Roy Lichtenstein: Difference between revisions

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	His most famous image is arguably ''Whaam!'' (1963, Tate Gallery, London), one of the earliest known examples of pop art, featuring a fighter aircraft firing a rocket into an enemy plane with a dazzling red and yellow explosion. The cartoon style is heightened by the use of the ] lettering WHAAM! and the boxed caption ''"I pressed the fire control... and ahead of me rockets blazed through the sky..."'' This ] is large in scale, measuring 1.7 x 4.0 m (5'7" x 13'4").		His most famous image is arguably ''Whaam!'' (1963, Tate Gallery, London), one of the earliest known examples of pop art, featuring a fighter aircraft firing a rocket into an enemy plane with a dazzling red and yellow explosion. The cartoon style is heightened by the use of the ] lettering WHAAM! and the boxed caption ''"I pressed the fire control... and ahead of me rockets blazed through the sky..."'' This ] is large in scale, measuring 1.7 x 4.0 m (5'7" x 13'4").

	Most of his best-known artworks are relatively close, but not exact, copies of comic book panels, a subject he largely abandoned in 1965. (He would occassionally incorporate comics into his work in different ways in later decades.) These panels were originally drawn by lesser known comic book artists such as ], ], ], and ], who rarely received any credit. Artist ], said of Lichtenstein's works: "Roy Lichtenstein's copies of the work of Irv Novick and Russ Heath are flat, uncomprehending tracings of quite sophisticated images." ~~In response to criticism like that of Gibbons,~~ Lichtenstein's obituary in '']'' noted ~~that "this is to miss the point of Roy Lichtenstein's achievement. His was the idea. The art of today, he told an interviewer, is all around us."~~		Most of his best-known artworks are relatively close, but not exact, copies of comic book panels, a subject he largely abandoned in 1965. (He would occassionally incorporate comics into his work in different ways in later decades.) These panels were originally drawn by lesser known comic book artists such as ], ], ], and ], who rarely received any credit. Artist ], said of Lichtenstein's works: "Roy Lichtenstein's copies of the work of Irv Novick and Russ Heath are flat, uncomprehending tracings of quite sophisticated images." Lichtenstein's obituary in '']'' noted:
			:Mere workers at the coal-face, the artists who laboured away on the comic books that Mr Lichtenstein copied, did not think much of his paintings. In enlarging them, some claimed, they became static. Some threatened to sue him. Whatever the justice of their complaints, in fact Mr Lichtenstein did them a sort of favour. Comic books these days are often taken seriously, the subject of theses (or a sign of growing illiteracy). But this is to miss the point of Roy Lichtenstein's achievement. His was the idea. The art of today, he told an interviewer, is all around us. It is not Impressionist painting. "It's really McDonald's." Of course, you don't have to believe everything he said.

	During the seventies and eighties, his work began to loosen and expand on what he had done before. He produced a series of “Artists Studios” which incorporated elements of his previous work. A notable example being ''Artist's Studio, Look Mickey'' (1973, Walker Art Centre, Minneapolis) which incorporates five other previous works, fitted into the scene.		During the seventies and eighties, his work began to loosen and expand on what he had done before. He produced a series of “Artists Studios” which incorporated elements of his previous work. A notable example being ''Artist's Studio, Look Mickey'' (1973, Walker Art Centre, Minneapolis) which incorporates five other previous works, fitted into the scene.

Revision as of 19:12, 12 July 2005

Roy Lichtenstein (October 27, 1923 - September 29, 1997) was a prominent American pop artist, whose work borrowed heavily from popular advertising and comic book styles, which he himself described as being "as artificial as possible."

Biography

Early years

Born into a middle class family in 1923 in New York City, he attended public school until the age of 12, before being enrolled into a private academy for his secondary education. The academy did not have an art department, and he became interested in art and design as hobby outside of his schooling. He was an avid fan of Jazz and often attended concerts at the Apollo Theater in Harlem. He would often draw portraits of the musicians at their instruments. During 1939, in his final year at the academy, he enrolled in summer art classes at the Arts Students League in New York under the tutelage of Reginald Marsh.

On graduating in 1940, Lichtenstein left New York to study at the Ohio State University which offered studio courses and a degree in fine arts. His studies were interrupted by a three year stint in the army during World War II. He returned to his studies in Ohio after the war and one of his teachers at the time, Hoyt L. Sherman, is widely regarded to have had a significant impact on his future work (Lichtenstein would later name a new studio he funded at OSU as the Hoyt L. Sherman Studio Art Center). Lichtenstein entered the graduate program at Ohio State and was hired as an art instructor, a post he held on and off for the next ten years. In 1951 he had his first one-man exhibition at a gallery in New York, the exhibition was a minor success. He moved to Cleveland in 1951, where he remained for six years, doing jobs as various as draftsmen to window decorator in between periods of painting. His work at this time was based on cubist interpretations of other artist’s paintings such as Frederic Remington. In 1957 he moved back to upstate New York and began teaching again. It is at this time that he adopted the Abstract Expressionism style, a late convert to this style of painting; he showed his work in 1959 to an unenthusiastic audience.

He began teaching at Rutgers University in 1960 where he was heavily influenced by Allan Kaprow, also a tutor at the University. His first work to feature the large scale use of hard edged figures and Benday Dots was Look Mickey (1961, National Gallery, Washington DC). In the same year he produced six other works with recognizable characters from gum wrappers or cartoons. In 1961 Leo Castelli started displaying Lichtensteins work at his gallery in New York, and he had his first one man show at the gallery in 1962, the entire collection was bought by influential collectors of the time before the show even opened. Finally making enough money to live from his painting, he stopped teaching in the same year.

Mature Style

Using oil and Magna paint his best known works, such as Drowning Girl (1963, Museum of Modern Art, New York), feature thick outlines, bold colors and Benday Dots to represent certain colors, as if created by photographic reproduction. Rather than attempt to reproduce his subjects, his work tackles the way mass media portrays them.

His most famous image is arguably Whaam! (1963, Tate Gallery, London), one of the earliest known examples of pop art, featuring a fighter aircraft firing a rocket into an enemy plane with a dazzling red and yellow explosion. The cartoon style is heightened by the use of the onomatopoetic lettering WHAAM! and the boxed caption "I pressed the fire control... and ahead of me rockets blazed through the sky..." This diptych is large in scale, measuring 1.7 x 4.0 m (5'7" x 13'4").

Most of his best-known artworks are relatively close, but not exact, copies of comic book panels, a subject he largely abandoned in 1965. (He would occassionally incorporate comics into his work in different ways in later decades.) These panels were originally drawn by lesser known comic book artists such as Russ Heath, Tony Abruzzo, Irv Novick, and Jerry Grandinetti, who rarely received any credit. Artist Dave Gibbons, said of Lichtenstein's works: "Roy Lichtenstein's copies of the work of Irv Novick and Russ Heath are flat, uncomprehending tracings of quite sophisticated images." Lichtenstein's obituary in The Economist noted:

Mere workers at the coal-face, the artists who laboured away on the comic books that Mr Lichtenstein copied, did not think much of his paintings. In enlarging them, some claimed, they became static. Some threatened to sue him. Whatever the justice of their complaints, in fact Mr Lichtenstein did them a sort of favour. Comic books these days are often taken seriously, the subject of theses (or a sign of growing illiteracy). But this is to miss the point of Roy Lichtenstein's achievement. His was the idea. The art of today, he told an interviewer, is all around us. It is not Impressionist painting. "It's really McDonald's." Of course, you don't have to believe everything he said.

During the seventies and eighties, his work began to loosen and expand on what he had done before. He produced a series of “Artists Studios” which incorporated elements of his previous work. A notable example being Artist's Studio, Look Mickey (1973, Walker Art Centre, Minneapolis) which incorporates five other previous works, fitted into the scene.

In the late seventies this style was replaced with more surreal works such as Pow Wow (1979, Ludwig Forum für Internationale Kunst,Aachen).

In addition to paintings, he also made sculptures in metal and plastic including some notable public sculptures such as Lamp in St. Mary’s, Georgia in 1978.

His painting Torpedo...Los! sold at Christie's for $5.5 million in 1989, a record sum at the time, one of only three artists to have attracted such huge sums for art produced within the artists lifetime.

In 1995 Lichtenstein was awarded the Kyoto Prize from the Inamori Foundation in Kyoto, Japan

In 1996 The National Gallery in Washington DC became the largest single repository of the Artists work when he donated 154 prints and 2 books. In total there are some 4,500 works thought to be in circulation.

He died of pneumonia in 1997 at New York University Medical Center. Twice married, he was survived by his wife, Dorothy, who he wed in 1968 and by his sons, David and Mitchell, from his first marriage.

Quotes

“We like to think of industrialization as being despicable. I don’t really know what to make of it. There’s something terribly brittle about it. I suppose I would still prefer to sit under a tree with a picnic basket rather than under a gas pump, but signs and comic strips are interesting as subject matter. There are certain things that are usable, forceful, and vital about commercial art. We’re using those things – but we’re not really advocating stupidity, international teenagerism, and terrorism.” ~ Roy Lichtenstein

Notable Works

George Washington	1962	Oil in canvas	Collection, Jean Cristophe Castelli
Sock	1961	Oil on canvas	Auchen, Neue Galerie
Roto Broil	1961	Oil on canvas	Collection, Mr and Mrs Melvin Hirsch
Ten Dollar Bill	1956	Lithograph	Artists Estate
We rose up slowly	1964	Oil and magna on canvas	Frankfurt, Museum of Modern Art
Look Mickey	1961	Oil on canvas	National Gallery, Washington
Mr Bellamy	1961	Oil on canvas	Collection, Vernon Nickel
I know….Brad	1963	Oil and magna on canvas	Achen, Sammlung Ludwig
Masterpiece	1962	Oil on canvas	Collection, Mr and Mrs Melvin Hirsch
Washing Machine	1961	Oil on canvas	Collection, Richard Brown-Baker
Sunrise	1965	Offset lithograph in red, blue and yellow	Cologne , Ludwig Museum
Cloud and sea	1964	Enamel on steel	Cologne , Ludwig Museum
Explosion No.1	1965	Varnished steel	Cologne , Ludwig Museum
Electric cord	1961	Oil on canvas	Collection, Mr and Mrs Leo Castelli
Torpedo….los!	1963	Oil on canvas	Collection, Mrs and Mrs Robert Mayer
Shipboard girl	1965	Offset lithograph in red, blue and yellow and black	Leo Castelli Gallery , New York
Whaam	1963	Magna on canvas	London , Tate Gallery
Takka Takka	1962	Magna on canvas	Cologne , Ludwig Museum
Girl with ball	1961	Oil on canvas	New York , Museum of Modern Art
The Melody Haunts my Reverie	1965	Silkscreen in red, blue, yellow and black	Unknown
As I opened Fire	1964	Magna on canvas, three panels	Amsterdam , Stedilijk Museum
Step on can with leg	1961	Oil on canvas, two panels	Collection, Robert Fraser
Drowning Girl	1963	Oil and magna on canvas	New York , Museum of Modern Art
Mad Scientist	1963	Magna on canvas	Cologne , Ludwig Museum
Eddie Diptych	1962	Oil on canvas, two panels	Collection, Mrs amd Mrs M Sonnabend
Large Jewels	1963	Magna on canvas	Cologne , Ludwig Museum
The Kiss	1962	Oil on canvas	Collection, Ralph Coe
Landscape	1964	Magna on canvas	Cologne , Ludwig Museum
Red Barn II	1969	Magna on canvas	Cologne , Ludwig Museum
Vicky	1964	Enamel on steel	Aachen , Sammlung Ludwig
Study for preparedness	1968	Magna on canvas	Cologne , Ludwig Museum
Modular painting with four panels, no. 2	1969	Oil and magna on canvas	Vienna , Museum of Modern Art
Yellow and Green Brushstrokes	1966	Oil and magna on canvas	Frankfurt, Museum of Modern Art
Still Life with Silver Pitcher	1972	Oil and magna on canvas	Collection, Mr and Mrs Bageley White.
Still Life with net, shell, rope and pulley	1972	Oil and magna on canvas	Cologne , Ludwig Museum
Femme au Chapeau	1962	Oil and magna on canvas	Collection, Mr and Mrs Burton Tremaine
Artists Studio, Look Mickey	1973	Oil and magna on canvas	Minneapolis , Walker Art Center
Artists Studio, Foot Medication	1974	Oil and magna on canvas	Collection, James and Gilda Gourlay
Self Portrait II	1976	Oil and magna on canvas	Colllection, Paul and Diane Waldman
Red Horsemen	1974	Oil and magna on canvas	Aachen , Sammlung Ludwig
Forest Scene	1980	Oil and magna on canvas	Private Collection
Rouen Cathedral	1969	Magna on canvas	Cologne , Ludwig Museum
Pow Wow	1979	Oil and magna on canvas	Aachen , Sammlung Ludwig
Mirror in six panels	1970	Oil and magna on canvas	Vienna , Museum of Modern Art
Sunrise	1984	Oil and magna on canvas	Private Collection
Red Barn through the trees	1984	Oil and magna on canvas	Private Collection
Landscape with Red Roof	1985	Magna on canvas	Private Collection
Mural with Blue Brushstroke	1986	New York Equitable Tower	New York
Imperfect Painting	1986	Oil and magna on canvas	Private collection

External links

Exhibitions

See the list of exhibitions at the Roy Lichtenstein Foundation Website

Selection of Galleries showing Roy Lichtensteins work

For a complete list, visit The Lichtenstein Foundation

Citations

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