Introduction
While Andy Warhol was the pop in pop art, it is still undeniable that other visual artists of another time or calibre be as equally popular. Roy Lichtenstein is one such artist that even modern duplicators of pop art acknowledge, if popularity and saleability are concerned.
This paper shall try to present an appreciation to the works as well as influences of Roy Lichtenstein who may have remained one of Pop arts more influential artist.
Discussion
Today, Roy Lichtenstein’s work is often mass-produced with other woks of art of Jim Dine, Robert Indiana, Donald Sultan, Brian Hunt, Stone Roberts, or Andy Warhol ordered from all over the US, Canada, Britain and even China and India (Toia, 2007). It is quite twisting to consider that Lichtenstein was called the master of the stereotype side by side as the most sophisticated of the major Pop artists in terms of his analysis of visual convention and ironic exploitation of past styles (Lucie-Smith, 1999).It was suggested that the work for which Lichtenstein is known for was the product of a long apprenticeship.
The Works of Lichtenstein
Some of the easily accessible works of Lichtenstein include 1962’s Blam and Takka Takka, 1963’s In the Car and Whaam!, and 1964’s Temple of Apollo. Others include Bananas & Grapefruit #1, Still Life with Goldfish Bowl and Painting of a Golf Ball, Still Life with Glass and Peeled Lemon, Still Life with Silver Pitcher (1972), 1973’s Still Life with Crystal Bowl, 1974’s Cubist Still Life with Playing Cards (1974), Still Life with Lamp, Still Life with Folded Sheets (1976), Go for Baroque, Dr. Waldmann (1979), Jar and Apples (1980), 1983 Painting Near Window (1983) mostly in Oil and Magna on canvas (Art Archive, 2007).
Smith (2007) described Lichtenstein’s works exhibited January at James Goodman Gallery in 41 East 57th Street, Manhattan as, “elegant, buoyant canvases may be as close as 20th-century painting gets to Mozart.” She noted the boundless optimism expressed in its unwavering celebration of popular culture as it is “cool, straightforward craftsmanship; and its intricate, eye-popping, often witty perfection,” comparing it to Mozart’s as always an unsentimental romantic, at times innocent or sceptic. Smith (2007) proposed that Lichtenstein posited the future as bright as the “past and present gave him so much to work with.” (p. E.2:42)
In addition, Smith (2007) suggested that, the perfection was achieved through extensive and beautiful preparatory studies indicated by his drawing retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art in 1987.
The works exhibited were early 1960s straightforward graphite renderings of advertising motifs such as a pair of sneakers, a wrist-watch, a half-zipped blown-up zipper also cropped and isolated “concentrated through an admiring, unfussy attention.” (p. E.2:42) Jaunty postcard-size sketches in graphite and colored pencil were also presented. These were described as “Ineffably tender, they conjure to a remarkable degree the effect of the finished paintings within embryo form, as suggested by the 1995 ”Study for Water Lilies.” (Smith, 2007, p. E.2:42).
Apparently, Smith (2007) saw optimism in Lichtenstein’s elegant paintings that show “most art is about love, both in its initial impetus within the artist and its final effect within the viewer. His drawings make the argument even more explicit by reminding us of his rapt devotion to his art, its fabrication and the cultural motifs that made it all possible (Smith, 2007, p. E.2:42).
The Life of Lichtenstein
Roy Lichtenstein was born in New York City in October 1923 of middle-class parents. He claimed to having had a quiet and uneventful childhood and alhough art was not taught as part of the curriculum at his high school, he started to draw and paint as a hobby in junior year. It was said that Lichtenstein’s first subjects were jazz musicians as a product of a youthful enthusiasm for their music. Apparently, his work was also influenced by Picasso’s Blue and Rose Period paintings of which he was exposed through reproductions (Lucie-Smith, 1999).
By 1939, his last year of high school, he enrolled for summer art classes at the Art Students’ League under Reginald Marsh of which his own subject-matter was then strongly influenced by Marsh’s works. Upon finishing secondary school, Lichtenstein left New York and study art in the School of Fine Arts at Ohio State University. However, his artistic education was interrupted by the war as he was drafted in 1943 and served in Britain and continental Europe. While in the service, he particularly drew art inspiration from nature (Lucie-Smith, 1999).
Lichtenstein became demobilized in 1946, so he returned to Ohio State University to finish his Bachelor of Fine Art in June. He joined the graduate programme as an instructor but by 1949 he gained his Master of Fine Art. He then held his first one-man exhibit at the Ten Thirty Gallery in Cleveland and started introducing broad references to Americana in his work. He had a show in New York in 1951 that consisted assemblages made of found objects. After he moved to Cleveland and worked on and off as an engineering draughtsman for various companies, he continued painting and showed his work in New York (Lucie-Smith, 1999).
By 1956, Lichtenstein earliest proto-Pop work was painted. It was a picture of a dollar bill. It was not followed immediately. Between 1957 and 1960, his work is generally considered Abstract Expressionist as he had previously done Geometric Abstraction and a version of Cubism (Lucie-Smith, 1999).
Lichtenstein was appointed Assistant Professor at Douglas College at Rutgers University of New Jersey in 1960. It was during this time while away from New York that he met and had long discussions with fellow artists Allan Kaprow, Claes Oldenburg, Jim Dine, Lucas Samaras and George Segal. While he attended a number of early “Happenings”, Lichtenstein did not actively participate in them. These contacts, nevertheless, revived his interest in Pop imagery. Another immediate stimulus was was said to be of his sons’, who pointed to a Mickey Mouse comic book and challenged the elder Lichtenstein, “I bet you can’t paint as good as that,” (Lucie-Smith, 1999, p. 183).
Lichtenstein produced about six paintings showing characters from comic-strip frames, with only minor changes of colour and form from the original source material by 1961. It was said that this time, he first made use of devices: Ben-Day dots, lettering and speech balloons which were to become signatures in his work (Lucie-Smith, 1999).
Lichtenstein took his comic-strip paintings to the new Leo Castelli Gallery without prior information, and was almost immediately accepted for exhibition there, in preference to Andy Warhol, who had started doing similar work (Lucie-Smith, 1999). His first one-man show with Castelli in 1962 launched a successful career. Lichtenstein moved from New Jersey to New York in 1963, having taken leave of absence from his job at Rutgers. In 1964 he resigned from teaching altogether and by 1966, he showed at the Venice Biennale. In 1969, Lichtenstein was given a retrospective at the Guggenheim Museum and the show later toured America. After elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1970, he moved to Southampton, Long Island following a pattern set by many successful American artists (Lucie-Smith, 1999).
It was said that Lichtenstein’s development as a mature painter was marked by his propensity for working in successive series or thematic groups. In addition, Lucie-Smith (1999) wrote that Lichtenstein’s later groups were interpretations or at some extent parodies of earlier Modernist styles of Cubism, Futurism and Surrealism. He was also credited to have created sculptural maquettes constructed from flat shapes as three-dimensional graphic imitations of German Expressionist woodcuts by the early 1980s. Like his series of painted or sculpted brushstrokes of the 1980s, the sculptures suggested of spontaneity which was considered ironic. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Lichtenstein returned to Ben-Day dots style in a new and refined application of his earlier style. He died in 1997 (Lucie-Smith, 1999) leaving a legacy on pop art and visual arts in general.
Conclusion
Roy Lichtenstein provides present generation a glimpse to a period form of Art popularized in part by the wide acceptance of comic books at that time. Generally, pop art could have been limited to graphic, visual arts of advertising, promotions and other memorabilia that is much more commercial and rendering what Andy Warhol and company might have preferred: underlying messages.
But at Smith clearly pointed out, Lichtenstein’s art is almost innocent, very dedicated and disciplined so that until today, many illustrators still abides by the foundations set by Lichtenstein’s mastery of the art form.
At times, many realistic if not “modern” forms of visual arts are preferred over the obviously hand-executed form of image composition. However, as art genres clash and revolve in what is often periodically claimed as “contemporary”, Lichtenstein’s has already achieved classic identity to propel successes of newer art, as well as comic book characters.
References
- Art Archive (2007). “Roy Lichtenstein.” Web.
- Toia, Lisa. (2007). “Picture perfect pop art [1 FIRST Edition].” Herald Sun. Melbourne, 2007. pg. 88
- Lucie-Smith, Edward (1999). Lives of the Great 20th-Century Artists. Thames & Hudson; 2Rev Ed edition.
- Smith, Roberta (2007) “Roy Lichtenstein; [Review]” New York Times (Late Edition (East Coast)). New York, N.Y.: 2007. p. E.2:42