Roy LICHTENSTEIN (1923-1997)
Except otherwise stated, all results include the premium.
See also : USA Lichtenstein > 1965 The Woman Man and woman Music and dance
Chronology : 1960-1969 1961 1963 1964 1965 1990-1999 1994 1996
See also : USA Lichtenstein > 1965 The Woman Man and woman Music and dance
Chronology : 1960-1969 1961 1963 1964 1965 1990-1999 1994 1996
masterpiece
1961 Look Mickey
National Gallery of Art
In 1961, Roy Lichtenstein is 38. He is interested in art, and his son is interested in Donald Duck. The younger Lichtenstein challenges his father : can he do as well as the pictures of his magazine? It clicked. Roy Lichtenstein invented the pop art, no less.
The idea is original. By recuperating and enlarging ordinary pictures created for feeding the magazines, Roy creates a new artistic language combining graphics and letters, which will entertain the visitors without requiring an effort of interpretation.
Yet Roy's message is subtle. This pioneer will succeed without taking seriously his own art, but it is clear that his themes are in their own right a deep view into the social role of art.
In his first pop artwork, Roy questions the art. Donald Duck is fishing. His rod is bending, and he invites Mickey Mouse : "Look Mickey, I've hooked a big one". Mickey knows that the fish is under water, and in fact there is nothing for him to see. He's right: the hook got attached to the jacket of his friend. This seminal work, 122 x 175 cm, was given in 1990 by the artist to the National Gallery of Art.
The idea is original. By recuperating and enlarging ordinary pictures created for feeding the magazines, Roy creates a new artistic language combining graphics and letters, which will entertain the visitors without requiring an effort of interpretation.
Yet Roy's message is subtle. This pioneer will succeed without taking seriously his own art, but it is clear that his themes are in their own right a deep view into the social role of art.
In his first pop artwork, Roy questions the art. Donald Duck is fishing. His rod is bending, and he invites Mickey Mouse : "Look Mickey, I've hooked a big one". Mickey knows that the fish is under water, and in fact there is nothing for him to see. He's right: the hook got attached to the jacket of his friend. This seminal work, 122 x 175 cm, was given in 1990 by the artist to the National Gallery of Art.
1961 I can see the Whole Room
2011 SOLD for $ 43M by Christie's
A graphite and oil on canvas 121 x 121 cm was made in the same year as the Look Mickey, and is also inspired by a magazine picture. We see the eye of a man through a peephole. Obviously puzzled, he states, "I can see the whole room and there's nobody inside." The man denies the existence of the viewer, like Mickey denied the reality of the fish.
It was sold for $ 43M from a lower estimate of $ 35M by Christie's on November 8, 2011. It is illustrated in the second position in the article shared by the Wall Street Journal. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
It was sold for $ 43M from a lower estimate of $ 35M by Christie's on November 8, 2011. It is illustrated in the second position in the article shared by the Wall Street Journal. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
1962 The Ring
2015 SOLD for $ 42M by Sotheby's
Look Mickey by Roy Lichtenstein in 1961 is the turning point of modern art. The picture is figurative, popular (with Disney's characters) impossible (animals that mimic humans), burlesque, and even animated by its text which assesses what has gone before and what will happen afterwards.
Leo Castelli immediately understands the importance of this artwork. Roy also. The artist rushes into love and war comics, considered as a minor art but enormously appealing to the public. His technique of showing the printing dots in scale across the very large magnification of his art and of keeping the pure colors is clever because it makes the connection between his inspiration and his work.
Roy finds what he is looking for. The source is abundant and the path is unexplored. The designer of the original comics created unknowingly some masterpieces of emotional imaging. For him, the scene was inseparable from the story. By isolating some simple images with or without a phylactery, Roy met the challenge of providing an art altogether major and popular.
The Ring (engagement), oil on canvas 123 x 178 cm painted in 1962, is one of the largest by this artist at that time. It was sold for $ 42M by Sotheby's on May 12, 2015, lot 15.
A man's hand presents the ring to the finger of a woman. That's it. This is the representation of one of the most important rites of passage of our civilization. We will not know anything more of this new couple, but the position of the hands expresses the mutual trust that sublimes such act.
Leo Castelli immediately understands the importance of this artwork. Roy also. The artist rushes into love and war comics, considered as a minor art but enormously appealing to the public. His technique of showing the printing dots in scale across the very large magnification of his art and of keeping the pure colors is clever because it makes the connection between his inspiration and his work.
Roy finds what he is looking for. The source is abundant and the path is unexplored. The designer of the original comics created unknowingly some masterpieces of emotional imaging. For him, the scene was inseparable from the story. By isolating some simple images with or without a phylactery, Roy met the challenge of providing an art altogether major and popular.
The Ring (engagement), oil on canvas 123 x 178 cm painted in 1962, is one of the largest by this artist at that time. It was sold for $ 42M by Sotheby's on May 12, 2015, lot 15.
A man's hand presents the ring to the finger of a woman. That's it. This is the representation of one of the most important rites of passage of our civilization. We will not know anything more of this new couple, but the position of the hands expresses the mutual trust that sublimes such act.
1962 Kiss
2019 SOLD for $ 31M by Christie's
With Pop Art, painting leaves away from the intellectual circles. The emotion offered by the abstract expressionists had been reserved for an elite who accepted to spend some time in looking for an empathy.
The multiplication of images has become a feature of the consumer society. In the magazine, on the poster, in the street, it needs to be both simple and striking for achieving its goal : to sell, even if the product for sale is mediocre.
Roy Lichtenstein's art does not target elites. It speaks to everyone. When they see a picture, people like to relate it to what they already know, to transpose into themselves the feelings expressed by the character.
Roy cuts out in comic books the images that he enlarges up to the size of a work of art. The original strip is not made available, further exciting the imagination of the viewer as to the course of the action. The young woman, alone or with a man, is one of the favorite themes of the artist.
Away from art fashions and deaf to criticism, Roy can afford all the audacities. His early Pop Art works often copy a phylactery from the original image. The following speech by a blonde to a painter takes the strength of a manifesto when it is transposed in large format : "Why, Brad darling. This painting is a masterpiece! My, soon you'll have all of New York clamoring for your work!". This artwork 137 x 137 cm painted in 1962 was sold for $ 165 million in a private transaction in January 2017.
Kiss III, acrylic on canvas 163 x 122 cm also painted in 1962, was sold for $ 31M by Christie's on May 15, 2019. lot 7 B .
Kiss III stages a man and a woman in a loving embrace, without a speech bubble. They are not beautiful and the drawing is too simple : art no longer needs aesthetics. The patterns of dots that create the colors of the skin and of one of the clothes are reminiscent of the screened origin of this image from (or supposed to come from) a popular magazine.
The multiplication of images has become a feature of the consumer society. In the magazine, on the poster, in the street, it needs to be both simple and striking for achieving its goal : to sell, even if the product for sale is mediocre.
Roy Lichtenstein's art does not target elites. It speaks to everyone. When they see a picture, people like to relate it to what they already know, to transpose into themselves the feelings expressed by the character.
Roy cuts out in comic books the images that he enlarges up to the size of a work of art. The original strip is not made available, further exciting the imagination of the viewer as to the course of the action. The young woman, alone or with a man, is one of the favorite themes of the artist.
Away from art fashions and deaf to criticism, Roy can afford all the audacities. His early Pop Art works often copy a phylactery from the original image. The following speech by a blonde to a painter takes the strength of a manifesto when it is transposed in large format : "Why, Brad darling. This painting is a masterpiece! My, soon you'll have all of New York clamoring for your work!". This artwork 137 x 137 cm painted in 1962 was sold for $ 165 million in a private transaction in January 2017.
Kiss III, acrylic on canvas 163 x 122 cm also painted in 1962, was sold for $ 31M by Christie's on May 15, 2019. lot 7 B .
Kiss III stages a man and a woman in a loving embrace, without a speech bubble. They are not beautiful and the drawing is too simple : art no longer needs aesthetics. The patterns of dots that create the colors of the skin and of one of the clothes are reminiscent of the screened origin of this image from (or supposed to come from) a popular magazine.
1963 Woman with Flowered Hat
2013 SOLD for $ 56M by Christie's
In 1961, around Leo Castelli, the Abstract Expressionism is already going to saturation. New ideas were required. By exploring the pop art, Lichtenstein and Warhol demonstrated that despite Duchamp, despite the Surrealists, despite the Bauhaus, the modern imaging was still to be created.
Each one in his own way, these two competing artists designed images that the public can understand and love, inspired by consumerism, magazines, posters and comics.
From those early days, Roy Lichtenstein appropriates works of art. He wants to identify this action as a tribute to his predecessors, but his approach is too subtle for believing such a statement.
Picasso expressed deep feelings with a perfectly mastered drawing and adjusted colors. Lichtenstein's genius is to appreciate that Picasso's art is recognizable by the general public, but too complicated to retain. He plagiarizes it, bringing his personal techniques with colors alternately flat and by dots.
Dora Maar is the woman with flowered hat, painted by Picasso in 1939-1940. As Lichtenstein painted her in 1963, she had become pitiful to earn her place in the popular imaging.
The Lichtenstein canvas, 127 x 102 cm, is one of the most illustrative examples of Pop Art. It was sold for $ 56M from an estimate in excess of $ 30M by Christie's on May 15, 2013, lot 34.
Each one in his own way, these two competing artists designed images that the public can understand and love, inspired by consumerism, magazines, posters and comics.
From those early days, Roy Lichtenstein appropriates works of art. He wants to identify this action as a tribute to his predecessors, but his approach is too subtle for believing such a statement.
Picasso expressed deep feelings with a perfectly mastered drawing and adjusted colors. Lichtenstein's genius is to appreciate that Picasso's art is recognizable by the general public, but too complicated to retain. He plagiarizes it, bringing his personal techniques with colors alternately flat and by dots.
Dora Maar is the woman with flowered hat, painted by Picasso in 1939-1940. As Lichtenstein painted her in 1963, she had become pitiful to earn her place in the popular imaging.
The Lichtenstein canvas, 127 x 102 cm, is one of the most illustrative examples of Pop Art. It was sold for $ 56M from an estimate in excess of $ 30M by Christie's on May 15, 2013, lot 34.
1964 Nurse
2015 SOLD for $ 95M by Christie's
The American pop movement that develops around Castelli in the early 1960s is pushing popular themes into major art. At the same time, the status of women is undergoing profound transformations, along with the debates that will soon change forever the legal aspects of contraception and abortion.
Roy Lichtenstein is clever and subtle. His reuse of pictures from comics associated with his recreation of color in carefully painted patterns similar as printing dots maintains his characters within a fantasy world. His young blondes become an ersatz of the new modern woman. They occupy a dominant position in his art from the first Crying girl of 1963.
Nurse, oil and acrylic on canvas 122 x 122 cm painted in 1964, was sold for $ 95M from an estimate in the region of $ 80M by Christie's on November 9, 2015, lot 13A.
The blonde is nervous : closed fist, open mouth, looking sideways, uncombed hair. It is obvious that something is going wrong for this young woman in a nurse's uniform. She is not pretty with her thin cheeks and big eyes. She is an ordinary woman subjected to intense passions. She has problems just like you and me.
The artist has liberated his scenes from the cells of the comics by removing the texts. He is right: the empathy with the character is strengthened by this mystery that can be closed out by looking into the original comics. The disarray of the nurse is due to a discussion in the next room between the doctor whom she attempted to seduce and her rival who calls her a liar.
Roy Lichtenstein is clever and subtle. His reuse of pictures from comics associated with his recreation of color in carefully painted patterns similar as printing dots maintains his characters within a fantasy world. His young blondes become an ersatz of the new modern woman. They occupy a dominant position in his art from the first Crying girl of 1963.
Nurse, oil and acrylic on canvas 122 x 122 cm painted in 1964, was sold for $ 95M from an estimate in the region of $ 80M by Christie's on November 9, 2015, lot 13A.
The blonde is nervous : closed fist, open mouth, looking sideways, uncombed hair. It is obvious that something is going wrong for this young woman in a nurse's uniform. She is not pretty with her thin cheeks and big eyes. She is an ordinary woman subjected to intense passions. She has problems just like you and me.
The artist has liberated his scenes from the cells of the comics by removing the texts. He is right: the empathy with the character is strengthened by this mystery that can be closed out by looking into the original comics. The disarray of the nurse is due to a discussion in the next room between the doctor whom she attempted to seduce and her rival who calls her a liar.
1964 Sleeping Girl
2012 SOLD for $ 45M by Sotheby's
The sleeping girl of Roy Lichtenstein is not a Marie-Thérèse Walter. She is neither nice nor attractive : she sleeps.
She is not a Marilyn or a Liz by Warhol. She is not famous, and has perhaps never existed anywhere but in the imagination of a comic book writer.
Quite simply, this young woman painted in 1964 on a canvas 91 x 91 cm is remarkably typical of the sixties, with her blonde hair too thick to be elegant.
She does not dream. Lichtenstein does not attribute her any thought, any boxed speech, unlike Ohhh Alright, 90 x 96 cm, made in the same year and sold for $ 43M by Christie's on November 9, 2010.
With her simple composition, the hair treated in flat vivid monochrome and the facial skin made in dots like a printed poster, the sleeping girl has all the qualities we love in an early Lichtenstein. His art was an immediate success. Purchased in the year of its creation, the painting had never reappeared on the market.
It was sold for $ 45M from a lower estimate of $ 30M by Sotheby's on May 9, 2012.
She is not a Marilyn or a Liz by Warhol. She is not famous, and has perhaps never existed anywhere but in the imagination of a comic book writer.
Quite simply, this young woman painted in 1964 on a canvas 91 x 91 cm is remarkably typical of the sixties, with her blonde hair too thick to be elegant.
She does not dream. Lichtenstein does not attribute her any thought, any boxed speech, unlike Ohhh Alright, 90 x 96 cm, made in the same year and sold for $ 43M by Christie's on November 9, 2010.
With her simple composition, the hair treated in flat vivid monochrome and the facial skin made in dots like a printed poster, the sleeping girl has all the qualities we love in an early Lichtenstein. His art was an immediate success. Purchased in the year of its creation, the painting had never reappeared on the market.
It was sold for $ 45M from a lower estimate of $ 30M by Sotheby's on May 9, 2012.
1964 Ohhh... Alright...
2010 SOLD for $ 43M by Christie's
Pop art was born of the visions of Johns, Warhol, Lichtenstein and others who sought and found fame by showing contemporary objects and subjects and by refusing all previous pictorial traditions.
Roy Lichtenstein was following two different practices, as discussed below.
The usual object is shown in the rough and out of context by deleting all references to the brand required by the consumers, unlike Warhol's. These paintings with clear lines (a ball of string, for example) are a bit austere.
A glass of ice cream, oil on canvas done in 1962, 165 x 82 cm, was sold for $ 14M by Sotheby's on November 9, 2010.
The other theme pushed his glory, helping to show to the public the possibility of a different art: the use of pictures from romance comics.
So "In the car", 1963, 76 x 102 cm, shows a couple. The driving man looks at his negligent companion with an air of annoyance, but they do not speak. This artwork was sold for $ 16.2M on November 8, 2005 by Christie's.
A painting of 1964, 90 x 96 cm, for sale by Christie's on November 10 in New York, is thrilling : the redhead girl grabs her phone (period!) with both hands saying "OHHH... ALRIGHT... " in a speech bubble ! Coming from the Steve Wynn collection, it was sold for $ 43M by Christie's on November 10, 2010. It is illustrated in the article shared by the Wall Street Journal.
Roy Lichtenstein was following two different practices, as discussed below.
The usual object is shown in the rough and out of context by deleting all references to the brand required by the consumers, unlike Warhol's. These paintings with clear lines (a ball of string, for example) are a bit austere.
A glass of ice cream, oil on canvas done in 1962, 165 x 82 cm, was sold for $ 14M by Sotheby's on November 9, 2010.
The other theme pushed his glory, helping to show to the public the possibility of a different art: the use of pictures from romance comics.
So "In the car", 1963, 76 x 102 cm, shows a couple. The driving man looks at his negligent companion with an air of annoyance, but they do not speak. This artwork was sold for $ 16.2M on November 8, 2005 by Christie's.
A painting of 1964, 90 x 96 cm, for sale by Christie's on November 10 in New York, is thrilling : the redhead girl grabs her phone (period!) with both hands saying "OHHH... ALRIGHT... " in a speech bubble ! Coming from the Steve Wynn collection, it was sold for $ 43M by Christie's on November 10, 2010. It is illustrated in the article shared by the Wall Street Journal.
1965 Red and White Brushstrokes
2017 SOLD for $ 28M by Christie's
Roy Lichtenstein questions the fundamental principles of painting by appropriating images from the comics, coloring large surfaces on his canvases with Ben-day dots and transforming a masterpiece into a reference for derision.
Roy finds in the comics the most varied inspiration. A book entitled The painter was published in October 1964 : a mad artist annihilates his own work with a few brush strokes. The image shows dripping, single drops and even the fraying when the paint becomes rarer on the bristles of the brush at the end of the raging gesture.
Roy uses this theme one year later while removing the text that expressed the artist's nightmare. His first painting simply titled Brushstroke is close to the original drawing with hand and brush in the foreground. He goes further : is a painting anything else than a set of brush strokes on a surface ? In the rest of his series he removes the hand and the brush, leaving alone in the image two stacked strokes.
Red and White Brushstrokes, a canvas 122 x 173 cm painted in 1965, was sold for $ 28M by Christie's on May 17, 2017, lot 57 B estimated $ 25M. The two wide stripes reproducing beside their friction the avatars of the original gesture are horizontal in a slightly rising direction. It is probably not by chance that the whole image resembles a damaged flowing flag.
Going much deeper than the author of the comics Roy reaches the quantum element of painting. He moves in the same line as Jasper Johns or Frank Stella for whom the theme is less important than the process for building the artwork.
By transforming his Brushstrokes into sculptures three decades later Roy completes this ingenious journey in the mockery of painting. After all, if we look for a parallel in other artistic actions, is cinema anything else than a projection of light through a scrolling sequence of colored filters ?
Roy finds in the comics the most varied inspiration. A book entitled The painter was published in October 1964 : a mad artist annihilates his own work with a few brush strokes. The image shows dripping, single drops and even the fraying when the paint becomes rarer on the bristles of the brush at the end of the raging gesture.
Roy uses this theme one year later while removing the text that expressed the artist's nightmare. His first painting simply titled Brushstroke is close to the original drawing with hand and brush in the foreground. He goes further : is a painting anything else than a set of brush strokes on a surface ? In the rest of his series he removes the hand and the brush, leaving alone in the image two stacked strokes.
Red and White Brushstrokes, a canvas 122 x 173 cm painted in 1965, was sold for $ 28M by Christie's on May 17, 2017, lot 57 B estimated $ 25M. The two wide stripes reproducing beside their friction the avatars of the original gesture are horizontal in a slightly rising direction. It is probably not by chance that the whole image resembles a damaged flowing flag.
Going much deeper than the author of the comics Roy reaches the quantum element of painting. He moves in the same line as Jasper Johns or Frank Stella for whom the theme is less important than the process for building the artwork.
By transforming his Brushstrokes into sculptures three decades later Roy completes this ingenious journey in the mockery of painting. After all, if we look for a parallel in other artistic actions, is cinema anything else than a projection of light through a scrolling sequence of colored filters ?
1994 Nude with Joyous Painting
2020 SOLD for $ 46M by Christie's
Roy Lichtenstein appropriates images edited or painted by others. By transforming them, he brings another meaning that can be the opposite. The enlargement from a comic maintains the simplicity of the lines which was important for the legibility of the tiny original. He reaches the basics of art, without verbiage and without losing his humor.
Roy also offers his vision of art history. He likes the pure lines of the naked bodies in La Danse by Matisse. Painted in 1974, Artist's Studio - The Dance exhibits that masterpiece of the other artist on the back wall, behind a big mess. On the right side, a truncated image shows some musical notes on a stave.
In 1994 Roy restarts one of his signature themes : the young woman copied from a comic panel, colored with dots that mimic printing patterns. Henceforth the woman is nude, sometimes in the presence of another naked woman, never with a man.
Nude with Joyous Painting, oil and acrylic 178 x 135 cm painted in 1994 was sold for $ 46M from an estimate in the region of $ 30M by Christie's on July 10, 2020, lot 58. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
In the comic book, the pretty blonde had a love sorrow. Now she is naked and the explanatory text is no longer available : she is simply waiting for something undefined which is probably not a partner. She may be finishing her washing after putting a headband.
The joyous painting announced by the title is the image of a musical stave in volutes, as in the pastiche of La Danse. This musical symbol brings a nice atmosphere of innocent intimacy.
Roy also offers his vision of art history. He likes the pure lines of the naked bodies in La Danse by Matisse. Painted in 1974, Artist's Studio - The Dance exhibits that masterpiece of the other artist on the back wall, behind a big mess. On the right side, a truncated image shows some musical notes on a stave.
In 1994 Roy restarts one of his signature themes : the young woman copied from a comic panel, colored with dots that mimic printing patterns. Henceforth the woman is nude, sometimes in the presence of another naked woman, never with a man.
Nude with Joyous Painting, oil and acrylic 178 x 135 cm painted in 1994 was sold for $ 46M from an estimate in the region of $ 30M by Christie's on July 10, 2020, lot 58. Please watch the video shared by the auction house.
In the comic book, the pretty blonde had a love sorrow. Now she is naked and the explanatory text is no longer available : she is simply waiting for something undefined which is probably not a partner. She may be finishing her washing after putting a headband.
The joyous painting announced by the title is the image of a musical stave in volutes, as in the pastiche of La Danse. This musical symbol brings a nice atmosphere of innocent intimacy.
1996 Seductive Girl
2013 SOLD for $ 31.5M by Christie's
In 1993, when Roy Lichtenstein focuses on the female nude, he actually starts two different lines of images. In one of them, the woman is nude in her apartment, busy in her daily activities. The other set shows her in bust, centered in a bold close-up composition where the frame is cutting hair, arms and lower breast.
Same as Munch, Lichtenstein is a great picture maker who prepares prints. Prints from his later career, after almost twenty years, regularly appear on the market. A print of the 1994 nude with blue hair, 130 x 80 cm, was sold for $ 320K by Christie's on October 30, 2013.
The paintings on this theme are still rare at auction. A Seductive Girl painted on canvas in 1996, 127 x 183 cm, was sold for $ 31.5M from a lower estimate $ 22M by Christie's in New York on November 12, 2013.
This pretty blonde on her bed is a sister of the young women painted by Roy thirty years earlier after copying images in the comic books. Her texture is also composed of colored dots more or less densely arranged for bringing the perspective.
Unlike her former friends, she is naked. As usual with Roy, this modern young woman establishes a communication with the viewer, but for once she is not troubled but troubling. She gently seduces the old Roy.
This creative impulse was unfortunately stopped in the following year by the sudden death of Roy, aged 74.
Same as Munch, Lichtenstein is a great picture maker who prepares prints. Prints from his later career, after almost twenty years, regularly appear on the market. A print of the 1994 nude with blue hair, 130 x 80 cm, was sold for $ 320K by Christie's on October 30, 2013.
The paintings on this theme are still rare at auction. A Seductive Girl painted on canvas in 1996, 127 x 183 cm, was sold for $ 31.5M from a lower estimate $ 22M by Christie's in New York on November 12, 2013.
This pretty blonde on her bed is a sister of the young women painted by Roy thirty years earlier after copying images in the comic books. Her texture is also composed of colored dots more or less densely arranged for bringing the perspective.
Unlike her former friends, she is naked. As usual with Roy, this modern young woman establishes a communication with the viewer, but for once she is not troubled but troubling. She gently seduces the old Roy.
This creative impulse was unfortunately stopped in the following year by the sudden death of Roy, aged 74.
