Roy Lichtenstein
Roy Lichtenstein (1923-1997), born and raised in New York, was one of the most influential American artists of the 20th century and a defining figure of the Pop Art movement. With his iconic paintings and prints based on comic strips, advertisements and other forms of popular imagery, Lichtenstein transformed the visual language of mass media into a distinctive artistic vocabulary characterized by bold outlines, primary colours and Ben-Day dots. His engagement with printmaking was central to his practice throughout his career, and he worked extensively in lithography, screen printing, woodcut and other techniques, often exploring the relationship between mechanical reproduction and fine art.
Roy Lichtenstein
Girl & Spray Can
1964
Color lithograph on BFK Rives rag paper, in two parts (as published), 41 x 58 cm overall. From the signed deluxe edition of 100 (there was also an unsigned edition of 2,000). Signed recto on "Spray Can".
These two lithographs mark Roy Lichtenstein’s first prints in the new Pop Art style, introducing the Ben-Day dots that would become his trademark. Created in 1963 for 1 Cent Life, the landmark portfolio conceived by poet and artist Walasse Ting, they mark an important transition in Lichtenstein’s practice: the translation of the visual language he had begun developing in his paintings into the medium of print.
The works combine the bold primary colours, sharply defined black outlines, and Ben-Day dots characteristic of Lichtenstein’s emerging Pop vocabulary. Printed alongside contributions by artists including Robert Rauschenberg, Jasper Johns, Andy Warhol, and Tom Wesselmann, 1 Cent Life became an important document of the international Pop Art movement and remains one of the most celebrated artist portfolios of the period.
EUR 25,000
