Girl & Spray Can, 1964

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.