallery closes, bronze cylinders panned to resemble Ballantine Ale cans.
June 2-27. R.L.'s untitled abstractions are shown for the first Richard Bellamy opens the (aeon Gallery in New York (15 West
time, in a solo exhibition at Condon Riley Gallery (24 57th Street)
East 67th Street). Most of the paintings feature scant Sept 2~-t hi 15. Frank Stella's first solo exhibition in New York, at Leo
traces of bright color on a white background; some lb ( .allot y.
contain heavy impasto. Sept. 28-Oct. 22 Marthajackson Gallery presents New Media New —
[utumn Dim meets Kaprow, Forms: In Painting and Sculpture II, featuring works by Dine, Dan
Christo (Javaeheff] makes his first wrapped packages, covering used materials Flavin, Kaprow, Oldenburg, Rauschenberg, Samaras, and others.
with canvas and binding them with ropt 27. Les Nouveaux
« )ci RSalistes group is officially formed by Restany at
I hi the West l 'oast, Edward Ruscha creates a mixed-media piece, Dublin, Klein', home in Paris Members will include Arman, Char, Christo,
Raymond Hains, Klein, Martial Raysse, Mimmo Rotctla, Niki de Nov. Castelli sells Girl with Ball the first of R.L.'s Pop works —
Saint Phalle, Daniel Spoerri, and Tinguely. to be sold from the gallery to architect Philip —
Johnson. Other sales quickly follow to collectors
1961 Richard Brown Baker, Walter Netsch, Burton
Jan. R.L. shows Kaprow his semi-abstract paintings with Tremaine, and others.
cartoon figures embedded in paint. Through Leo Castelli Gallery, R.L. meets Rauschenberg and
Jan. 11-27. At Douglass College, R.L. exhibits 12 abstract Johns.
pictures made by applying ribbons of paint with a from Isabel. Moves residence and studio
Trial separation
torn-up bedsheet. One work is painted on several Broad Street in New York.
briefly to
pieces of refrigerator-crate plywood nailed together. Meets Youngerman and Indiana.
Spring. Warhol takes his paintings to Leo CastelH Gallery and shows them to / >< i
' ing a Pond's cold-cream ados his principal source, Rosenquist paints
Iran Karp, the gallery director, Karp shows Warhol R.L.'s painting his first Pop work, whuh, aftei much repainting, becomes Zone
lh,
(,irl with Hall \—fan 31, 1962 In association with the Green Gallery, Oldenburg
April live of Warhol's advertising-image and comic-strip paintings an presents an expanded w rsion qj I he Store in a formei fiimitm
displayed behind the mannequins m the windows qj Bonwil Tellei warehouse, which he name-, "Ray Gun Wjfg Co "
(al 107 East 2nd
c
A/,j)'. Publication q) Restany's "
40 au-dessus de Dada,"
I the second Street, between First [venue and [venue [)
manifesto ofLes Nouveaux Rialistes, as a preface to tin- catalogue fo\
an exhibition oj then troika 1962

ARTnews publishes Kaprow's first article on Happenings. R.L. returns to live and work in Highland Park.
May 25-June 23 Martha Jackson ('.allay, in association with Dan, Begins to use an acrylic paint soluble in turpentine, called
Imlerson (.allay, mounts Environments Situations Spai Magna, but continues to use oil paint for his simulated
featuring items from Oldenburg's I Ik- Store, Kaprow's The Yard, Benday dots.
Dim's Spring Cabinet, ami works /')' Brecht, Waltei Gaudnek, ami Creates his first close-up paintings of women's heads.
1 1 'hitman Creates paintings based on works by Cezanne and Mondrian.
Summer. R.L. paints Look Mickey, the first painting in which Paints isolated words on canvas, in Art and In, but soon
he directly appropriates a cartoon or a panel from a abandons the idea.
comic strip. It contains his first use of Benday dots Creates his first paintings based on war comics, such as Blam,
(applied with a plastic-bristle dog-grooming brush Takka Takka, and Live Ammo.
dipped in oil paint) and his first use of a dialogue Artforum begins publishing on the West (
oast,
balloon, as well as obvious pencil marks. Jan W-l eh 11 I irst tolo exhibition of Rosenquist's work, at the < )reen
(, allay
Begins to stencil Benday dots onto canvas using a roller to
10-March 3. First show of R.L.'s paintings at Leo
distribute paint over a handmade metal screen and Feb.
Castelli Gallery, featuring Turkey, Hashing Machine. The
then a small scrub brush to push paint through.
Engagement Ring, The Kiss, The Refrigerator, Blam, and
Creates his first paintings depicting advertising images of
consumer products. The Grip.
Feb 23-May 26 )ldenburg presents a teries oj performances at Ray Gun
Creates his first tondo painting (Cat). (
o Performers include, in addition to ( )ldenburg and his wife

Makes diptych paintings.
his first Mfg '
works utilizing only black and white (or blue Patty, Rachel Drexler, Jackh Ferrara, Henry Geldzahler, Billy
Creates his first
Khun, Samaras, Carolee Schneemann, and othen
and white) to emulate printed reproductions.
Feb. 26. Newsweek magazine reviews R.L.'s show at Leo
Autumn. Kaprow makes appointment for R.L. to see Karp at
Castelli Gallery and reproduces Girl with Ball.
Leo Castelli Gallery. He brings The Engagement Ring, " 'Pop'
and Step-on- March. Art International publishes Max Kozlqff's article ( ulture,
Girl with Ball, Look Mickey, The Refrigerator,
first article to
Metaphysical Disgust, and the \,n- l ulgarians," the
Can with Leg to the gallery. Karp arranges for Castelli
hnk Dine, R I '
>ldenburg, ami Rosenquist as ./ cohesive group
them (except for Look Mickey). Castelli finds Girl
.
to see
Sauland Robert Watts)
(togethet with Petei
with Ball interesting and, several weeks later, agrees to
April. Donald Judd's review of R.L.'s show at Leo Castelli
represent R.L. While in the gallery, R.L. sees works by
Gallery is published in Arts magazine.
Rosenquist and Warhol for the first time.
April 3-May 13. The Kiss is included in 1961, a group
With Karp, visits Warhol's studio (at 1342 Lexington Avenue), Contemporary
exhibition at the Dallas Museum for
where he sees Warhol's comic-strip and consumer-
Arts, curated by Douglas MacAgy.
goods paintings.
April 25-May 12 Picasso: An runerican tribute, a multi-gallery
Begins a series of black-and-white drawings (which he held simultaneously at mm
exhibition more than 300 works, is
continues until 1968), using ink and Speedball pen.

qj
1963 \,ir York galleries, with a catalogue written by fohn Richardson

Segal begins M.F.A. program at Rutgers l diversity, graduating in
Segal's work, at the treen < lattery,
a Las \ Ll]
.
s Jutu
'
First oh exhibition qj
<
Kienholz creates his first tableau piece, Roxy's, a re-creation qj

I
featuring paintings and his plastei figures in facsimiles qj real-life

bordello out of discarded parts of an obi theatei
\n and Culture. environments
Clement Greenberg's collection qj essays
30. R.L.'s pen-and-ink drawings shown
Publication qj publicly
May 26-June
Mel Ramos creates canvases base,! on comic-strip characters Gallery's group show
Gallery. He for the first time, in Leo Castelli
Oct. R.L.'s first works consigned to Leo Castelli Jasper Johns, Roy l.iehtenstcin. He
Drawings: Lee Bontecou,
begins to receive a stipend of S400 a month from
the
in his
begins to use frottage (a rubbing technique)
gallery.
drawings.
12 MoMA presents Hie Art of Assemblage, the first maps
Oct. 1-Nov.
/,„„ Pearlstein's comic-strip painting
Superman, 1952 (th only one oj his
by William SeitZ,
exhibition on the history of assemblage, organize,! pet on view for the first
S comic-strip paintings he did not destroy),
show travels to two othet I
'
by 1 42 artists, the
featuring works
Gallery (90 East huh Street), along with works by
tim at fanagei
museums Imann and otht
Wessi
Oct. X. Hams, Klem, ami Raysse dissolve Us Nouveaux RSalistes
369 Chronology
Warhol makes his first films, based primarily on banal activities filmedfor an
in
June 15. one of several featured artists in an article
R.L. is
exaggerated length qj time.
Life magazine on the new
art.
School and Roy March 14 -June 2. The Guggenheim Museum presents Six
Aug 6-31. Art of Two Ages: The Hudson River and the Object, organized by Alloway, featuring
Painters
Uchtenstein exhibition at Mi Chou
Gallery in New York
works by Dine, Johns, R.L., Rauschenberg,
(801 Madison Avenue) features
works by Albert
Cropsey, Rosenquist, and Warhol; the show travels throughout
Bierstadt, Frederic Edwin Church, Jasper
the U.S.
Asher B. Durand, and R.L. presents a majot
March 31-May 12 Thejewish Museum (New York)
ARTnews publishes critu Gene R Swenson'i "Tht newAmerican
Sepl organized by Alan Solomon
retrospective of Rauschenberg's work,
work Dine, Stephen Durkee,
'Sign Painters,' "an article aboul the qj
by R.L., including Girl with Ball, are
April. Three paintings
R Rosenquist, Richard Smith, and Warhol
Indiana,
included in Pop Goes! Tlte Easel exhibition at the
I- .
concerts called Fluxus Internationale

Maciunas stages a
Contemporary Arts Museum (Houston), organized by
Sept i 2 I
series q)
Musik at Hoersaal des Stddtischen Museums in

Fescspiele neuester
Douglas MacAgy.
"iermany in Los
April 1-27. R.L.'s first exhibition at Ferus Gallery
II iesbaden, (
consumer-goods
Sept. 25-Oct. 19. R.L.'s comic-strip and Angeles, featuring Sock, Masterpiece, Sponge, Sponge II,
for the first
paintings are shown on the West Coast
Portrait of Madame Cezanne, Drowning Girl, and
other
Pasadena Art Museum's group exhibition
time, in the
curated by Walter works from 1962 and '63.
New Painting of Common Objects,
April 18-June George Washington, Aloha, The Refrigerator,
2.
Hopps. are included
Electric Cord, Handshake, and Femme d' Alger
Oct. 25-Nov. 7. Art 1963— A New Vocabulary exhibition at the
in The Popular Image Exhibition at the
Washington
Art Council of the YM/YWHA in Philadelphia (401 S.
Gallery of Modern Art (Washington, D.C), organized
Broad Street) features paintings, collages, assemblages,
by Alice Denney.
combines, and machines by Brecht, Dine, Johns, Piano
April 28-May 26. Leo Castelli Gallery lends Girl with
Kaprow, R.L., Marisol, Oldenburg, Rauschenberg, Glass for Popular Art: Artistic Projections of
and Magnifying
Rosenquist, Segal, Tinguely, and Watts. Exhibition
Common American Symbols at the William Rockhill
brochure includes a dictionary of terms written by
Nelson Gallery of Art and Atkins Museum of Fine Arts
some of the artists to describe the new art.
International (Kansas City).
Oct. 31-Dec. 1. Sidney Janis Gallery presents and
May 1-31. Yam Festival, a series of Happenings, dance performances,
Exhibition of the New Realists, featuring "factual
mush concerts organized by Brecht and Watts, is held at Segal'sfarm
paintings and sculpture" by American and European
Oldenburg, in \<ic Brunswick, Newfersey.
artists, including Dine, Klein, R.L.,
May 9 Rauschenberg stages Ins first performance piece, Pelican, in a
Rosenquist, Rotella, Segal, Tinguely, and Warhol.
Washington, D.( skating rink, in conjunction with the Washington
Nov, Wamol's illustrations are reproduced in McCalTs and Good
Gallery of Modem Art's The Popular Image Exhibition.
Housekeeping magazines H uses th teehniqm ofphoto-
letter by William
time in his work, and begins to us( multiple May 17. Time magazine publishes a
silkscreening foi th first
Overgard stating that R.L.'s J Can See the Wlxole
imagery ampbell's soup cans, S&Hgreen stamps, Coca-i ola
taken from the
qj (
last
' Rauschenberg also Room . . . and There's Nobody in It! is
bottles, and Marilyn Monrot face in paintings,
panel of his August 6, 1961 comic strip "Steve Roper."
creates his first tilkscreen paintings.
Sonnabend m Paris (37, quai des R.L.'s painting and Overgard's panel are reproduced
Nov, I v Ileana Sonnabend opens ( Valerie
1964 With son I >avid Photo b) I ' in
of works byfohns.
alongside each other in the magazine.
brands-. Utgustins) with a solo exhibition
The Jewish Museum presents Toward a New
(
Budnik
Nov. 18-Dec. Takka Tikka is included in group
15. R.L.'s May \9-Sepl 5 1
Solomon, featuring works by Kelly.

Country 'Tis of Thee at the Dwan Gallery Abstraction, organized by I/.'"
exhibition My Pop
Kenneth Noland, and others as a counterpoint to art
in Los Angeles (10846 Lindbrook Drive), along with
works by Indiana, Johns, Kienholz, Marisol, June 5-30. R.L.'s first solo exhibition in Europe, at
Oldenburg, Rauschenberg, Rivers, Rosenquist, Warhol, Sonnabend's gallery in Paris. He travels to Paris for the
and Wesselmann. opening, his first trip back to the city since the war.
R.L.'s —
Head Red and Yellow is acquired by the Albright-Knox Sepl Karp, in
"
\nti-Sensibility Painting," an article in
Lee Bontecou,
Artforum, uses the
Huuc Conner,
permanent collection. term "common-image artist" to refei to
Art Gallery (Buffalo) for its
R L , Richard Lindner, Rauschenberg, Rosenquist, Samaras,
Warhol, and Wesselmann.
1963
Sept. 28-Oct. 24. R.L.'s second solo exhibition at Leo
Castelli
R.L. is commissioned by Philip Johnson to create a mural,
his first large-scale work, for the New York State Gallery, including Drowning Girl, Baseball Manager,
Pavilion at the 1964 World's Fair in Flushing Meadows, Torpedo and Whaaml. . . . Los!,
New York. Autumn. R.L. begins opaque projector to render to use

who moves with the children to images. Pencil marks disappear from his compositions.
Separates from Isabel,
Princeton. Oct. 8-Nov, Hopps organizes the first majot Ann-man retrospective
5 qj
Takes leave of absence from Douglass College and moves Duchamp's work on th West Coast, at the Pasadena Museum qj
Hamilton, invited attend the opening in California, visits

residence and studio to 36 West 26th Street in \r\ to
Manhattan. l S. loi the first time
Begins series of canvases depicting women from D.C. and Konrad [Luegj Fischer perform
Oct 1 . ( ierhard Richtei theii
Comics' Girls' Romances and Secret Hearts. "Demonstration fo\ ( 'apitalist Realism" at Mobelhaus Berges, a
Replaces handmade metal screen with a manufactured metal furniture stoic in Dusseldorf.
screen to apply Benday dots to canvas. Employs Oct. 24-Nov. 23. R.L.'s Pop works are shown for the first
assistants to paint in Benday dots. time in Britain in The Popular Image, at the Institute of
Dine begins his bathrobe works, based on an illustration of an empty robe m Contemporary Art in London (17-18 Dover Street),
an a, I iii f/« New York I imes organized by Alan Solomon.
Nov. 19-Dec. 15. The Albright-Knox Art Gallery presents American Pop Art, including several paintings by R.L.
Mixed Media and Pop Art, organized by Gordon M. June 30. R.L. resigns his teaching position atDouglass
Smith, featuring works by Dine, Johns, R.L., College.
Oldenburg, Rauschenberg, Rosenquist, and Warhol, as Sepl 16- Oct. la Samaras moves tht contents oj his room intact to the
well as lesser-known artists in the museum's collection. ( )reen ( )allery foi his installation doom
v*ok—Early Da Warhol moves to 231 East 47th Street, which he Autumn. R.L. meets Dorothy Herzka at Paul Bianchini
refers to as the Factory. It soon becomes an infamous meeting place foi Gallery in New York (16 East 78th Street) during the
the avant-gardi preparations for the show American Supermarket, which
Oei I J. 1 symposium on Pop art is held at MoMA. Speakers include I ton opens in October.
Ashton, Geldzahler, Hilton Kramer, Stanley Kunitz, and Leo Buys several plaster mannequin heads near his West 26th
Steinberg, with Petei Selz as moderatoi Neo-Dadaand New Street studio in the hat-manufacturing district of New
Realism are rejected as names foi the new movement in favo) oj the York and creates Painted Mannequin Head.
term "Popart "
Artists in the audience include Duchamp, R I .
F.ittis.ui koicw publishes Susan Sontag'i i ssay "Notes on Camp."
and Warhol British Pop Allen Jones moves from London Vetf York i<'i om year,
\4aciunas, Rosenquist, artist to
ing ." the ( fa Isea Hotel (222 West 2 Ird Stn i
1964 During a trip to Tokyo, Johns completes Souvenir .md Souvenii 2. which
/,/// 3, Sidney Janis Gallery presents Four Environments by Four New incorporate portions pj frames, then stretchei side showing
Realists, featuring Oldenburg's Bedroom Ensemble (an installation I he term "( >p art" is coined by sculptoi George Rickey
oj larger-than-life furniture pieces, based on the interioi oj a Malibu Oct. 24-Nov. 19. Temple qj Apollo, R.L.'s first painting
motel) and works by Dun, Rosenquist, and Segal. featuring a reference to classical art, is shown at Leo
magazine publishes an article on R.L. asking "Is Castelli Gallery along with several landscapes and
Jan. 31. Life
he the worst artist in America?" enamel works.
R.L. replaces store-bought metal screens (to apply Benday Nov. 24. Solo exhibition of his landscapes at Ferus Gallery in
dots) with paper screens which he has made — Los Angeles.

especially for him —
and uses them exclusively from
then on. 1965
Begins to make Benday dots larger, in proportion to size of R.L. divorced from Isabel, who receives custody of the
his canvases. children. Moves to 190 Bowery, where he sets up

residence and studio in a nine-room warehouse, a
Creates a series of frightened and crying women in close-up
former German bank built in 1917. Adolph Gottlieb
views.
the same building, and others in the
Dialogue balloons begin to disappear from his paintings. lives in
Begins series of landscapes, signaling a move toward neighborhood include Malcolm Morley, Nevelson, and
inventing his own subject matter. Rothko.
Begins to incorporate plastic, Plexiglas, and metal into some Makes group of sculptures based on explosion images
depicted in comic books.
of his landscapes.
Begins collaboration with the potter Hui Ka Kwong, a
Inspired by New York's enameled metal subway signs, creates
colleague from Rutgers, creating a series of ceramic
his first enameled steel sculptures. Finds commercial
New Jersey called Architectural Porcelain to heads and another of stacked cups and saucers as well 1964 \\ ith -i. Mitchell Photo U
firm in
as teapot sets. ).hi Budnifc
fabricate the pieces. I
Experiments with Modern motifs in his poster of the Worlds

March 2 Robert Morris and Schneemann perform Site at Stagi 73 in New
Fair grounds for the Cartoonists Association.
York 1 121 I ast 73rd Street) Morris, dressed in white with a skin-
John Rublowsky's Pop An, the first hook devoted to the
around Publication oj
colored mask, moves plywood boards on and off the stage
movement, featuring the work oj R I ' Hdenburg, Rosenquist,
Schneemann, who, playing the role oj Manet's Olympia, reclines
performed twice more New Warhol, and Wesselmann

nude m a transfixed state The work is in
Opened lire for its
Jan. Stedelijk Museum purchases As I
York and once in Philadelphia.
permanent collection.
April. Cover of Art in America features R.L.'s "pop panorama"
5-23 Tibordi Nagy Gallery presents Shape and Structure, om of the
drawing of the New York World's Fair, commissioned Jan
art, organized by ' ktdzahler,
firsi exhibitions devoted to Minimalist
for this issue. Donald Judd, and
featuring works by (
.'.»/ I"'/". Larry Bell,
April 21-May 9 At the Stable Gallery in New York, Warhol exhibits
Mori
almost 400 painted facsimiles oj Brillo, Heinz ketchup, and Kellogg's
23- \pril25 MoM (in collaboration with four othei U.S museums)
Feb I
cornflakes boxes— wooden boxes silkscreened with thegraphu designs

presents rhe Responsive I ye, organized by William Seitz, featuring
each brand's packaging— which he stacked on top of each othet and
oj Richard \nuszkiewu
examples of Op art by Yaacov [gam, Ubers,
.
placed ui rows throughout the gallery. Poons, id Reinhardt, Bridget Riley,

Kelly, Morris Louis, Larry
April 22. Opening of New York World's Fair in Flushing
rank Stella, and others
Meadow, New York. The Theaterama building of the
I
Green Gallery do
New York State Pavilion features R.L.'s mural, along Inn, I'h'
Creates his
closes Autumn. R.L. stops working with ceramic pieces.
with murals by nine other artists. After the fair Brushstroke painting.
Following first
in October 1965, the murals are deinstalled.
Nov. 20-Dec. 11. Leo Castelli Gallery presents Brushstroke
repairs, R.L.'s mural is sent to the University of pieces.
series along with recent ceramic
Minnesota.
painting at the
June 20-1 )ct 19 Rauschenberg wins the grand prize fot
Chamberlain, 1966
32nd Venice Biennale, which includes works by canvases.
Giacometti, Johns, Oldenburg, R.L. stops including words in his
Eduardo Chillida, Dine, Dubuffet, drips and blots of paint
Creates several paintings featuring
Richard Stankiewu
against a graph-paper grid background.
.ind s
Museum (Amsterdam) presents

June 22-July 26. Stedelijk
371 Chronology
Jan. 6-Feb. 4. The Tate Gallery presents Roy Lichtenstein (a
Kaprow's book Assemblages nvironments and Happenings.
version of the Stedelijk Museum's show), the museum's
Publication oj I
an exhibition by Warhol, in which he

Ipril Uo ( 'astelli ( Gallery presents
American artist,
first show dedicated to a living
ers the gallery's walls with his Cow Wallpapex and fills the interioi
organized by Richard Morphet.
with ilri \ tylat balloons
The cover of Time features R.L.'s painting of Robert
i
"The Story of Pop." May 24.

April 25 Newsweek magazim devotes entin issui to
magazine commissioned for this
Primary Structui F. Kennedy that the
[pril27-June 12 The Jewish Museum presents
issue.
Youngei American and British Sculptors, organized by Kynaston foundei
Warhol -hoi ,ir ///. Factory hy Valerie Solanis, tin oj
featuring works by Andre, Richard \rtschwager, Anthony June I is
McShine,
]udd, Robert Smithson, and others
S CI '
M i Sonny fo\
Museum
( utting I 'p Wen)
June. Maurice Tuchman, curator of the L.A. County
to,
Summer. R.L. designs poster, based on 1930s Hollywood

of Art, invites R.L. to participate in his Art and
motifs, for 4th New York Film Festival, which takes
Technology exhibition, to be held in 1971. R.L. proposes
place September 12-22.
Venice creating a film based on a series of shots of a woman's
June 18-Oct. 16. The U.S. is represented at the 33rd
of works by Helen face exposed to alternating light sources. The proposal
Biennale by an exhibition
is altered during his residence in Los
Angeles the next
Frankenthaler, Kelly, R.L., and Jules Olitski, organized
year.
by Geldzahler.
New York
T
th Street) June Cover of Time features R.L.'s rendering of a gun
21.
Sept. 20-Oct 8 Fischbach Gallery in
felt banner Pistol) for its cover story
(based on his 1964
presents Eccentric Abstraction, organized by Lucy
Lippard,
Hesse, Bruce Nauman, and Keith Sonniei "The Gun in America."

featuring works by / va
,//;,/ with an exhibition u <l in which Lippard coins the term

Summer. Visits the Pasadena Art Museum with curator John
Coplans and sees Constructivist paintings of heads by
Proa \rt
Museum moves to 945 Madison ivenui

German Expressionist artist Alexei Jawlensky. Coplans
Sept 27 The Whitney
making collage paintings also discusses his ideas with R.L. for an exhibition on
Autumn. RL's experiments first
serial paintings.
with vinyl and Rowlux. He begins to use concealed
motors and light fixtures in his Rowlux collages. Shares house on Wooley Street in Southampton with friends.
Castelli Gallery otters for sale 800 signed black-
Sept. 17-Oct. 27. R.L. sees Coplans's exhibition Serial Imagery
Oct. 1. Leo
at the Pasadena Art Museum, and, inspired by the
and-white china pieces designed by R.L. and produced
works by Claude Monet included in the show, begins
by Durable Dish Co., at S40-50 per six-piece place
setting.
making his Haystack and Rouen Cathedral lithographs.
The Cleveland Museum of Art presents R.L.'s Nov. 1. Marries Dorothy Herzka.
Nov. 4-Dec. 1.
first solo museum exhibition, Works by Roy Lichtensicin,
organized by Ed Henning. 1969

Jan.-July. Completes his first serial prints (six Haystack and
1967 seven Rouen Cathedral lithographs) at Gemini G.E.L. in
< Germano < elant coins the term \rte Povera to refet to the collaboration with master printer Kenneth Tyler.
Italian art critu
work oj ^ v.''<'if/> <'/ /"/( motional artists using common o\ "pooi Feb. 3. Starts two-week stay at Universal City Studios, at
materials fawi everyday life, including Joseph Beuys H e,Jannis which time he begins works on films for the Art and
Kounellis, Richard Long, Mario Merz, and Gilberto Zorio Later, Technology exhibition.
With Dorothj Photo In ( !i inni
th, turn r- used primarily to refei only to tin Italians, May 19-July 16 Hii Whitney Museum presents Anti-Illusion
rengo lardin Procedures Materials, organized hy Marcia Tuckei andjamt
Jan. The Tate Gallery (London) purchases Whaam!
Bi *
April. Arts magazine publishes an article by Dali entitled Monte, featuring works hy indre, Morris, Nauman, Robert Ryman,
"How an Elvis Presley Becomes a Roy Lichtenstein." Richard Serra, Sonnier, and oth
April 18-May 28. The Pasadena Art Museum, in Way 24-]uue 29 /'//< Guggenheim Museum presents Nine Young
'
Artists.
collaboration with the Walker Art Center Theodoron Awards, organized hy Dunn Waldman with the
of Edward Fry, featuring sculptures, paintings, and audio
(Minneapolis), presents first traveling retrospective of assistance I
R.L.'s work, organized by John Coplans. First solo- tapes hy Nauman, Richter, Serra, Zjorio, and others
monumental outdoor sculpture (a %igantu lipstick on

exhibition catalogue devoted to his work is published. Inn, ( )ldenburg's first
Summer. R.L. rents Rivers's house in Southampton with caterpillai tracks) is installed ./r Yale I diversity
friends. Summer. R.L. shares house on Wooley Street in
hi publishes "Paragraphs on 'onceptual \rt" m Artforum, in Southampton again with friends. Films clouds, the
Sol Li II (
which he proclaims the preeminence oj the idea ove\ the object ocean, and tropical fish in a tank in both color and
Sept. Artforum relocates to Sit w York black and white. Returns to Universal with his film
Autumn. In collaboration with Guild Hall in Paramus, New footage and adds several shots from their archive.
Jersey, R.L. creates a series of sculptures made of brass, Returns to Southampton to complete the three
mirror, tinted glass, marble, aluminum, and other seascape films for the Art and Technology exhibition.
materials. Sept. 19-Nov. 16. First New York retrospective of R.L.'s
Nov. 4-Dec. 17. Stedelijk Museum presents R.L.'s first paintings and sculptures, at the Guggenheim Museum,
retrospective in Europe, organized by director E.L.L. organized by Waldman; the show travels to three other
de Wilde and chief curator W.A.L. Beeren; the show museums. The Guggenheim Museum purchases
U.S.
travels to three other museums. work by R.L. to enter the
Preparedness, the first
museum's collection.
1968 Autumn. Creates his first Mirror paintings and begins series of
R.L. makes first Stretcher Frame paintings. Pyramid works.
Makes his first modular paintings featuring repeated design Publication of first monograph on R.L.'s drawings and prints,
imagery. by Waldman.
1970 Begins new series of Entablatures, using metallic colors and
March 15-Sept. Two seascape films by R.L. are shown, using mixing sand with paint to highlight surface texture.
35mm
rear-screen projectors, in an exhibition May, Beuys visiti New York, where he performs I I ike America and
organized by Maurice Tuchman at the American America Likes Me at Rene Block
(409 West Broadway).
Ltd.
Pavilion of Expo '70 in Osaka, Japan. Sept. R.L.'s Modem Head, a 30-foot-high sculpture in metal,
R.L. finds house in Southampton, where he sets up his studio wood, and polyurethane made at Lippincott, a foundry
and a permanent residence the following year. in Connecticut, is assembled on a site in the Santa
[pril. Smithson creates Spiral Jetty, a I, 500-foot-long spiral made qj black Anita Fashion Park in Arcadia, California. (It is
basalt, limestone rocks, and earth, on the Great Salt Lake m I Hah. removed in October 1988).
May. New York museums close for one day as a response to New York Art
Strike Against War, Racism, Fascism, Sexism, and Repression, 1975
organized by thi \n Workers Coalition, R.L. begins series of paintings based on works by Purist
Oct. R.L. completes work on his drawing for a very
final artists Charles-Edouard Jeanneret [Le CorbusierJ and
large inural —
by 245 feet on four continuous walls
12 Amedee Ozenfant (which he continues through 1976).
for the University of Diisseldorf 's School of Medicine. in artists Jean-Michel Basquiat, Keith Haring, Kenny Scharf, ami
His assistant Carlene Meeker executes the mural others gain instant art-world recognition aftei then works are thown in
assisted by several students from the university. an exhibition at \itists Span- in New York.
Finch College Museum of Art in New Yorkpresents thefirst majoi exhibition
q) [rt Deco works, organized by Elayne H Varian Warhol lends 1976

objects and furniture
from his personal collection. R.L. paints Office Still Lifts based on newspaper illustrations of
Nov. 18. R.L.'s Big Painting No. 6 sells at auction to German office items and business furniture.
art dealer Rudolf Zwirner for $75,000, the highest Completes final series of Entablature Paintings.
price yet paid for the work of any living artist. Creates several self-portraits in Futurist style.
Warhol creates a tilkscreen portrait qj Uchtenstein
1971
R.L. begins Entablature series in black and white. Starts to 1977
size and prime his own canvases. R.L. begins series of paintings based on works by Surrealist
March 13-April 3. R.L.'s Mirrors exhibited publicly for the artists —
including Dali, Ernst, and Magritte and —
firsttime, at Leo Castelli Gallery. works by Picasso.
Surrealist
May 10-Aug. 29. R.L.'s two seascape films are shown at the Begins to make painted and patinated sculptures in bronze,
Art and Technology exhibition at the L.A. County with the assistance of Carlos Ramos and in
Museum of Art. collaboration with two foundries, Lippincott and
May 12. R.L. inducted as a fellow into the American
is Tallix, in Beacon, New York.
Academy of Arts and Sciences (Boston). Creates large outdoor sculpture. Lamp, for Gilman Paper
Sept Leo Castelli more> his gallery to 420 West Broadway m SoHo Company in St. Mary's, Georgia.
Jenny Holzei begins to hang het riruisms, unsigned posters, throughout New
Nor. Robert Pincus-Witten coins the term Post-Minimalism in a review in
Arttorum to relet to works hy H( i

York
April 26. R.L. receives Skowhegan Medal for Painting. 1977 in his Southan
1972 May awarded Doctorate of Fine Arts from California

13. Is Photo I". N Hi' j ( ' impton
monograph on R.L.'s paintings and Institute of the Arts, Valencia.

Publication of first
sculptures, by Waldman. June. BMW commissions R.L. to create an exterior design

(which he continues through for their 3201 race car, driven later in the year at Le
R.L. begins SHU Life series
1975). Increasingly uses diagonal stripes in place of
Mans.
Oct 18-Jan 1,1978 II" Whitney Museum presents Johns retrospective
Benday dots.
Begins to incorporate quotations of his own work in his Still
references to 1978
Life paintings; also begins to incorporate
R.L. contributes cover design for catalogue to the Whitney
works by Henri Matisse.
Museum's exhibition Art about Art, organized by Jean
Lipman and Richard Marshall. After its run at the
1973 show travels to
Whitney Museum (July 19-Sept. 24),
R.L. begins series of trompe-l'oeil and Cubist Still Lifes,
three other venues.
which include his first use of faux-woodgrain pattern.
Visits Los Angeles, where he sees Robert Gore Rifkind
Autumn. Begins Artist's Studio series (which he continues
Collection of German Expressionist graphic art.
through 1974) and incorporates quotations of some of
some of the Begins to feature North American Indian motifs in his
his early 1960s paintings and drawings into
works.
compositions.
Creates several paintings showing the influence of De Stijl
1979
and Russian Constructivism. works.
works Makes his last Surrealist-inspired
is Sotheby's, Robert and thel Scull auction SO Pop art
Expressionist-inspired works based on
hi 1/ I
(
and artists Begins German

from then collection to a packed house qj dealers, collectors, Heckel,
paintings and woodcuts by artists such as Erich
I960, record fin the highest price
Johns's work Painted Bronze, sets
Schmidt-Rottlutl.
American
Franz Marc, and Karl
paid loi the work qj any living artist
commission, is
The Mermaid, R.L.'s first public sculpture
dedicated and installed at the Miami Beach Theatre for
1974
the Performing Arts.
R.L. begins to paint his first works influenced by Italian
Modem \rt exhibits
March 16-June 17. Thi San Francisco Museum of
Futurism.
373 Chronology
The Whitney Museum presents Blam!
The Explosion ol
1974, aworkcreated Sepi W-D* 2.
]udy Chicago'* rhe Dinner Party, begun in
Performance, organized by Barbara H^kdl
Pop, Minimalism, and
through th effort* q) more than WO women
May 23. R.L. is elected to the American Academy of Arts
1985 .
New M
. .
and Sciences, York. women out

,
165 artists \n its

/„ response to MoMA's inclusion of only qj
The Guggenheim Museum presents Beuyss first solo

Nou 2-Jan 2, 1980 exhibition International Survey
ol Receni Paintings and
1984
,„,„,, in i v. curatedby Carolim Tisdall who refer to themselves as the Guerrilla
s, ulpture, a group qj artists
posters in and around Manhattan
protesting the
;irh begin to put up
<
1980 women and ethnic groups.

art world's underrepresentation qj
May. R.L. awarded honorary

Doctorate of Fine Arts from mural; it takes almost six
Nov. R.L. begins to paint Equitable
Southampton College in New York. weeks to complete.
Picasso: A
U;r 12-Sept devotes mm, museum to Pablo
16 \/loM 1
Retrospective, organized by William Rubin

and Dominique I
1 986 , .11^
large outdoor sculpture, is installed
R.L.'s Salute to Painting, a
1980—81 at the Walker Art Center.
Haim Steinbach, and others begin
Irtistssuchas JeffKoom, Sherrh Levine, paintings, featuring
objects as the basis then Spring. Creates Perfect and Imperfect
copy othei people's artworks and
fo\
„ directly
compositions of pure geometric abstraction.
own 1960s: < ologne's
The Kunstverein in Cologne presents rhe
work*
iutumn
1 as an Art Metropolis
mergen. 1
from the Happening to the Art
1981 Gabriele Lueg.
Market, organized by Wulf Herzogenrath and
L. creates four Woman paintings
using modified Abstract
R 0ct
,- /,/, /,,, 1987 ih, Brooklyn Museum presents rhe Machine
Expressionist brushstroke based on de Kooning's third and
Age in America 1918-1941, organized by Dianne Pilgrim
Woman series, from the late 1950s. Christophei Wilk; the
Richard Guy Wilson, with the assistance qj
May 8-June 28. Saint Louis Art Museum presents an

The museums.
show travels 10 three other I IS.
exhibition of R.L.'s paintings and sculptures from
1970-80, organized by Jack Cowart; the show
travels to
1987
museums in U.S., Europe, and Japan. ,.
he
ARTnews publishes Eleanoi Heartney's article "Simulatiomsm:
l
Jan
Bickerton, Halley,
Hoi NewCool 1"." featuring the work qj Ashley
1982 .
Koons, Annette Lemieux, and Alan McCollum.
.
,
brushstrokes with
R.L. begins to combine loosely painted a
his Il„ Publit I" und in New York begins "Messages 10 the Public,"
constructed Abstract Expressionist brushstrokes in
I
Dwyer, Holzer, and

program in which texts by artists such as Nancy
paintings.
Alfredo Jaai are displayed on tin Spectacoloi Board m Times Square.
motit, ana
Begins series of paintings incorporating trame
which two /,/, 22 Warhol dies.
Paintings and Two Paintings series, in
single or March 15-June 2. MoMA mounts first major retrospective
contrasting images are ambiguously linked by
exhibition of R.L.'s drawings, organized by Bernice
hybrid frame motif. ever
painters in the S and Rose, the first show of drawings by a living artist
^go-Expressionism coined to refei to a group '
presented by the museum. The show travels to

is q)
urope whose work features figural images and Expressionist-style

museums in the U.S. and Europe.
I
m Fischl, David Salle, and

brushwork, including Georg Baselil . I
1983. With Lco< astclli during thi

Jiiliiin Schnabel
ion ol thi Jl«
H mm describing geometrii abstraction in
1988
I
"Neo-Geo" comes into fashion as a incorporating
Bleckner, Petei Halley, Philip Taaffe, R.L. begins Reflections series in Southampton,
the works q) such artists as Ross
mur.il
well
r quotations of previously depicted comic strips (as
and M< ye\ I
aisman.
motif he has not used since
as some new ones), a that
Aug. 8-Sept. 19. R.L.'s 1961 paintings Look Mickey, Pop eye,
the 1960s.
and Wimpy (Tweet) exhibited for the first time, at the
His Coup De Pinceau (Brushstroke), a 31-foot-high aluminum
Parrish Art Museum (Southampton, New York).
sculpture, is installed at the Caisse de Depots et
Consignations in Paris.
1983
Publication in Munich of the first monograph devoted to
his
Columbus, Ohio, purchases R.L.'s Brushstrokes in Flight for
pre-Pop works, by Ernst A. Busche.
ground-floor entrance to its International Airport. on
R.L. creates Plus and Minus paintings, a new series based
Publication of Alloway's monograph devoted to R.L.'s work.
works by Mondrian.
Dec. 3-11. Creates 90-foot-long mural on wall of Castelli's
Greene Street gallery space, a compilation of many May. Sets up a studio and residence in a 1912 building on
Washington Street in Manhattan, a former iron
motifs from his earlier works, including the
foundry, which he renovates. Divides his time between
composition notebooks, Art Deco patterns, pyramids,
mirrors, still lifes, and Picassoesque figures. It is on Southampton and Manhattan.
June. Receives an honorary Doctorate of Humanities
from
view until January 14 (and is then destroyed).
of Contemporary Art (New
rhe New Museum his alma mater, Ohio State University.
Dec. 8-Feb /". I''*-*
Nov. 16-May 1989. R.L.'s Brushstroke, a 30-foot-high painted
York, 183 Broadway) presents Difference On
Representation and
Weinstock aluminum sculpture created in 1987, is installed at the
Sexuality, organized by K,u< Linkei and Jane
Doris C. Freedman Plaza in Manhattan as part of the
Public Art Fund's project to install temporary
1984
and work, installations on public sites in New York.
R.L. returns to New York part-time to live in a
Nov 19-De< 19 Sonnabend Gallery in New York (42t> West Broadway)
loft at 105 East 29th Street.
for Mural with Blue Brushstroke for presents works by Koons, including expensively produced porcelain
Autumn. Begins maquette
Tower Manhattan. copies mi enlarged versions) of kitsch statuettes
the lobby of the Equitable in
1989 pre-1960s works such as Washington Crossing the Delaware
Afte\ a photographei sees Koons's 1988 sculpture String ol Puppies I and several of the semi-abstract drawings of cartoon
reproduced in the I os Angeles Times, he sues Koonsfoi copying his characters that he made in 1958. The show travels to
greeting-card photograph without permission. two other U.S. museums.
March 15-May 15. R.L. stays at the American Academy in
Rome as artist-in-residence. 1993
Spring. Travels to Tel Aviv to begin designing a 23-by-54- July R.L. receives an honorary doctorate from the Royal
9.
foot mural for the entrance hall of the Tel Aviv College of Art, Kensington Gore, London.
Museum of Art. July-Aug. Creates Large Interior with Three Reflections, a mural
Summer. Begins work on Bauhaus Stairway mural for consisting of a 30-foot-long triptych and three
I. M. Pei's new building for the Creative Artists Agency additional panels. The mural contains his first reference
in Beverly Hills. to a female nude.
Nov. 7. R.L.'s Torpedo . . . Los! sells at Christie's auction house Oct. R.L. completes Twisted Nude, a 12-foot-high painted
for a record $5.5 million; he joins the ranks of Johns aluminum sculpture fabricated at Tallix.
and de Kooning as the only living artists whose works Oct. 8-Jan. 16, 1994. The Guggenheim Museum presents Roy
have commanded such a price. Lichtcnstein, a retrospective survey of R.L.'s paintings

and sculpture, organized by Waldman. The exhibition
1990 will travel in North America and Europe.
R.L. begins Interior series; for some of these, he uses the

technique of painting with sponges.
Levine appropriates several qj R L.'s comic-strip paintings and prints in he\
1990 mixed-media work Collage Cartoon

Oct. 7-Jan. 15, 1991. MoMA
presents High and Low: Modern
Art and Popular Culture, an exhibition of 20th-century
art along with source materials and related ephemera,
organized by Kirk Varnedoe and Adam Gopnick.
Some of R.L.'s comic-book sources are shown for the
first time.
1991
April 2-June 16. Two of R.L.'s Interior paintings shown in the
Whitney Museum's 1991 Biennial exhibition.

April 25. Receives Brandeis University's Creative Arts Award.
May 15-Oct. 31. R.L.'s Modern Head, a 32-foot-high sculpture
based on his 1974 metal, wood, and polyurethane
sculpture at the Santa Anita Fashion Park in Arcadia,
California, is installed in Battery Park City in Lower
Manhattan.
In collaboration with Saff Tech Arts, located
in
Autumn.
Maryland, begins making enamel prints (on
Oxford,
stainless steel frames) based on Monet's
with wooden In his South impton itudio
late waterlily paintings Nympheas. rtMcl
Photo i'\ R.obi
1992
July. Inspired by the work of Catalan artist Antoni Gaudi,
sculpture
R.L. creates Barcelona Head, a 64-foot-high
ceramic commissioned for the
made of colored tiles,
Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain. It is installed

where
there on the site of the former naval yard
Christopher Columbus docked his ships.
Sept 14-Jan 19,1993 MoMA presents Henri Matisse: A
the assistance
Retrospective, organized by John Elderfield with qj
Beatrice Kernan.
Oct. R.L. creates a sculpture based on the
image of an
African Mask.
African mask in his painting Interior with
Tallix foundry, in versions of
It is fabricated at
bronze,
galvanized steel, tin-plated bronze, zinc-plated
and pewter, in editions of six.
1992-93
(Los
Dec 6-March 7. The Museum of Contemporary Art
American Art in
Angeles) presents Hand-Painted Pop:
Transition, 1955-62, organized by Paul Schimmel and
early years
Donna De Salvo, devoted exclusively to the
includes R.L.s
of the Pop art movement in the U.S. It
375 Chronology
r@MPOSITIONS|
lists the original soun
entry in the following bibliography
.
b\ Julia Blaut
I ah
ompiled be difficult and the text has
(
where access to th< original source ma)

been reprinted, the reprinl is also listed.
"Oldenburg ichtenstein Warhol: A Discussion.

Glaser Bruce 1
the Site." In Calvin

Interviews and Statements Adelman, Bob. "In the Studio" and "On i
[rtforum (Los Angeles) 4, no.

6 (Feb. 1966), pp. 20-24. Ed.ted
Uchtenstem Mural with Blue WBAL
romkins in dBob \delman, Roy transcript of a discussion broadcast on radio station
Brushstroke Nev. York: Harry N.
Abrams, 1988, pp. 40-97, editor in Artforum 4.
New York, [line 1964 In a letter to the
Tim section lists interviews with and
statements U
98-127, respectively. Photo essays, with I'"-'.), n p., Glaser states that Gene R. Swenson
qb by K>n 1 ichtenstein Some pp. no s (April
„ htenstein on his working
methods broadcast, but his
ind m "i. ni- ited
1
was participant in the original
a
si 1
"Artist's Statements." In Alloway,

Roy Uchtenstem.
published in italogues and Allow* I iwrence contributions were dropped in. the published transcript. m
ire i
105-07. relephone
monogi iphs ii>" '" li«ed "' ,cPai ,M
New York Abbeville Press, 1983, pp.
1983
Glenn, I onstance W "Ro> 1 ichtenstein: A Conversation- In
ilso
interview conducti d in Feb
I he Art Galleries, California State
University, Long Beach,
Himself." The Christian
Andreae, Christopher "Trying to Shock Roy Lichtenstein Ceramu Sculpture (exhib. eat.). Long Beach:
m ,
lude interviews with and statements is. 1969. second section p
I I
Science Monitor (Boston), Sept 17-23. Interview

forni a s.atc University, 1977, pp.
de New York. Quadmm
In .mist-, other than I ichtenstein ( ,,|,
Antoine.Jean "Metamorphoses L'Ecole conducted on [une 6-7, 1976.

161-64. rranscript iron. L cole I
Lichtenstein Conversation
Hindry Ann "Conversation with Roy
(Brussels), no. 18 (1965), pp.
York the last o\ a scr.es of three films on contemporary Spicial Roy Lichtenstein.
,/,. Mew Lichtenstein." In
avec lindry, ed
Ro> I .
entitled Mitamorphoses, made by r\ntoine and produced and 2o (spring 1991),

,rt
Special issue of Artstudio (Pans), no.
interviews with Jim
broadcast by [envision Beige. Includes " IS
(in English), 21-32 (in
French). Interview conducted
and George Segal pr
>ine ichtenstein, Marisol,
I 1
Nov in New York. [an. 7. 1991.

Baker, Richard Brown "Ro) Lichtenstein Interviews, 1963 "Mr Pop Comes to Town." London < )bserver, Dec 31.
tape-recorded Holland. Mary.
is |964 Jan. 15." Unpublished transcript oi
1967, p ( ommentar) based on an interview conducted m
produced for and
interview conducted in Lichtenstein's studio, at the Tate
Smithsonian New' York prioi to ichtenstein's solo exhibition I
on deposit at the Archives of American Art. London.

Gallery,
Institution, New York
Interview with Ro) ichtenstein" In Whitney Museum oi
Ro) Lichtenstein Bomb -An 1
Bernard \pril, and Mimi rhompson '
Roy Lichtenstein Graphic Work: 19 0-1980

American Art.
(New no 14 (winter 1986), pp 22-27. Interview
York),
(exhib. cat.). New York Whitney Museum of American Art,
onducted in New York, earl) Nov. 1985,
''SI. n.p.
>owntOwn Branch.
,
I
1
Interview mit Ro) Das Kunstwerk ichtenstein." March

Busche Dizzv? Town's in a Tizzy" The Cleveland News,
I
rnsi »
Art— (V
I
Is It
(Stuttgan H.no (Feb 1978), pp 14-25 Publishedin I
IS. Includes a statement by

13, 1952, "1 Ionic Magazine," p.
"Kon ichtenstein: An Interview '
Vew York irts

nglish .is
a critic and several loci
ichtenstein, along with comments b\
l
I
Interview I
journal,™ 9 (Ma) June 1978), pp. 11-12. exhibition the Art Colony Galleries,
artists on his at
.onducted m Southampton. New York, Aug 31, I"
( leveland, March 2 22. 1952.
plans,John "An Interview withRoj Lichtenstein." \rtforum
lalk with Roy
"A question of Appearances:
,
31 Jodidio, Philip-
n I rancisco) 2. no. 4 (Oct. 1963), p (U.S. edition), no. 34''
Lichtenstein (exhib htenstein." Connaissance des arts
"K, A htenstein An Interview." In Roy I i«
. | ,,
61 Published as part of an article b\ Jodidio,

Museum in collaboration (March 1981), p.
Pasadena, ('..lit.: Pasadena Art 58-62,
"Roy Lichtenstein and the Comic Process." pp.
with Walker Art Center. Minneapolis, 1967, pp. 12 16
65-67. Interview conducted at Lichtenstein's studio in
Reprinted as " ralkingwith Ro) ichtenstein." \rtforum I
Southampton. New York, shortly before the opening of his

(1 os Angeles) 3. no. 9 (Ma)
''(,7).
pp 34-39, I
Museum.
solo exhibition at the Saint Louis Art
Interview Ro> ichtenstein." In Art Gallery, University ol
Modem Sculpture with Velvet Rope."
I
and Kit/. Paul "Kon 1 ichtenstein

(. ,lii, .mi.,. Irvine, Roy Uchtenstem Graphics, Reliefs
brief
I,, Now \nr (Jan. 1969), n.p. In
York I. no. 1
..
Sculpture, 1969-1970 (exhib cat.) Irvine and Los Angeles:

discusses the relationship of his
1970, pp. 7-11. interview, Lichtenstein
University ol ( alifornia and Gemini ( .
I I
.,
sculpture to the 1930s Art Deo. style

Roj ichtenstein a Revolution 1 est loin.'"
)ebailleux, 1
Donald B., Carter Ratcliff, Joan Simon, and Vito Acconci.

1 1 l
I
Kuspit.
Ubhation (Paris), Ma^ 25, 1988, p 36
Lichtenstein, "New York [bday: Some Artists Comment" Art in America
Diamonstein, Barbaralee "( aro, de Kooning, Indiana, Includes
(New York) 65, no. 5 (Sept -Oct. 1977), pp. 78-85.
Motherwell and Nevelson on Picasso's Influence." [RTnews on 82-83.
with ichtenstein b\ Kuspit pp.
an interview
(New York) 73, no 4 (April 1974), pp. 44-46.
1
arson. Philip "Ro) lichtenstein" Injohns, Kelly. Uchtenstein,

"Pop Art. Money, and the Present Scene: An Interview
1
.
Motherwell, Nauman, Rauschenberg, Serra, Stella Printsfiom

with k"\ ichtenstein and eo astelli." Partisan Review I (
Art Center.
I
Gemini G.l I- (exhib. cat.). Minneapolis Walker

(New York) 45, no (1978), pp. 80 93 Reprinted in I
NewYork's In World New York Rizzoli, 1974, pp 16-18.

Diamonstein, Insidt
America (New
1
''>. 211-25 I ebensztejn, |ean-Claude "Eight Statements" Art in

'
pp.
Carl Andre.
i
York) 63, no. 4 (July-Aug 1975), pp. 67-75.

Diehl, Matthew "Picasso Was Here Contemporary Artists Mine Five
rank
Jonald |udd. Lichtenstein, Price Marden. Paul
Sharits. I
theMastei irt and Antiques (New York) 6, no 2 (Feb 1989), I
olescott, Lichtenstein,
Warhol, and Ibm Wesselmann comment on the
Stella, -\nd\
pp. 37- ^s Mike Bidlo, Robert
laes ( (
continuing influence of Henri Matisse on contemporary

art
Oldenburg, and George Segal describe their appropriations oi
on 37 Interview with ichtenstein appears on pp. 67-69.
ichtenstein's responses appeal
1
Picasso's imagery I p,
thesis,
"1 htenstein " Lei ^ventures Jc Van (Paris), no. 2 I ichtenstein, Roy. "Paintings, Drawings. Pastels" M.F.A.
lietrich, Nicolas i<
and Applied Arts, Ohio State University,
i
76 Department ofl ine

(De< 1990), pp.
lolumbus, 1949 Unpublished, on deposit at Ohio State
ow, Milton Ko\ Lichtenstein ouldYou Be Much l
How (
(
University ibraries, Columbus. Includes nine poems written

Luckiei rhan Am?' ARTnews (New York) 90 no 5 (Ma) I
1
85 90 by the artist.
1991), | T 88, ''I
- Letter to the Editor Artforum (New York) 10, no. 1" (June Siegel, Jeanne. " I noughts on the Modem Period.'" In John Coplans,
1972), p. 6 Letter written by Lichtenstein in response to ed., Roy Lichtenstein. New York and Washington, I M
Lawrence Alloway's "On Style An Examination of Roy Praeger, 1972, pp. 91 95 Reprinted in Jeanne Siegel
I ichtenstein's Development, Despite New Monograph on .i [rtwords Discourse qj the 60s and 70s. Ann Arbor, Mich.: UMI
the Artist" (Artforum 10, no. 7 [March 1972], pp. 53 59). Issue Research Press, 1985, pp. 191—96. Interview with Lichtenstein
also includes letter from Allow ,iy m which he responds to

,i conducted in his studio on the Bowery, New York, Oct 1968,
Lichtenstein s letter. and broadcast on radio station WBAI, New York. Dec 13.
-. Statement. In Ellen H.Johnson, ed., American . irtists on Art 1968 Ik published transcript was edited by
I ichtenstein. I
From 194()io 1980. New York: Harper and Row, 1982, Smith, Philip. "Roy I ichtenstein: Interview." I"- Magazine
pp. 102-04. Talk presented by Lichtenstein at the College Art (New York) 32. no 3 (Nov 1977), p. 26.
Association's annual meeting, Philadelphia, Jan 1964 Solomon, Alan t onversation with ichtenstein." In Alberto Boatto I
"An Observed Conversation." In Modem Dreams. The Rise and Fall and Giordano Falzoni, eds., Lichtenstein. Special issue ol
and Rise qj Pop (exhib. cat.). New York: Institute for Fantazaria (Rome) I. no 2 (July-Aug 1966) pp 6 I I
Contemporary Art, Cambridge. Mass. Mil Press, 1*M8, (in Italian), 36-42 (in English), 66 73 (in French) Edited
ofa television interview broadcast in New York.

pp. 87-109. Conversation conducted at the Clocktower
transcript
Gallery, New York, Oct. 7, 1989, during a symposium on Jan. 1966

tour-part exhibition series held at the Sorin, Raphael 'I e ( lassiiisine du hot dog." QuinzaiM hlln.mr
The Pop Project, a
Clocktower Gallery, Oct. 22. 1987-June 12. 1988. Participants (Paris), no 42 I fan 1968), pp 16 I
included Leo ( astelh. John Coplans. Alanna Fleiss. Betsey Swenson, Gene R "What K Answer, from ighi Painters, Lop Art'. I
[ohnson, Lichtenstein, and Claes Oldenburg. Part " I[RTnews (New York) f>2. no. 7 (Nov 196
Pascal, David. Interview with Kov Lichtenstein. Giff-wijj (Paris), pp. 24-27. 60-64 Includes responses from Jim )ine, Rob I 1
Indiana. Lichtenstein. ami Andv Warhol. khtenstcin's answers

no. 2D (Max 1966), pp. 6-15.
I
ichtenstein: Donald Duck et Picasso" [rl appear >on pp 25 (<2 63

Ratcliff, Carter. "Kov 1
140 (Oct. 1989) pp 12-19. Interview with

Press (Paris), no.
I tylor Paul. "Roy 1 ichtenstein: Naivete Allowed Yon to Do a Lot oi
Lichtenstein with comments by Ratcliff on the artist's work. Work, Now I Don't Know How '\n\one Does '\nvlln
An (International edition) (Milan) 22. no. I4S >,
II. "Interview with Kov Lichtenstein at Ins
Flash ((
Riley. Charles A
|
Manhattan Studio. June, 1992." In Roy Lichtenstein (exhib. 1989), pp 87 91

Inn. m, Phyllis "Pop!: Interviews with ( .eorge Segal. '\nd\
cat ) Lausanne: FAH Musee d'Art Contemporain, 1992, [\li
French). Interview trans Warhol. Roy ichtenstein, James Rosenquist and Robert
PP 22, 24 (in English). 23. 25 (in
I
into French by Diana de Rham.

Indiana." [RTnews (New York) 73, no
(Ma} 1974),
5
pp. 24-2'J Interview with ichtenstein conducted by

Roberts. Colette. "Interview de Roy Lichtenstein." iujourd'hui
I
art el
telephone. Feb. 17. 1973.
architecture 'SA (Boulogne), nos. 55-56 (W^. 1966-Jan.
I
Tuten, Lrederu Interview with ichtenstein. In Lichtenstein at Gemini

Extract from an interview conducted
I
123-27. by
1967), pp.
(exhib brochure) Los Angeles: Gemini G.l 1969 n.p I
Roberts in March 1966 for her program "Meet the Artist"

iew conducted in New York, eh 1969, in which I
Rose. Barbara, and Irving Sandler "Sensibility ol 'the Sixties" Art in

Lichtenstein discusses his Cathedral and Haystack series of
[merica (New York) 55, no, (Jan.-Feb. 1967), pp. 44-37 I
paintings and lithographs based on works b\ ( l.mde Monel

Responses by artists, including Lichtenstein, to a questionnaire
Interview reprinted in John Coplans, ed., Roy Lichtenstein
concerning the role of the artist and the nature of the avant-
New York and Washington
D.< Praeger, 1972 pp 95 99
garde in the 1960s.
Waldman, Diane "Lichtenstein Interviewed by Diane Waldman."
Rosenthal, Mark "Roy Lichtenstein." In Rosenthal. .
irtists at
In Waldman, Koy Lichtenstein New York Harry
N. Abrams.
Gemini: Celebrating the rwenty-Jifth Year New York Harry N
25-28. Trans into French as "Une Interview .1,
1972, pp
Abrams, with Gemini G.E.L, Los Angeles, forthcoming 1993,
'" Lichtenstein," in Art Press (Paris) 15 (De< 1974 Jan 19
lo7 ,
PP -
6—7.
Schaff, David "A Conversation with Roy
Lichtenstein" Art pp.
Washington Gallery of Modem Art. Washington, D.C "Washington
(Lugano) 23. no 9 (Jan.-Feb 1980), pp. 28-39.
International
Gallery of Modern Art Interviews ot Artists. 1963 April
Interview with Lichtenstein conducted in Southampton,
Audio tape and phonograph record produced in
New York. March 29, 1979, prior to an exhibition of his work June."
Populai Image Exhibition at the
conjunction with flu
at Leo C astelh Gallery, New York.
is June 2. 19
Shapiro a Ron Washington Gallery of Modern Art. April
Shapiro. David. "Grande unificazione: Intervista di David Smithsonian
and on deposit at the An hues ot American Art,
Lichtenstein" In Attiho C^.Uûuk ed., PopArt: Evoluzione
di
Man.. Institution, Washington, I >.(
una qenerazione. Trans, into Italian by Bruno Alfieri,
( ordioli, and Renzo Guidieri. Milan. Electa. 1980
Alan Solomon Books on Lichtenstein

television interview with Lichtenstein by
Alloway, Lawrence. Roy Lichtenstein New York
Abbeville Press,
into .end, and
(broadcast in New York. Jan. 1966), trans
I
telephone interview with Lichtenstein

1983 Includes and iliberto Menna
Italian by Boatto, ( alvesi, I
conducted in Leb. 1983. Das Fruhwerk 1942

1
'"" Berlin
Special issue Busche. Ernst A Roy Lichtenstein
l
Boatto, Alberto, and liordano Falzoni, eds Lichtenstein.

(
Includes Gebr. Mann. I
of Fantazaria (Rome) 1, no. 2 (July-Aug. 1966) Pop Paintings 1961 1969. Schirmers
H.Johnson (reprinted from Roy Lichtenstein
essays (in English onlv) bv Ellen 1989. In
Visnelle Bibliothek r, Munich Schirmer Mosel,
and Artists [London] I. no. 3 [June 1966]),
[rt
Max Kozloff
17 |Ncn 30,
German
reprinted horn The Nation [New York| 199, no.
Monographs in
oplans.John.ed. Roy Lichtenstein Documentary
,
essay (in French only) by

(
Robert Roseubluin.
1964]), and Art ted Paul
Modern ummings) New York ...id <
and Italian) ot
Otto Halm: and transcript (in English, French,
379 Bibliography
y el arte Pop. Mayagiiez: Universidad
biographii J Crespo, Angel. Roy Lichtenstein
Washington, D.( Praeger, 1972 Introduction, >70. (
oplans; de Puerto Rico, l
and imager) b>

notes, and chronolog) ol arl (
Hendrickson.Janis Lichtenstein. Cologne: Benedikt raschen, 1988

bibliography In Salzfass; interviews Coplans Jane
U Danish byjanmck Storm.
English and Danish editions; trans into
[San Francisco] 2, no. 4 [Oct >63J;
l
(reprinted fiom issue of Artstudio

Special Roy Uchtenstein. Special
Irf/brora
Hindry, Ann, ed.
5, no 9 |M.in 1967];
,,„,„,„„ and Art Gallery, University of Issue devoted to writings on
(Bans), no. 2(» (spring 1991)
Graphics, Reliefs and
California, Irvine, Roy Uchtenstein only) by Hindry; interview
I iehtenstein. Editorial (in French
1969-1970 [exhib. cat.], Irvine and os Angeles:
Sculpture,
1
and French) by Hindry: essays (in English and

English
(in
and Gemini G.l 1970), Bruce
University of< alifornia Peter Schjeldahl, and
I
French) b> Hindry, Robert Rosenblum,

broadcast on radio
Glaser (edited transcripi of a discussion Dav.d Shapiro; and essays (in French only) In Daniel Abadie,
station WBAI. New York, fune
1964, reprinted from Bernard Marcade.
of an
Mar.e-1 aure Bernadac. Nicolas Boumaud.
[rtforum 4. no. 6 [Feb 1966]), [eanne Siegel (transcript Emilio Tadini, and Eric Valentin.
Pierre Sterckx,
interview broadcast on WBAI. New York. Dec 13. 1967,
Ertrinkendes Madchen. Stuttgart: Philipp
Kerber, Bernhard. Uchtenstein
edited In the artist), Alan Solomon (reprinted from Alberto Introductory essay by Kerber and excerpts
Reclam [un., 1970
iehtenstein, special issue
Boatto and Giordano alzoni, eds., I I
from interviews by John Coplans

(from Artforum [Los Angeles)
ol Fantazaria\Jkome] I, no.
2 Quly-Aug 1966]), Gene R. into German by A. Huber). David
5 no 9 (Max 1967], trans,
(reprinted from \RTnews [Nev, York] 62, no
Swenson Pascal (from Giff-wifl [Paris], no. 20
[Ma} 1966], trans, into
(No\ 1963]), rederi« r/uten (reprinted from Lichtenstein at
I
German A Huber). Alan Solomon (from Alberto Boatto

b\
[exhib. brochure], os Angeles: Gemini G.E.L., 1969),
Gemim I
and Giordano Falzoni, eds.. Lichtenstein, special issue ol

m Diane Waldman (reprinted from Waldman, Roy
,l
Fantazaria [Rome] I, no 2 [Jul} Aug 1966], trans into
Lichtenstein, Nev, York: Harr) N Abrams,
1972); and texts by
German In A Huber). Raphael Sorin (ftom Quinzaine littkraire
Magazine |New York]
1 lWrence Allowa) (reprinted from Arts 42 |an. 1968], trans, into German by Heide
[Paris], no.
Oct. 1967]), Elizabeth < Baker (reprinted |
42 no [Sept I
Richter), and Gene R. Swenson (from ARTnews [New York|
IR/;/nr 7d.no 2|A P nl 97 1), Gene Baro
(reprinted
ir
1
1
t.2. no. 7 [Nov 1963], trans mto German In Gudrun Harms).
[Lugano] 12, no 9 [Nov 1968]), Nicolas
international with Blur
Tomkins Calvin, and Bob Adelman. Roy Uchtenstein Mural
,,,„,, [rt
and lena alas, Icons and

das (reprinted from Nicolas ( alas I (
1988 Ed Margaret
Brushstroke. New York: Harry N. Abrams,
(
Sixties, Nev, York R Dutton, 1971; firsi

Images of tht
Donovan and Anne Yarowsky. Essays by Ban Stave and
1
published in \4agazine44, no [Sept Oct 1969]),

lomkins. and photographs and interview b\ Adelman.
I
\rts
Hahn no 6
(reprinted from I" International 10,
Waldman. Diane Roy Lichtenstein Drawings and Prints. London
t >tto and
Richard Morphet (reprinted from Roy
[summer 1966]), House, 1969
New York C helsea
London Hate Gallery, 1968),
Lichtenstein [exhib. cat
Roy Uchtenstein. New York Harry N Abrams. 1972.
|,
from Metro [Milan], no

.
ueprmted 8
Robert Rosenblum
Robbe-Grillet Introductory essay and interview by Waldman
April 1963]), and Paul Schwartz and Alain
Roy Uchtenstein. Rizzoli Art Series (ed. Norma
|
Broude).
from Studio International [New York| 175, no B99
int, d
New York Rizzoli, 1993.
|Apnl 1968])
(New York) Brewster. Todd. "Bop Primer: Roy Lichtenstein's Monumental Mural
Ad.uns. Brooks "Nev, Pop Reflections." Art in Lmerica
Articles on Lichtenstein
of the artist's
Modern Movement'" Life (New York) 9, no 6
^plains the
so, no. 7 luls 1992), pp. 88-91. Discussion 1
|une 1986), pp 75-79 Discussion of the artist's Mural

(
with
(
Interioi paintings Equitable Tower,

Blue Brushstroki installed in the lobby of the
Alloway, Lawrence "Roj Lichtenstein's Period Style From th
hnties to the Sixties and Back

" irts Magazine (Nev, York) New York.
"L'Amenquc proclame la fin de l'Ecole de Bans et
I
Cabanne, Pierre.
42. no. I (Sept ' )ci 1967) pp 24 29 no 968
Pop Art pour coloniser I'Europe." \rts (Bans),
lance le
,
"Roy Lichtenstein." Studio International (Nev* York) 175,
(June 24-30, 1964), p 16
no. 896 (Jan 1968), pp. 25 31 Reprinted in part from Ironv, the
hnties to the Calas, Nicolas. "Roy Lichtenstein Insight through
k.n ichtenstein's Period Style rom the
'
I 1
Guggenheim Retrospective." Arts Magazine (New York) 44.

I
'Sixties and Back" I"- Magazine [New York| 42. no. I

1
no. 1 (Sept -Oct. 1969), pp. 29-33.

[Sept.- Oct. 1967]).
An Examination ol Roj ichtenstein's Cowart. |ack Bos Lichtenstein 1970-1980: Beyond Vo^: American
-On stsk I
(New York) 45. no. 468 (July 1981), pp 42-49, 91-94

.
Development, Despite a New Monograph on the Artist"

Artist
53-59. Dali, Salvador. "How an Elvis Breslex Becomes a Ro> Lichtenstein

[rtforum (New York) 10, no 7 (Man h 1972), pp.
Magazine (New York) 41. no 6 (April 1967), pp. 26-31.
Mlowa) dismisses ichtenstein's work and reviews 1
I \rts
1
mto English by Albert Field.

Trans,
\\ ildm. ins monograph Roy Lichtenstein (New York Harry N.
Deitcher, David. "Lichtenstein's Expressionist
lakes." Art m America
Abrams, 19
"Reassessing Roj 1 iehtenstein." Portfolio (New York) 3, (New York) 71. no. (Jan. 1983), pp. 84-89 1
"Roy Lichtenstein's Recent Landscapes I" •»"/

Fry. Edward Fort.
no 4 (July Aug 1981), pp 50 55. 1-19.
Uteratun 4 ausanne), no s (spring 1966), pp. 1
Mario "Architectural Digest Visits: Roy Lichtenstein."

1
\ mil i
[nhitectural Digest (London) 35, no 6 (Jul} Aug 1978),

Gruen, [ohn "Roy iehtenstein: From Outrageous Parody to
1
Includes extensive quotes b) iehtenstein in ouographic Elegance.'' ARTnews (New York) 73. no. 3
I.
PP s: 87, 144 I
which Ik- discusses his work, particularly the Surrealist-style (March 1976), pp. 39-42.
paintings.
Hahn, )tto Ko\ iehtenstein." 1" International (I ugano) 10, no, 6
t
'
1 .
International (summer 1966), pp '-4. 66- 69 Ira. is into English by Arnold

B.iro. Gene, "Rn\ 1 iehtenstein: technique as Style." \ iehtenstein." Studio International
Boime, Albert "Roy Lichtenstein and the
I
< Strip."
(New York) 28, no 2 (winter 1968 69), pp 155-59. (New York) 175, no 896 (Jan 1968), pp 20-24.
Johnson. Ellen II "I ichtenstein The Printed Image, .it Venice." Russell, John. "'Art Moderne Roy I ichtenstein, Pop No. I."
\n and Artists (London) I. no. 3 (June 1966), pp 12-15 naissanct </< arts (Paris), no. 212 (Oci 196
" (1 ondon) 2.
. I he I ichtenstein Paradox." [rt and [rtists PP 19,21, 23.
no ic (Jan L968), pp. 12-15. Seiberling, Dorothy. "Is He the Worst Artist in the U S ?" / ife
Kertess, Klaus, "Roy's New Rooms." Elk Decoi (New York) 2. no I

11 (New York) 36, no 5 (Jan Jl, 1964), pp 79 83
Pec. 1991-Jan. 1992), pp 56 61 Solomon, I Deborah. " I he An behind the I
tots ' The Mew York 1 inn i
Kuspit, Don. ild B. "Lichtenstein and the Collective Unconscious ol Magazine, March 8, 1987, pp. 42-46, 107, 112
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Loran, Erie "Cezanne and Lichtenstein Problems ol York) 66 no 6 (Oct. 1967) pp 2s 31,65 67 Discussion ol
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L963), pp. 34-35. Wallai li. AiiKi "At Lunch with ichtenstein and Castelli: A I
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ACE L.A.. Los Angeles. Roy Lichtenstein Sculpture
Entablature Paintings 1974

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Paintings and Sculpture." Allan Kaprow Solo Exhibitions
Ballatore, Sandy 'I ichtenstein
arlebach Gallery, New York Roy Lichtenstein April JO May l
\ 1951
[rtweek (< >akland),June 14. L975, p 5 (
March 2 22. [952. ampbell, Lawrence. "Roy l ichtenstein ARTnews I In following i"" ji i
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(New York) *(May [951 hi

Bruner, Louise. "Kindergarten Dipt. Calls New Exhibit 50, ii- 1, pp •< ,, I, , i, ,i
Leo< Gallery, New York Roy Lichtenstein, Feb. 10-March I ,111, in, |. •.
W n lt< 'I I"
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I. I I( I I
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New York Roy Lichtenstein Sepl 2s t ), 24.
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Fried Mm had "New York Letter." In* International (Lug

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appears on p 66
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Irving Blum Gallery, Los Angeles 1968 (New York) 64, no 19
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60-61 (No\ 9, 1964), pp 94, 96

no. in (summer 1968), pp.
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8(Dc< 1964), p. 15
,,o
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1990) 199 ,,o 17 (No\ *0 pp
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(
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(New York) 64, no 5 (Jan 1990), p. 79. ,,„,. N,n 2" De< II. 1965
of the \rts, Valencia Roy lichtenstein at Cal \rts
( alifornia Institute
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ichtenstein." The New York Urnes, Feb 7. 1992,
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(Jan.-Feb 1966
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W^me(NewYork)42.no.l(Sept.-Oct
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Roy H*"™'™
Mirror Paintings toy iMtauttin P^.x Inhibition
LeoC astelh Gallery, New York Exhib ltions of Paintings and Sculpture.]**
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awrence Alloway and William A.
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(,1,1 awrence Alloway
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d'Art Contemporain, ausanne.

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« FAE Musee
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1
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I
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<
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Feb. Edelman in collaboration
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Leo CasteUi Gallery, New York
Roy Lichtenstein
Tate Gallery Liverpool, Feb.
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ibricede Kerchove
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Ferus Gallery, Los Angeles. Roy
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l
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,),,,. [oseph Doug.

Mc< -Roy Lellan,
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ichtenstein."
13 14
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Lichtenstein Opened N,n 24, >64
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^ 7 -
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>anieU, 1
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I'" with essay by Henry
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!
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, 6-March
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Dec v [te(New
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Michaelsen, Pierre Martory
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Armstrong, Richard ( heez \\ hiz
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I rench) „ .
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Hahn Otto "Lettre de Pans: Le Peinture
h« Disappearing Mural" In in America
Indiana tary I I
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(International edition) (Milan), I
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is March31 L992
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Eight New
.
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Richard Gray Gallery, Chicago Roy Lichtenstein
P Oet 19-Nov JO 1984. Exhibition brochure
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o Castelli Gallery, G ichtenstein: A Father of Pop Stretches
I
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29, 1992 eo astelli Gallery), and Feb

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(New York) 59, no 6 (Feb 1985), p. 12. The Modem Work, 1965-1970. Nov. 8 De< H 1978.
Solomon R Guggenheim Museum, New York. Roy Lichtenstein Organized by Elisabeth Sussman Exhibition cai ilogue, with
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7-March 22, 1970; Seattle Art Museum. April 10-May 17, [exhib. cat.], London into German); rate Gallery, 1968, trans
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"Roy Lichtenstein and lis Great Big Yacht."

.
I
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( I i
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Fry, Edward Fort. "Inside the Trojan I lorse." [RTnews | Nov 1963], trans into ( .en liai iIn Gudrun Hal ms)
(New
York) 68, no. 6 (Oct. 1969), pp. 36-39, 60 Kunsthalle Bern. Roy Lichtenstein. Feb. 23-March 31, 1968
Glueck, Grace, "Blam!! To the Top of Fop." The New York Exhibition brochure, with essay (in German) In
Times, Sept. 21, 1969, section 2. p. 31. Jean-Christophe Ammann; essay (in English) by Wim
Kozloff, Max. "Lichtenstein at the Guggenheim." Artforum Beeren; ind interviews In Alan Solomon (from Alberto
(New York) 8, no. 3 (Nov. 1969), pp. 41-45. Boatto and Giordano Falzoni eds., Lichtenstein, special issue ol
Ratcliff, Carter. "New York" Art International (Lugano) 13. Fantazaria no 2 [July—Aug 1966]), John oplans
[Rome] I
. <
no. 9 (Nov 1969), p. 74. (from Artforum |Los Angeles] 5, no. 9 [May 1967]), David
Sylvester, David. "Roy Lichtenstein: 'The Ironic Lichtenstein Past d from Giff-wiff [Paris], no 20 [Ma) 1966]), and Raphael
Who Takes Soulful Subjects and Paints hem with I Sorin (reprinted from Quinzaine littSraire [Paris], no. 42 [an |
Cool'" Vogue (New York) 154, no. 5 (Sept. IS. I' 1968]); trans mto German by A. Huber.
pp. 142. 144-45. 168-69. Locksley Shea Gallery Minneapolis Roy Lichtenstein Trompt t'Oeil
Guild Hall Museum, East Hampton, New York. Roy Lichtenstein: Paintings. Oct. 27-Nov 24. 1973. Exhibition catalogue, with
linn Decades of Sculpture Aug. 15-Oct 4. 1992 Organized text by John Coplans.
In ( hristina Moss.udes Strassfield. Exhibition catalogue, with Mannheuner Kunstvcrein. Roy Lichtenstein: Gemdlde tin,! Graphik
essaysby Jack Cowart and Strassfield. 1 962-1977. Sept 4-Oci 5,1977 Exhibition catalogue, with
Smith, Roberta "I ong Island Shows Small, Closely Focused interview In |<>hn Coplans (from Art Gallery, University ol
and Odd: Fast Hampton" ///. New York Times, Au^. 21, i Irvine, Roy Lichtenstein Graphics, Reliefs and
ahtoi in. i.
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Sculpture, 1
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Sculptures and Graphics 1980-1986 No\ is. 1986-Jan. 5, nan)

l
u (S7. Exhibition catalogue, with text by Frederic Tuten. rhe Mayor Gallery, London Roy Lichtenstein New Paintings April
Heland Wetterling Gallery. Stockholm Roy Lichtenstein: Imperfect 6-May 2s. 1976.
Oct. 25-Nov. 2n. 1988. Exhibition catalogue. Heard, lames. "Lichtenstein." 1"^ Review (London) 2s. no 8
John Heller Gallery, New York. Recent Paintings Roy I Lichtenstein. ,1 16, 1976), p 182,
Dec H, 1951-Jan 12. 1952. Exhibition catalogue, with Overy, Paul, "Pop Art's Capacity foi Self-Renewal." I h< Times
preface by Hoyt Sherman. (London), April 20, 1976, p 15.
Fitzsimmons, lames "Roy Lichtenstein." Art Digest The Mayoi Gallery, I ondon, and Leo Castelli Gallery, New York
(New York) 26, no. 7 (Jan 1. 1952), p 20 Roy Lichtenstein Sculpture No\
16-Dec. 20, 197 I
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50, no 9 (Jan. 1952), p. 67. The Museum of Modern Art. New York he Drawings oj Roy I
[ohn Heller Gallery, New York. Recent Paintings by Roy I Lichtenstein Lichtenstein March 15-June 2, 1987 Organized b) Bernice
Jan. 26-Feb. 7, 1953 Rose rraveled to Museum Overholland, Amsterdam, July 17
Geist. Sidney. "Roy Lichtenstein." . I" Digest (New York) 27, Sepi 13, 1987; Museum of Tel Aviv, Israel, No\ 8 D
no 9 deb I. ''S3). is 1987; Douglas Hyde Gallery, Dublin, Jan 21 Feb 21,1988;
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Tnews (New York) s.lurn Kunsthalle ankfurt, Man h l" May 1 I. 1988;
Porter, Fairfield. 1
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[RTnews 17-Nov. 2". 1988 Exhibition al Jogue, with foreword by

Porter, Fairfield. "I ichtenstein's Adult Primer."
<
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(New York) 53, no. 1 (March 1954), pp. is. 63
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lizabeth
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Street Journal (New York). May I''. 1987, p

John Heller Gallery, New York Roy I Lichtenstein. Jan 8 26, 1957.
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ichtenstein .is Sculptor." The Sac York rimes, June 2.
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I
1983; and the Seibu Mr.. 22, Melville, Robert "I Know How You Must led. Rov"
Art. Kurashiki, April 26
[rchitecturalReview (London) 143.no 854 (April 1968),
Museum ol Art, [bkyo,June4 July i, 1983. Exhibition
(New York Hudson Hills Press, in association with pp. 291 -94
catalogue
In Junes Roberts. Keith. "Current and Forthcoming Exhibitions—
OU1S Art Museum), with foreword I
)
the Saint 1
ondon." Burlington Magazine (London) 1 10, no. 779

Robinson III and text In ( ov trt ( atalogue published in I
reni 1982), trans Stefania Coppi, with deb. 1968), pp. 107-08.
Italian \ [ I i
additional texts by Kenato Barilli and Sergio Salvi; also Whitney Museum of American Art. New York. Jowntown Branch. I
published in Japan si rokyo Seibu Museum of Art, 1983) Roy Liehtenstein Graphu Work: 1970-1980. Oct, 14-Nov. 25.
Monde 1981 Organized by isa Phillips, William Quin,
Nan
face a face." Le
1
Breerette, Genevieve "Liehtenstein l>.
Rosenthal, Karl Wilier, and the Helena Rubinstein ellows I in

Paris), Sept. 23, 1982, p 19
the Whitney Museum's Independent Study Program aura I
Danofl Michael "Paintings That Make Your Retinas Dance

1
[RTnews (New York) 80, no. 9 (No\ 1981), pp. \22 2S l ottingham, Nora Halpern, Anne Harrell, Virginia Kobler,
EllenMahoney, rheresa Salazar, Sarah raylor States and Susan
1 )utt\. Robert \\ "< Setting ichtenstein show on Ro.ul" 1
St Louis Post Dispatch Sunday Magazine, April 1''. 1981, Wilharm. Exhibition catalogue.
pp 6-11.
Akademie der Kunste, Berlin und Pop \ri No> 20

New Realisten by Anice Kandell with contributing editors Billy Kluxer. Claes
Publications and Reviews
)ldenburg, Robert Rauschenberg, Jean inguely, and others.
1965 Exhibition catalogue, with text by Werner
1
(
Accompanying [964 [an J,
[ofmann and bibliography ind glossai ol tei ms asso( iated with dictionary of terms and artists' statements.
Group Exhibitions I \
Bianchini Gallery, New York Tenfiom Rutgers University. Dec

is.
with New Realism a\\A Pop art.
Albright-Knox An Gallery, Buffalo. Mixed Media and Pop Irt Now [965 [an 12,1966 Exhibition catalogue, with essay by
19-De< 15, 1963. I xhibition catalogue, with ton word by Allan Kaprow
< lordon M Smith and texts by I awrence Alloway Berkson, William. "In the Galleries." Arts Magazine
Arte olony Galleries, ( leveland Lichtenstein-Penfield-Miller.frn. 1955 (New York) 4". no 5 (March 1966), pp. 59-60.
Met/ler. Paul " Inoat An ( olony." Plain Dealei (Cleveland), Cleveland ( entei foi ( ontemporai \ Art The Turning Point irtand
[an 9, 1955, section I ). p. 30. Politics in Nineteen Sixty-eight. Sept 9-Ocl 26, 1988
Arts ( on, ml of the YM YWHA._ Philadelphia 1-/ 1963 - 1 New Organized by Nina Castelli Sundell. I raveled to Lehman
College Art Gallery, ehman College. he City University ol
Vocabulary Oct 2^> Nov . 1962 Exhibition brochure, edited I I
atalogue, with prefa< e h\ 1 homas M. Mcsser and text U
New York, Bronx, Nov. I". 1988-Jan. 14. 1989 Exhibition ,
Allow. I\
catalogue, with preface by Sundell and Marjorie
ralalay,
toi Jon. "Six Painters and the Object and Six More, L.A.
1968 .,,
by Sundell and Irwin Unger, and chronology of

i I
essays no
I ouncj Museum of Art." irtforum (San Francisco) 2, I
art a< th ities

April .Sept 1963), pp i
M4.
Contemporary Arts Museum. Houston. Pop )oes! The Easel <
Magazine
ludd Donald "Six Painters and the Object." irts
1963 Exhibition catalogue, with text h\ Douglas MacAgy. 108 09

"1961." April 3-Ma} (New York) J7, no 9 (Ma^ June 1963), pp
The Pallas Museum for Contemporary Arts.
of Pop Art, 'Six
Preston, Stu in < )n I
>ispty Ml < )ut Series
L3 L962 Exhibition brochure, with introduction b} Douglas the Gugg< nheim"
Painters and the < >bje<- York times, March 21, 1963, p. 8.

Painting,
The
Pes Monies Art Center. Twenty-Jive Years of. American 'Pop Vri at the Guggenheim." \n International
Rose, Barbai
March 6-April 22, 19 J Organized by James
i
l 94 g_1973 21
Max 25, 1963). pp. 2"
m
Demetrion ino) 7, no 5 i
Demetrion Exhibition catalogue, with preface b>

ofKozlofTs Seldis, Henry J. "The 'Pop \rl rrend rhis, too, Will Pass.
and introduction by Max Kozloff (revised version ingeles Times, \ug 4. 1963 p I
published as "American Painting During the Cold

Jjos
introduction
Solomon R Guggenheim Museum, New York Wordandlmag D
War," in irtforum [Nev, York] 11, no 9 [Maj 1973], pp 43-54).
8,1965 [an 2.1 Exhibition brochure, with introductory
os Angeles. My Country 'Tis of Thee Nox 18-De<
Dwan Gallery, 1
ess.i\ by aw rem e Allow a\.

Gerald Nordland.
1
is, [962 Exhibition catalogue, with text b\ "Word and Image" \rts Maga itu (New York)
International
Goldin, Aim.
Langsner, [ules. "Los Angeles etter." Art 1
4o. no, 4 (Feb. 1966), p. 54.

(Lugano) 7, no. 1(Jan. 25, 1963), pp. 81-83 1969 Organi
Hayward Gallery, lrt.July9 Sepl
London Pop
\,
University of British Columbia, Vancouvei

In
I ine Arts Galler) In and Suzi GabUk. Exhibition H ilogue, with
ic.hn Russell
i
Exhibition brochure,
Becomes Reality. Jan 29-Feb. 8, 1964 oi English
introduction b> Russell and GabUk and chronology
with introduction by Alvin Balkind.
and American Pop art
\rtforum (San Francisco
Lord. |. Barry. "Pop Art in Canada." and
Wolfram, Eddie 'Pop \rt Undefined." In
irtists
no 9 (Much 1964), pp 28-31.

2.
(London) \, no 6 (Sept. 1969), pp. 18 19
remporaire, Frejus. La Sculpture
Fondation Daniel Templon, Muse, [ndianapolis Museum of Art. Powei Myths and Mores I
in imencan in
tontemp0 raim apm

I970.)u\) 4-Sept. 29, 1991. Exhibition Nm 1991 Jrganizedb) Holhda} l
1961-1991 Sept 5- I
<
catalogue, with introduction by

Caroline Smulders and essays
n„ [raveled to Akron Art Museum, Jan I8-March21 1992;
French) Pierre Cabanne, >aniel >obbels, |uh
ine \rts, Richmond Ma)
hs
(in English and
1 1
ll
and Virginia Museum oi I
Carter Ratcliff, and

Siegfried Gohr, Demetrio Paparoni, 12 1992 1 xhibition catalogue (Indianapolis:
[ndianapolii
Trans, by Neal Cooper. Marie-France
in cooperation with Indiana Uni
Press,
( aroline Smulders. Museum ofArt i
it
de Palomera, feanne and John William Gabriel.

[--tore, Waller; preface In >ay; artists
1991), with foreword b) Bret
I
Cleric Beyeler, Basel. Roy Uchtenstein Frank Stella. Man Ma) I,

and essays by Anna hav
profiles b) < atsou Roberts; < (
essa> on ichtenstein (in

1991. Exhibition catalogue, with [Ne* York] 64, no |an
I
Magazine 5
ceprintedfiom lr* |
English and German) b\ Frederic

Tuten
1990]] i
»
r, i }eorg« Marcus, and Brian Wallis I
Runs,
derie-Verein Munchen, Neuc Pinakothek, Hans der ontemporan Art, h. locktower Gallery,
Institute fort
l <
< ,
rhe
Stroher. June 14-Aug. 9, uci
Westfliigel. Sammlung 1968 Karl New York The Pop Project (a series of tout
exhibil sj
Hamburg, Aug. 24 Oct 6,

1988 Exhibition catalogue, Modem
Kunstvcrcm Dreams
1968 Traveled to 22 1987-Junel2
1968- Neuen Nationalgalerie, Berlin.
March 1-Apr.l 14, (Nev, York Institut< foi
17, The Rise and Fall and Rise of Pop
Kunsthalle Diisseldorf, April 25-June Mil Press, 1988),
L969- Stadtische Contemporary Art Cambridge, Mass.:
Bem.Juh 12-Aug. 17 and Aug. Hebdige and Patricia Phillips, as
1969| and KunsthaUe ^thtexte on Pop art by Dick
with texts b> Hans
23 Sept 28, 1969 Exhibition catalogue, and reprinted articles, essays, and
WC U as other original
Uchtenstein ind others
Mr Km and fiirgen Wissmann. interviews and a conversation among
GaUeria Nazionale d'Arte
Modern., Rome. Cdlezione Sonnabend U Institute of Contemporary
Art, University ofênmylvama
April 14-Oct 2,1989 Traveled" Oct. 1 No> 1969
Dalla Pop Art in poi. Thi Spirit of thi Coi
Philadelphia.
Centre de Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid. the 1950s and 1960s that
Museo Nacional Exhibition ofwork from
Musee d'Art Contemporain with
30 L987 Feb L5 1988; CAP( incorporates comic-strip elements
Exhibition catalogu.
May 6-Aug. 21, 1988; and "Zeitgeist"
deBordeaux ,
essa\ b) I-
mi, ( Siegfried.
Hamburger Bahnhof Berlin >e< ,1988 Feb.
Gesellschaft of Contemporary Art University
26 1989 Exhibition catalogue
(Milan: Electa, 1989), with
, nstitute
Philadelphia 1967: itth < rossroadi
*»"ffi^
March\pnl l I
w ^chille BonitoOliva, Michel Bourel Maunzio Exhibition catalogue, w,th

,
1987 Organized b> [anetKardon

Calvesi,GermanoCelant,EdideWUde, Jean Louis Froment, Kardon, Lucy R Lippard, Barbara Rose,
Au^sra Monfenn, L S ays by Hal Foster, art activities b^
ChristosM-Joachimides, Peter Ludwig, m d Irving Sandler; chronology ol 1967
Robert Pincus-Witten,
GregoireMuUer, Giuseppe
Michel Ragon, and Harald
Solomon R Guggenheim Museum,
Panza,
Szeemann
New York S,> Pamten and th
[nstitute
[on
of Contemporary
md
D
The Popular
selected bibUograph) by Jane
hnage Oct
Arts. 1 ' on c ° Ua
Carroll.
^ ""^
Object. MlhU-)»ne 2.
1963. Organize Iby
Artjur,
I™« Galerielleana Sonnabend, Pans
2l 23 Nm
1963 ichibil atalogue. with text In Alan I
Allen,,, [raveled to Los

Angeles County Museum of
24-Au- 2" 1963; Minneapolis
1963 University of Michigan
Institute of Arts. sept.
Museum of Art, Ann Arbor,

- .
,
rS London
Keith. "Current and For.
(London) I05.no
» 29 (De.
Burlington Magazine
exhibition
n
f ff^*°™ ,
Brandeis University, 574,577-78 Review of Uchtenstein

Oct 9-Nov ^ 1963; Rose Art Museum, ,,„,,,
pp
Waltham, Massachusetts. Nov.
18-Dec
».{^£^£ appears on pp ^ 7 ^- ^ 77
/^^
-
64, the
, ,
Pittsburgh, Jan Feb. 23 London. (

of Contemporary Arts,
I
Art Carnegie Institute, Institute lcdt0

ir.ivuiut
April 5, 1964; and by Sheena WagstarJ
CoiumbusGaUeryofFine Arts, March 8 17-Sept 13,1987 Organized
1964. Exhibition
™nterinLaJolla,AP rU20 May 17,
385 Bibliography
,
lanis Gallery,
York Pop and Op Dec. 1-31. 1965^
New
Sidney
Oct. 8-Nov 21, 1987 York Letter: Two Groups \rl
toughs [yd. Gallery, Dublin,
1 ;
Benedikt Michael. "New
988, and
I
Chouse Gallery. Manchester Jan 12-Feb 2 1
International (Lugano) 10, no. 2 (Feb. 1966), p. 66.

r^no/e^y. May
Louisiana Museum. Hundebaek, Aug 20-Oct 30^1988 os Angeles County Museum of Art. *rt am*
«Blazwickand I
by Maurice Tuchman. (Works

Exhibit! atalogue. with preface b, 10-Aug 29 1971 Organized
David Deitcher, Dan Graham,
Wagstaff, el al
including two seas, ape films by
essays by bv eight ofthe artists—
in the
in March-Sept. 1970
„„„,,„„„,,! An Program of the National (
1"
°*<?%£*%££ „
XXX1H Esposiziom io e
I htenstein-were
,
shown
Expo '70 halo, Japan.
Smithsonian Institution Washing
...
installation at
American Pavilion
(
biennate intern* le i'orte VenezialXXX1 **"*** organized by Tuchman.) Exhibition

catalogue, 1
Report on Ifce
Helen Fmnkenthder Ellsworth

Kelly,
Us Angeles County Museum oj
Biennial Exhibition of Art [rt and Technology Program of, he
die Venice Tuchman, essay by Jane
Rm Olitski. Premiered at
Lichtenstein, Jules At 1967-1971 with introduction by
Biennale,Junel8-Ocl 16.1966 Organized by Henry LvingSton, and
narratives by Tuchman. Livingston, and
Geldzahkr. Traveled to Washington. D.C ,De< l.W»> 1
Gail Scott
artists'
atalogue Cm Itahan and English,

with
New York. Masters oj tht Sixties:
,
From New
IS chibio
1967 l
texts Marisa del Re Gallery,

inttoducdon In Geldzahlen Pop Art. Nov. 7-Dec. 31. 1984.
Exhibition
foreword by David 1) s, ,.,,.
Realism to
and
LêHzahL Clement Gteenberg. Robert Rosenblum, catalogue, with text by Sam Hunter.
and sele( ted Tht Hudson Run
William Rub,,,, biographies of New
the artists; York Irt oj Two Agi I
M. Chou Gallerv. .
School and Roy Lichtenstein,

Aug. 6-31, 1962.
A
^^"r^ssf
sssasw- American 1966
Preview ofthe Selection at
no 10 (June 19(
the Venice I
llhmSidney, "Roy Lichtenstein
School." irts
and ^HudsonKiver
Magazine (New York) 37. no. 1 (Oct. 1962),
Biennale." 4rgfbm" (Nev, York) 4, pp. 55—56 &

catalogue essay
•
i i
April
pp vJ8 Revised version of Geldzahlers
(Lugano) 10, Milwaukee Art Center. Pop Art and the
imerican Tradition.
Lynton,Norbert. "Venice 1966/Mrt

International
Organized by Tracy Atkinson. Exhibition
9-May 9, 1965.
no 7 fSepi 1966), pp. 84-89 catalogue, with essay by Atkinson.
of Australia Amerikansk pop-konsi Jim Dine, Roy
lm ,rnationa. Cultural Corporation
1955-70 Premiered at Art Gallery of New
.
*™-*f«
South Wales, Modema Museet, Stockholm.
Uchtemtein, Claes Oldenburg, James
Rosenquist George Segal,
1985 Organized by the Feb 29-April 12, 964.
Sydney, Feb 27-April 14,
Indy Warhol, Tom Wesselmann.
Modern Art New April 17-Mav
^national CouncU of the Museum of rraveled to Louisiana Museum. Humlebaek,
Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane, May Amsterdam. June —-July
York rraveled to ^4 1964; and Stedelijk Museum.
Melbourne, foreword by K.G.
! June 2 nd National Gallery of Victoria, 26*
1964 Exhibition catalogue, with
Exhibition catalogue, with text by Nils-Hugo Geber
1985
un e26 kug II
i
artists
^
Hulten and essays by Oyvind Fahlstrom,
reprinted statements by the artists, Alan Solomon (Solomon's essay Published in
Henry Geldzahler, Billy Kluver. and
Paula Baxter
biographies, and selected bibliography by
English in Art International
[Lugano] 8, no. 2 (March 1964),
Roy
, ,,„ Museum of Art, Shinjuku, Ibkyo Images oj Womenby 50-55) Dutch edition published by the Stedelijk Museum,
I
Aug. 29-Sept. pp
Museet
by Solomon only (from Moderna
Lichtenstein and Andy Warhol
Pop Muses. 24^
u ith essay
Memorial Museum ot Art. Uct.
raveled to kawamura
1991 I
Kitakyushu Municipal Museum of Art, Dec. os Angeles. HanWainted Pop

2_D e( i [991
5-16, The MusetTof* ontemporary Art. I
12, 1992; Daimaru Museum,

Osaka, Feb. Dec. 6,1 992-March 7,
14 1991 in f 955-1962.
|
American \rtin Transit

and Daimaru Museum, Kyoto, March 12- 1". 1992 Donna De Salvo and Paul Schimmel.
1992 1993. Organized by
and English), with essays and of Contemporary Art, Chicago,
Exhibition atalogue in Japanese i
I, Lveled to the Museum

works by Ernst A. Busche and Marco
entries for individual 1993; and Whitney Museum of Amen, an
April 3-June 20
ivingstone NewYork,Julyl6-Oct.3. 1993 Exhibition catalogue
I
New Art
Nev, York International Exhibit f the Contemporary Art; New York:
Sidney lanis Gallery (Los Angeles: Museum of
Realists Nov. l-Dec. I. 1962 Exhibition catalogue, with edited by Russell Ferguson, with introduction
kizzoli 1992)
ex. erpt of essay by Pierre
Restany David Deitcher. De
preface by |ohn Ashbery, bv De Salvo and Schimmel
and essays by
(trans into English by ieorges Marci), and text by Jams I
Foster. Dick Hebdige. Linda Norden.
Salvo. Stephen C.
Hess. homas B. "New Realists.' ARTnews (New York) 61,
and John Yau
I
Schimmel, Kenneth E. Silver,

1962) pp 12-13. (Dec New York. Art in the Mirror Nov __.
I
Revolt, 'Nev, Realists The Museum of Modern Art,

O'Doherty, Brian -Art: Avant-Garde L966-Feb. 3. 1967. Organized by Gene R. Swenson.
Mock US Mass Culture in ichibition al Sidney lams 1
Swenson.
41
Exhibition brochure, with text bv
Gallery." The New York Times, Oct 31, 1962, p
Modern New York. High and Lew: Modem 1*
New he Museum of Art.
"'Pop' Goes the New Art" The York Tim |
1990-jan 15,1991 Orgamzedby

and Popular Culture. Oct. 7.
Nov 1962, section 2, p 23 Traveled to the Art
K.rk Varnedoe and Adam Gopnik.
4.
Nouveau Realisme conquete de New Museum of
Chicago. Feb. 20-May 12. 1991; and
a la
Restany, Pierre. "Le Institute of
ugano) 7, no Jan 25, L963), -Sept 15,1991.
York" Art International (1
I
I
Los Angeles. June 2 1
( ontemporary Art,
p 29-36. Richard E Oldenburg,
illusion- TheNewYorh
Exhibition catalogue, with foreword by
Rosenberg, Harold "Thi Game oi texts by Varnedoe and
Gopmk. and annotated bibliography by
161-62, 165-67. With
Nov 24, 1962, pp Matthev Armstrong and bcrcshtch Dattan Published
Rud.kofl. Soma "Nev Realists m New
York" Art
companion volume. Modern Art and Populai Culture Readings
International (Lugano) 7, no. (Jan. 25. 1963), pp. 38-41. and ( .opn.k.
1
i„ High and Loir, edited by Varnedoe

Sandler, Irving. "In the Art Galleries."
New York Post Museum ot Fine
William Rockhill Nelson Gallery of Art and Atkins
Magazine t No\ is. 1962, p. 12 1" irtistu Projections of
Common
Arts Kansas City Popular
-. "In the Art Galleries." New York Post, Dec 2, L962,p 12,
28-May 26, 1963 Exhibition
American Symbols April
Sidney. "The New Realists" Arts Magazine
by Ralph T. Coe.
catalogue, with introductory essay
l illim
York) 37. no 3 (Dec, 1962), pp. 43-44.
(New
The New Gallery of Contemporary Art. Cleveland. American Pop Art i lonstance W
Glenn, Thomas Kellein, ivingstone, Alfred 1
and the Culture of the Sixties. Jan. 10-Feb. 21. 1976. Exhibition Pat quement, and Evelyn Weiss (trans into English U to id I
catalogue, with pref.u e b\ Marjone Talalay and text by Carol Bntt). artists biographies by Elizabeth Brooks. Philip ( oopi r,
Nathanson. Simonetta Fraquelh. Caroline Odgcrs. and Joanna Skipwith;

New York State Building. Flushing Meadows, New York. New York anthology of writings on American, British, and mop. m I
Pop and .m international Pop art chtonolog) r« man

World's Ian 1964/ 1965. April 22-Oct. 31. 1964, and April art; (
edition (Munich: Prestel, >'>2) contains an addition al l
22-Oct. 17, 1965.

]
Johnson. Philip. "Young Artists at the Fair and at Lincoln biography of John Chamberlain b\ Flora isher; Spanish I
(New York) 52, no. 4 (Aug. 1964), edition (Madrid: Electa sparia, Elemond, 1992) contains an
I
Center." Art in imerica

12-27. Lichtenstein's mural tor the Theaterama additional essay on Pop art in Spain by Valeriano Bozal md an
pp. 1
New York State Pavilion at the fair is additional biography of l ms ( lordillo by Sagrario \zn u
building of the
second English edition for the Montreal exhibition (Montreal
discussed on p. 113.
Oakland Art Museum and the California C ollege of Arts and Crafts. Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. 1992) contains an additional
preface by Pierre Theberge.

Pop An USA. Sept. 7-29, 1963 Organized by John Coplans
Crow, Thomas. "The bildren's lour." Artforum (New York)
Exhibition catalogue, with foreword by Paul Mills and essay by
( I
30, no 4 (Dec 1991), pp *4 ss

Coplans (reprinted m Ariforum [San Francisco] 2. no. 4 [Oct
Hughes, Robert. "Wallowing in the Mass Media Sea." Time
1963). pp. 27-30).
Odakyu Grand Gallery, Tokyo. Pop 1" U.S.A -U.K. \merican and (New York) 138, no \~ (< \s L991), pp 102-03 m
24-Aug is, 19 Setagaya Art Museum, Tokyo. [nurianArt I960 1990 |uly 6 Aug
British Artists of the '60s n, the '80s. July
is. 1991. Organized by Lynn Gumperi [raveled to the
Organized by Lawrence Alloway and Marco Livingstone
National Museum ol \rt, Osaka, Aug 29 Sept 29, L991; and
Traveled to Daimaru Museum. Osaka, Sept >-2S, *>S7;
1
1
the Funabashi Seibu Museum of Art. Oct. 30-Nov. 17. 1987; Fukuoka Art Museum, Nov. 15-De< 15, 1991 idiibition I
catalogue (in English and Japanese), with introdui mom In

and Sogo Museum of Art, Yokohama. Nov. 26-1 )ec 13.
Gumpert ~u^\ essays by Gumpert .\nd Brian Wallis, trans into
1987. Exhibition catalogue, with essays (in Japanese and
[apanese by Tetsuo Kinoshita and Reiko lomn.
English) by Alloway and Livingstone, css.iv (in Japanese only)
Stedelijk Museum. Amsterdam. American Pop hf June 22 [ul
by Masataka Ogawa; and artists" profiles (in Japanese and
Livingstone. Trans, into Japanese by Kenji
1964. Exhibition catalogue, with text by Alan Solomon
English) by
University Art Museum, University of< alifornia, Berkeley \Aadt
in
Ohtsubo, [bshio Shimizu, Junichi Shioda, Midori Shiraishi, '60
is i„ [mericanixation in Modem Lit, Hii '50i and
i
and Atsuo Tsuruoka. Iraveled to

\ pi 4 [une 21, 1987. Organized In Sidra Sti< h
des Beaux-Arts de Bruxelles. Pop An Nouveau Rialisme Etc.
il
.
Palais
the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. Kansas City, |uly 25 Sepl
Feb. 5-March I. 1965. Exhibition catalogue, with preface by
6, 1987; and Virginia Museum of Fine
Arts, Ri< hmond
lean Dypreau and essay by Pierre Restart)
7-Dec. 7. 1987. Exhibition catalogue (Berkeley and
os 1
Palazzo Civilta del I avoro, Rome. Artoon: Uinfiuenza delfumetto nelle

Angeles: University Art Museum. UniversitJ ol I llifornia,
XX secolo. Nov. 25. 1989-Jan. 15. 1990
artl visive del
California Press, 1987), with foreword U
and University ol
Organized by Achille Bonito Oliva and Stefano Petri. Ben H Bagdikian, lames
James Elliott; text b> Stitch; essays by
Exhibition catalogue (Naples: Electa. 1989), with essays (in
and Thomas SJi.iuh; and chronology of
E. B. Breslm.
Italian and English) In Bonito Oliva, Omar
alabrese, (
I
mass media, and liteiar\ events that

historical, social, art,
Cosuhch, Gerard Lemaire. Ada Lombardi, Petricca, Francesco and 1969
Franceses influenced American culture between 1950
Poll, and Octavio Zaya, and biographies by
Roberta Miniero. Berkson, Bill. -Made in USA" irtfomm (New York) 26,
Capriccioli, trans, by Rose Campbell and
no. 2 (t\i. 1987), pp. 143-47.
Pasadena Art Museum. The New Painting q) Common Objects Sept in The
The Washington Gallery of Modem Art. Washington, :
25-Oct 19, 1962. Organized by Walter Hopps. Exhibition April 18-June 2, L963 Organizedby
Coplans (reprinted in Popular Image Exhibition
catalogue, with introduction by John U nn<
Exhibition catalogue, with foreword by
I
Alice 1 >enne> )
[San Francisco] I, no. 6 [1962], pp. 26-29).

Artforum in Art International
ind essay by Alan Solomon (reprinted
^
ingsner, Jules. "Los Angeles Letter,
September 1962." I"
In conjunction
[Lugano] 7, no 7 [Sept 25 L963], pp 37 41)
l
49-52
International (Lugano) 6, no. 9 (Nov. 25. 1962), pp with partii ipating artist
with the exhibition, interviews
Review of Lichtenstein's exhibition appears on p. 49.
Sarasota Contemporary
corded, audio tape and phonograph record ol ini
The John and Mable Rmgl.ng Museum of Art.
,
)(
deposit at the Archives of American An, Washing
l
20-April 2, L989
Perspectives One Abstraction in Question. Jan. Art. Nev, York [merican Pop In
Joan Whitney Museum of American
Organized by [oseph Jacobs, curated by Bru< e Ferguson, awrence Allov,
April 6-June 16, 1974. Organized In
I i
and Roberta Smith. Traveled to ( enter for the Fine

Simon, xhibition catalogue (New York and London
olliei Bi <
Exhibition catalogue,
I
Arts, Miami, May 20-July 23. 1989. with Whitney Museum

by Jacobs, and essays by
and Collier Macmillan in association
with foreword by Simon, introduction In Ul
of American Art. 1974), with text
Ferguson, Simon, .\nd Smith. Righi \rtist, Right
13-Dec. 15. 1991 Baldwin Carl R. "On the Nature of Pop
Royal Academy of Arts. London. Pop Art. Sept. Work." irtforum (New York) 12. no 10 (June 1974),
Cologne. Jan
Revised version traveled to Museum Ludwig,
Pop pp. 34-38.
23-Apnl 19, ''''2. second revised version entitled Die "Pop A., rwo
Henry, and Kenworth Moffett.
I
.i
leldzahler,
National Centra de Arte Re.na
i
Show traveled to Museo 73. no 5 (May 1974),

Art Views". iRTnews (New York)
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"'< lassie'
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Jean ipman and Marshall
by eo Steinberg and essays
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Ashben lohn "Something Borrowed, with foreword by Ferdinand Eckhardt,
Exhibition brochure,
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Whitney Museum of American Art, at
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Plaza New York The Comu irt
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i
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i p. Dutton, 1968
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New Forms —
New Media I. with foreword by Martha Jackson
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panel from), 52
or Ue Red Rider, 1913. 182

H,J
Big ftH'nfiqg
B/flffe
Blam, 1962,81
i .»/ <4r/«,
F/oims, 1961, 25
No '' l965 13 ° >
//„ Persistence o) Memory, I Ul, i*« Bfoiufc ILnn-zc. 1964, 112

Brushstroke, 1981, 264
,)< Kooning, Willem
11,.,,,,/u 1950, 206 Britfhsfrofce, 1987, 271
.269
Dix, Otto Bms/isfrafa Head IV (Barcelona Head), 198
/>, \/,,,r, Hermann, 1926, 198 Brushstrokes, 1965, 126
Brushstrokes, 1970,275,
276
I >ui hamp, Marcel
B/cycfc I"'"'- ,,,n 4 -
dp, Cod Still Life II, 1973,165
Fountain, 1917 6 ( .,/. 1961,43
/ h.OlQQ 1919, 67 .,„„ Sculpture, 1965, 249
Sfi r//'Mnc 2, 1965, 248
1 mst, M.»\ « , ,,,„„,
//„ B/iW Swimmer, 1934, 179 « ,,,,„„, Scw/prwr. I /. 1965, 247
Wheel of Light, 1925, 190 Cloud and Sea, 1964, 117

( ionzak •• I" "' 1
, ~ cc omposition I, L964, 75
(
,
IWmaHQw«K»«HerHffli H. 1934,255 , omposition II, 1964, 76

< ' , ' ,u, ' ,
^:,':
March
i i:: (
^mv,
\pril 1962), D.<
1 ,
1 ,,: ! , 1 mm*
(
^t*
omics (panels from), 93
90 Composition
77„.
/•/„• ( bniwftifiofti
1965,77 III,
Conversation, 19" <. 266

1984, 265
'<•'<•"' «;"»'.v
,
,,,J " ""' l974, 177
r,,r
1
( Iris, |uan rnpfyc/i -
//„ II. ishstand, 1912, 145 Cwfcisl Stffl /.'/-•• 1974, 175
Cards, 1974, 176
Life with Playing
""""";:,
'i!;:;,,,,,, ( .
.,,,,, ,«,^ *«*«?. , l(
Di Waldmann, 1979,
197
|„,, Still
1956,8 Donald Duck, 1958, 15

/)„„/,/, Gfaw, 1979,262
M«i o/ W4r. no. 89
^cesWild,"in I// Lmewaii
Drowning ( -"'- 1963, 106
Comics (panel from), 97 Sim //. >73. 185
anuan February 1962), D.(
(
/ ,/,,.>, ,/(//. I
f
rank." in G.l C bat no. '4

"Haunted rankvs Killei
/., /,/.« Diptyefc, 1962,72
omics (panel from), 96
une |,,K 1962), D.<
I
|
C
/ fertri. S«B«p«
#'• 1967, 120
lawlensky, rMexei EmerdWs, 1961,50
1937 (Meditation Head), 1937, 202 51
Vl , -/ / //„ / ngagement Ring, 1961,
SmmJsoj Wfaiei 1927,201 Entablature, 1974, 154
II inter, 1921, 200 / ,„,,/./,/„„<. L976, 159
less [< ollins] Entablature #8, 1972, 158
,/. (
.,-, /. 1954,9 Entablature M0, 1972, 157
1970,155, 156
lohns, |asper Entablatures (photographs of), ca.
Falsi Start, 1959,69 flic Explorer, ca 1952, 10
PtainfnJ /*>.":. l/< Cans), I960, 5 //. 1965, 243
|
/ xplosion
„•„/, / 0MI RdOIS, 1955 H<>
Expressionist Head, 1980, 263
Kelly, Ellsworth Female Head, 1977,193
Blue, Green, Yellow, Orange,
Red 1966, 153 1963,39
Femme d'Alger,
Klein, ^ ves Femmi ta unfauteuil, 1963, 36
Blue Sponge, 1959,239 F/anrei /" Landscape, 1985, 212
i l ei nand Foresl Scene, 1980,203
rfic Baluster, 1925, 174
Ivio I
//' /."v"' M ' 1 '"'-- 54
//„ dry, 1919,141 Frightened Girl, 1964, 113
ountry >i""<" 1954, 196 34
//„
George Wfafnngton, 1962,
< <
Marie I'acrobate, 1934, 169 1961,46

Girl wirii Bfl//,
eutze, Emanuel Gotdieb Hm'i Rftfon, 1965, 115

1 Gi>/ ir,///
Washington Crossing the Delaware, 1851,2 Gt rf urff fi R« /• 1977, 189

1 ichtenstein, R"\ („, f , Bar. ../».,-. 1979, 167
1990,272
l„ r /,iM.. <„,/,/„,/, /<„„./. 1977,261
Uoha, 1962, 102 (,,// Ball, 1962,31
I"SS. 267
!,,/,,„, //«,;./ 17. , ,„,-„,• Mum/, 1983, 277
Sfreel
In 1962,66 ( ,11111111111". 1965, 65

"Dancers," 19 4. 170 55
Irtwt'j Studio, //,,// Face with Collar, 1963,
•.
Sfurfio \.- ' (Look Mickey), 1973, 171
/',<,., )r. 1961, 22
Head with Black Shadow, 1965, 245
Porfrail o/n 11.'/"."/, 1979, 199
Head with Blue Shadow, 1965, 246
rfrail <•/ Madamt ( 'tzanne, 1962, 35
Him, 1964, 144
Preparedness, 1968, 138
Hopeless, 1963, 104
/'/ins/ Paintingwith Pitcher, Glass, Classical Column, 1975, 178
Imperfect Painting, 1986, 214
166
Imperfect Painting (Gold), 1987, 213
Red /Aw., m,./m. 1974, 181
to, 1962,70
Refections II. 1988, 209
/,„/,,;/; Composition, 1979, 2()4
Reflections Nurse, 1988, 226
fnferioj in/// L/h'oiN \/,il\ 1991, 236
Reflections on Brushstrokes, 1990, 223
to'erici in/// Bathroom Painting, 1992, 242
Reflections on Brushstrokes, 1990, 224
Interior with Bonsai Tm . 1991 .
235
Reflections on Interioi with Girl Drawing, 1990, 231
////«•//.'/ //•//// Mirrored Wall, 1991, 233
241 Reflections on Nancy, 1989, 225
Interior with Swimming Pool Painting, 1992,
1991, 237 Reflections on Paintei and Model, 1990, 229
Interior with Yves Klein Sculpture,
tions; WhaamU 1990, 227
In the Car, 1963, 103
Reflections Yoo Hoo, 1989, 228
r/ieKfo, L962, 101
//„ Refrigerator, 1962, 58
Lamp//, 1977, 259
Rifira/ M<ufc,
1
I'' ':. 268

Landscape with Figures, 1977, 192
Rouen ( af/ierfra/ (Seen al Fine Different Times oj the Day)
/.</,>„>,>//. 1988, 207
280 Set III. 1969, 124
Large folerioi "'"// """ Reflections (collage stud) for), 1993,
Self-Portrait, 1976, 183
Large Jewels, 1963, 63
Self-Portrait, 1978, 187
/,;,,., Spoof, 1963, 62
Self-Portrait II, 1976, 1S4
Life New, 1962,74
Sfnlrifg Smm, 1964, 116
/.///,,'/// ( .V///v/ /'<>>/<». 1966, 133
1965, 131 Sty ami M. ifer, 1985, 210
Littfc B(g ftrifirinj,
SowirfoJ Vfwsir, 1964, 114
Lifrora/, 1964, 118
Sourcebooks (pages from), ca. 1960s, 26, 33
Live Ammo (Blang!), 1962,87
89 Sourcebooks (page from), ca 1990, 234
Live Ammo (Ha!ha!ha!), 1962,
s
r ,,„v //. 196 2. 61
Live Ammo (Take Cover), 1962, 86
Spray, 1962.60
Live Ammo (Tzing!), 1962, 88
Step-on-Can with Leg, 1961, 73
LoofeMirfey, 1961, 19
Sreppmg Our, 1978, 195
Magnifying ( I/aw, 1963, 44
s/,// /.//. u/if/i (J)M,// Bow/, 1973, 164
Masterpiece, 1962, 53 163
,S7/// /.//.' "//// G/«i •""' /, " /,i/ /""'"' 19*72,
/'/„• Mermaid, 1979, 273
Still Ufe with Goldfish Bowl, 1972, 160
Mirror #1, 1969, 142
Sri// Life in/// Si/i/ei Pifc/ier, 1972, 162
Vfirroi #2 4pane/j 8' * '•''• 1971, 149
fi«
Sfi// /.'/- "'/// /./''/<' /-»»/•• 1976, 180
Mirroi //. 1977.260 1968, 79
s/,, /,//,/ / rwme H/if/i
<
*rosi Bdrs ///.
V/irroi 24" Dramefei # - 1970, 147

/,/Rm /,/R,/. 1962,82
Mirroi 24" Diametei #/4, 1970, 146
/,„,,/,,•/ 1/.. >//.-. 1964, 121
A/i/kh Diameter), 1972, 148
/-/.v"
/,// /),-//,// Bi//, 1956, 12
Mirroi '" S« Rawefa, 1971, 152
//,/,, Pymmidst 1969, 123
Be/tomy, 1961, 49
V/i
/,,,„,/,< Lo 1963 S4 i
///. 1990, 274 168

Uompel't kilwith Ugei Head and Paintbrush, 1973,
Mofcife
Modern Paintingwith Classii Head. 1967, 136 220
/iiv Paintings: Dagwood, 1983,
Morfem Painting with Clef, 1967, 137 219
/,,v Paintings Radiatot and Folded Sheets, 1983,
\ /,.</./// Sculpture, 1967, 252
„/,//,,/. I960, 13
Sculpture with Glass Wave, 1967,
254 I
A/,. /,n/
1965, 244
(
t&room/,
\/,. ,/,/// Sculpture with Three Discs, 1967,
251
Washing Machine, 1961, 57
Sculpture with Velvet Rope, 1968,
253
ll,,./,m V '/.'" Crossing the Delawan
\/,>,/,/// I i a 1951, 1
Vforfu/ai Painting with Nine Panels, 1968, 139 1964, 108

M, Rose I /• S/oiWy
Mountain 1 7%e, 1985, 211 M//,/,,/m'. 1963,90
B/we Brushstroke, 1986, 278
Mural i/'"//
117,,/, Brushtroke I. 1965, 132
1964, 41
Son-objective
White Cloud, 1964, 119
I.
1964, 42
II, ,„,,, (Tw/eefJ, 1961, 24
Son-objective II,
\m,m. 1964, 110 II, ./,,/// ///. 1982, 205

/Lot/e Vom, roo Bwl 1964, 111 "'" 37 1
O//. /<// .
.
1 1 Flowered Hat,
,,,„,„, „.,,/, l
1
Okay,' I lot -Shot*. 1963,95 and Green Brushstrokes, 1966, 129

Yellow
Oiw/Minw 6' 3' #/. 1971, 151 128
W//,xr Brushstroke II, 1965,
x
Oval Mirroi 6'* V #3, 1971, 150

Magritte, Rene
Paintings: Mirror, 1984, 222
//„ Rape, 1934, 194
Paintings: Picasso Head, 1984,
221
SomoJ W,/". 1964, 188
//,<
/-,,,,, FTirowj/i 'hemistry, 1970,(

140
Mapplethorpe, rioberi
,>,,„,„„/ vfmMi 17. 1988,218 Lichtenstein, 1985, frontispiece
Roy
Plus and Minus (Yellow), 1988, 217
393 Index
Source lor Roy I ichtenstein, The Refrigerator, 1962, 59
Mattise, Henri \"><^2, 83
Source tor Roy Lichtcnstem. Takka Takka,
Goldfish and Sculpture, 1912, 161 1964, 122
Sour< e for Roy Lichtenstein, Temple qj
{polio,
The Red Studio, 191 I. 172
( ompany brochure, 143
tyre Brothers Glass
Still Ufe with "Dance," 1909, 173
I hgh 1993 calendai (cover of), featuring Vincent van
"mcenl van (
Mondrian, Piet
M 1917,32 Gogh, /7« /{,,/„.,.,m. 1888, 240
( omposition in Black and hiu
Warhol, \ndy
Monet, ( I. mdc
tow Saint-Romain Dick Tracy, I960, 20
LaCathidrah de Rouen -
U portail et la
him, 1892-94, 125 Nancy, 1961, 21
I lift ,l,i ni.uiii Harmonu In ,
Popeye, I960, 23
Motherwell, Robert
/, t'aime No l\ . 1955, 68
New in. in. Barnett
nant, I'M 1
'. 94
Novick, Irv
"Stai [oi key, in l// \merican Men oj War, no 89

Comics (panels fix>m), Photo credits:
iary February 1962), D.< 180,
1, 12-13, J5. 26, 31, 33, 58. 70, 79, 143, 148, 151, 154, 157-58, 165, 168,
92, 98, 99, 100 217-1H, 221-27. 229, 231,
185, 187. 197. 199, 204. 207. 209-10, 212-15,
t. )ldenburg, t )laes
233-38. 241. 266. 268, 280, photo by Robert McKeever, courtesy Roy Lichtenstein
Bedroom Ensembh 1963, 28
[993 , IIN Riven VAGA, New York The Museum of Modem Art,
.
\ ,
|
New York;
Paolozzi Eduardo \AGA.
4,photoby Michael! ivanagh and Kevin Montagui 5,' 1993 Jasper Johns
/ Was a Rich Man's Plaything, ca 194 ,7
New York; 7, photo by John Webb 8, I 1993 Richard Hamilton VAGA, New York;
Pii asso, Pablo
9 m-tes) New York; 14. 46,
Odyssia Gallery, 106, 161, 170. 172, 174, 179, 250,
K,,/„, urfrA BeocA Ball, 1932, 48
257. 1993 rhe Museum of Modern \fl New York; l6,photoby RobertR
Lei Femma rf' l{ger, 1955, 40 I
Mi Iroj New York courtesy Harry N Abrams, In< . 17, 28, courtesy Claes
[928 256
i
,„.
photo Robert R M< New York ourtesy Whitney Museum
Hd< nburg; 1H. hs Iroy,
I i
.
Glass and Bottle oj Suze, 1912,71

of \merican Art. New York; 19, 115, 128, courtesy National Gallery of Art,
( ,/,,, o/ Uwm/fie, 1914, 250
u.
ahington D.( 21, 23, photo by Jim Strong In< 22, 24, 62, 86, 142, 146, 261,
Interioi with a ( JiVi Drawing, 19 J5, 232
273, 275-76, courtesy Roy Lichtenstein; 25, 37,
51,53-54,87, 114, 117, 119, 121,
//„ and His Model, 1928, 230
Painter
274, courtesy
130. 136. 140, 152. 159-60, 162, 167, 211, 242, 244-45, 248, 253,
HftffMM in//; FfowrmJ Haf, 1939-40, 38
Leo ( astelli Gallery 27, reprinted with permission of George Segal, I 1993 Gi
Pollo< k, (ai kson
Segal VAGA Ness York; 29, photo by Lee Stalsworth, < 1 993 James Rosenquist/
iMftimn RAyffim, 1950, 78
135 VAGA, New York; 30, photo by RussBlaise 34, photo by Eri< Pollitzer, courtesy
Radio < u\ Musu Hall, Nev York, Grand Foyer Staircase,
Roy Lichtenstein ( italoguc Raisonne 38, photo by Michael Iropea; 39, 41, 50,
Rauschenberg, Robert
italogue
55-56, 73-74, 82, 91, 95. 103. 110-11, courtesy Roy 1 u ht< nstein (
Bed, 1955, 14
Raisonne 43. courtesy Gagosian Gallery; 44. photo by Paolo Mussai Sartor, courtesy
Ifomgrum, 1955 59, 45
Sperone Westwater; 45. photo by Per-Anders AUsten; 52, reprinted by permission ol
Rivers, Larr}
Art
Tribune Media Services; 57, 81, photo by Michael \gee, courtesy Yale University
ll,/s//n/A'f.-;/ Cro55i«g '/"' Delaware, 1953, 3
Gallery New Haven; 63, I Rheinisches Bildarchiv; 64, 102, 116, 163, 228, courtesy
Rosenquist, [ames
Blum Helman Gallery New York; 68, courtesy Artothek; 69, courtesy Leo ( astelli
//,, / (g/jj Hifli Won't /,/// / 1961,29
Photo \rchives New York, 1993 •
[aspei |ohns VAGA New York; 75, photo by
Schlemmer, t )skar
Bauhaus Si,,„u\iy. 1932, 216 Robert Hausser GDL; 77, 113, courtesy Irving Blum, New York 80, I 1993 Jasper
Segal, ( ieorge |ohns VAGA, New York ill. Museum o! Modern \ri New York; 85, 92-93, 105,
107. 109. Hi omics; 94. 137, photo by ee Sulsworth. 96-100. • I " mm.
Shaping He\ Leg, 1963, 27
' I (
i
Woman
tesy l he Museum ofModern Art. New York; 104, 145, courtesy < olorphoto
Severini, ( lino
im, 1«, courtesy Ikkan \t\ International, ln< New York; 120, 133, 138,
Self-Portrait, 1912 13, 186 1 1. ,,i. I 1
147, 184, photo by David Heald; 123, courtesy Museum of Fine \rts Boston; 125,
Smith, I )avid
M.N 127.' harlton Comics photo by David Heald, courtesy Matthew
liufM/M, 1951, 257 I' (
( ,,/„ \.\l //. March 1965, 258 \rmstrong L29,photoby Ivan Nemec; 131, 164, photo by RobertE MatesStudio,
N.| 132, courtesy ( tirade's, New York 135, Radio ity Musi< [all Produ< don i « I
Stella, l rank ,
photo Jon Simon 155-56, 270, photo by Roy l i« htenstein, i ourtesy Roy
Harran II, 1967, 134 In. by
photo Bevan >avies, courtesy eo asti iallery 173,

htenstein; 166, 193, by I « lli <
Unknot n artists I i«
1
"Battle oi the Ghost Ships!" in ( >w / ighting ' ones, no. 71 courtesy I he Museum ol Modern \rt New York 181, 183, photo by Eric Pollitzer,
oilers 188, .ourtes\ lie Metropolit.in Museum of Art Ness

( »,
tobei 1962), D.( < omics (panel from), 85 .,„,,. Ih ( I
um ourtesy ntre National de >ocumentadon

//;, Laocobn Group, Roman copy of 1st century \i> (.reck 190, photo by Kunstmusi Basel, i
( i
I
208 Pedagogiqu Montrou l94,photoby Mian Mewbourn; 196, photo by

sculpture,
l ibby McNeill & Lirry's Cooked Corned Beef" «
Germain; 205, 219-20, photo by Dorothy Zeidman, courtesy Roy
I,,,, I,
1949, 11 Lichtenstein; 208, photo by orrili Ottagono; 240, Graphiqued< I. ..me, 247.
advertisement, reproduced in Li/e.Jul) 4. t I
Hh New York Fimes, photo by Darrell Spectoi 249. 272, phot,, hs Laurie Lambrecht courtesy Leo ( istclli
Mount Airy Lodg< tnent, in
1963, 47 Gallery 259-60, 262-65. 267. 269, photo In Stephen Ogilvy, courtesy Roy
Mazoh and Co., In< .277,
"The Painting," in Strange Suspense no ~2 (October Stories, Lichtenstein < italogue Rais ic 271, courtesy Stephen
omics (panel from), 127 photo by BobAdelman Iman; 278, photo by Gianfranco Gorgoni,
1964), ( harlton <
I
Romances, no. 81 (January ourtesy he quitable Assurani e Soi iety; 279, photo hs Bob \delman, i ourtesy
"Sincerely Yours," in Giife' 1962), , l I I ife
D.C. Comics (panel from), 109 Ro i

i< ht< nstein

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•••••••••••4

»•••••••• [II l/Ij/y y ^ v

&UGGENH EIM MUSEUM

ISBN 0-89207-108-7 (hardcover)

ISBN 0-89207 109- 5 softi over) I he Museum of Contemporary Art, 1 os Angeles

Printed in ( lei man) h\ < lantz January >" April V 1994

All Ron Lichtenstein works «

Used b\ permission All rights reserved M.i\ 26 September 5, 1994

Adilition.il support has been provided by I ufthansa

1 1. ml, ovei edition distributed b\ ( lei man \irlines.

Rjzzoli International Publications, In<

300 Park Avenue South. New York, New York 10010

Robert Mapplethorpe, Roy Lichtenstein, 1985

Gelatin-silver print. 61 x 50.8 cm (2-4 \ 20 inches)

Detail ol Km Lichtenstein, Gofoi Baroque, 1979

Ko Li. htenstein, Self-Portrait, 1978 (fig. 187).

Jocelyn Groom. Museum fa hnician,

James Cullinane, Museum Technician

Solomon R. Guggenheim The Right Honorable Earl Castle Stewart

Justin K. Thannhauser Mary Sharp Cronson

Miehel David- Weil]

Wendy L-J. McNeil

Lichtenstem and the Guggenheim Museum have a long-standing relationship.

we present our second Lichtenstein retrospective. In addition, his paintings, sculptures,

assistance have been vital to

exchange has enabled Lichtenstein to produce a body of work whose originality of

My gratitude is extended to those who generously volunteered their findings and

much-needed data as well as a range of important materials.

Sarah Ellen Cunningham, Blythe Kingston, Michelle Mahoney, James Rondeau. K\

Sta. Iglesia, and Michelle Sinigallia.

advice were indispensable to m\ essay. My deep appreciation to rakaaki Matsumoto ol

who coordinated production of the book; and aura Morns. Assistant

who have worked diligently in helping to realize this

Archivist; Son,.. Bay,

Retail Operations; and Susan Landesmann, Production

achtenstcins most important paintings and sculptures;

and enthusiastic assistance, this exhibition would not be possible.

The Early Years

of his generation such as Jim Dine, Jasper Johns, Claes ( )ldenburg,

underlying theme of their paintings and sculpture, and effectively

end the long reign of Abstract Expressionism. In a seminal interview in

Gene Swenson that his ambition was to

was almost eptable to lung a dripping paint rag,

with the world, and that "art since Cezanne has

New York School artists from I'M"

Club oxer issues of concern to New York School artists,

New York, Gift ofjohn Stewart Kennedy, 1897

Ixlll Hie Museum of Modern mannerist style

New York Given inonymousl)

"was no, picture but

remarkable parallel in the attitudes

the chance theor.es of the

North Carol,,,,/) In a statement written

the Museum ofModern An ,„ 1959, Rauschenberg wrote.

Chapter 1: The Early Years

tion, color, etc. appears as a .... t, or an

relates to both art and

wood, turpentine, oil and fabric. A

canvas is never empty.

of Black Paintings, in many of which he

also used a comic-Strip image, basing

when the eminent Dadaist

become an Expressionist, as the high point of the movement had