Roy Lichtenstein
Roy Lichtenstein
(New York, 27th October 1923 – New York, 29th September 1997)
Biography:
Roy Lichtenstein - the Early Years
Lichtenstein grew up under no specific artistic influence - neither at home nor at school. But at the age of 14 he attended a painting class at Parson's School of Design every Saturday morning. From 1940 to 1943 he studied in New York at the Art Students' League. Then he was drafted to the US Army and served in Europe during War II. Back from the army, Lichtenstein studied at the Ohio State University from 1946 and received his M.A. in 1949. Like Andy Warhol he worked in the commercial graphic business for a while - making designs and decorating shop windows. From 1957 on, he taught at different universities.
Lichtenstein's first experiments with popular images go back to 1956, when he created the famous Ten Dollar Bill print. Then followed a three year period of abstract painting. "Abstract expressionism" was the dominating art movement at that time. Lichtenstein was then in his late thirties and an unknown artist.
The drastic change in Lichtenstein's career came with his first painting in the style of a comic strip. It was a painting of Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck. The story goes, that he painted it for his kids who had provoked him by saying that "daddy could not paint as well as the images in the comic books". So it may have been his own kids, who are responsible for the artist's move into the olymp of art celebrities.
Pop Art Paintings, Sculptures and Prints
Roy Lichtenstein II
Andy Warhol - Biography
Andy Warhol - Biography
Maiden Blush
copyright Yuji Hiratsuka
Lichtenstein worked a lot with stencils, thus producing rows of oversized dots that should make his paintings or prints look like a huge mass publication product. Although he prepared and executed his works painstakingly like the old masters, he wanted his works of art look like machine made. One of his peculiarities was, that he did not want his brush strokes to be seen.
Other than paintings and sculptures, the artist produced a number of prints for which he used different techniques: lithographs, screenprints, etchings and woodcuts. Often he combined these techniques in one print.
Lichtenstein is usually characterized as ironic, humorous and witty. He openly commented on his own works. The citations below - mostly taken from interviews - show a very sensitive, intelligent and overt personality.
Lichtenstein in His Own Words
"Commercial art had all of the aspects that were needed to get across a new form of painting which just seemed to be interesting".
"All my art is in some way about other art, even if the other art is cartoons."
When asked, if he disliked the title "pop artist", Lichtenstein answered:
"If people use the word pop to differentiate it from art, then I would not like the idea too much. It is inevitable I am going to be called a pop artist. The name is going to stick, no matter what I think."
"I'd rather use the word dealing with than parody. I am sure there are certain aspects of irony, but I get really involved in making the paintings when I am working on them, and I think just to make parodies or to be ironic about something in the past is much too much of a joke for that to carry your work as a work of art."
"I realize there's a difference in style and so forth, but first of all, I think there isn't that big difference between Romantic and Classical artists. There is obviously a difference in emphasis, and I would be more of a Classical artist than a Romantic, I suppose, but then the kind of unity that holds a painting together is really the same whether it's done by Rembrandt or David or Picasso or Oldenburg. There's really not that much difference, there never was."
Exhibitions:
Virtual Tour: 360 Degree Views! Roy Lichtenstein: All About Art
Museo National Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid Spain, 2004
1994 Roy Lichtenstein. Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles
1999 Roy Lichtenstein: Interiors
Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago
1999 Roy Lichtenstein: Sculpture & Drawing
Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington DC m0009s.jpg (6635 bytes)
1999 Roy Lichtenstein: Imágenes Reconocibles (Recognizable Images)
IVAM (Instituto Valenciano Arte Moderno) Centre Julio Gonzales, Valencia Spain
2000 Roy Lichtenstein: Reflections/ Riflessi
Chiostro Del Bramante, Rome, Italy
2000 Roy Lichtenstein: Reflections/ Reconheceis
Fundacao das Descobertas, Centro Cultural de Belem, Lisbon, Portugal
2000 Roy Lichtenstein: Spiegelbilder
Kunstmuseum, Wolfsurg Germany
2001 Roy Lichtenstein Brushstrokes: Four Decades
Mitchel-Innes and Nash Madison Ave., New York City
2001 Roy Lichtenstein: Early Black and White Paintings
Gagosian Gallery Madison Ave., New York City
2001 Roy Lichtenstein, Published by Leo Castelli
Castelli Gallery, New York City
2002 Roy Lichtenstein: And Beyond Recent Acquisitions of Modern Prints
Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.
2002 Roy Lichtenstein Brushstrokes: Four Decades
de Pury & Luxembourg Zurich in assoc. with Mitchell-Innes & Nash New York Zurich, Switzerland
2002 Roy Lichtenstein: Times Square Mural
Mitchell-Innes & Nash Madison Ave., New York City
2002 Roy Lichtenstein: Perfect / Imperfect
Gagosian Gallery, Beverly Hills California
2003 Roy Lichtenstein: Times Square Mural
Bellevue Art Museum, Bellevue Washington
2003 Roy Lichtenstein: All About Art
Louisiana Museum for Moderne Kunst, Humlebaek Denmark
2003 Roy Lichtenstein: Sculpture on the Roof
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City
2003 Still Life with Sculpture: Roy Lichtenstein and Henri Matisse
Mitchell-Innes & Nash Madison Ave., New York City
2003 Roy Lichtenstein at City Hall
New York City
2004 Roy Lichtenstein: All About Art
Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia
Madrid
Virtual 360 Degree Tour
2004 Roy Lichtenstein: All About Art
Hayward Gallery South Bank Centre
London m0009s.jpg (6635 bytes)
2005 Roy Lichtenstein Sculpture
Gagosian Gallery, June 6 - August 6
London
2005 Roy Lichtenstein, Classic of the New
Kunsthaus Bregenz, June 13 - September 4
Bregenz Austria
2005 Roy Lichtenstein Sculpture
Gagosian Gallery Chelsea, September 16 – October 22
New York City
2005 Roy Lichtenstein: Conversations with Surrealism, Drawings
Mitchell-Innes & Nash Chelsea, September 19 - November 12
New York City
2005 Roy Lichtenstein: Conversations with Surrealism, Paintings
Mitchell-Innes & Nash Madison Ave., September 19 - November 12
New York City
2005 Roy Lichtenstein: Animated Life, Drawings and Collages
Instituto Tomie Ohtake, September 27 – November 20
São Paulo Brazil
2005 Roy Lichtenstein: In Process: Collage and Drawings 1980’s & 1990’s
Museum of Abstract Art, November 25, 2005 - Feb 19, 2006
Cuenca Spain
2005 Roy Lichtenstein: American Indian Encounters
Montclair Art Museum, October 15, 2005 - January 8, 2006
Montclair New Jersey
2005 Roy Lichtenstein: Brushstrokes (Dossier Exhibition)
Portland Art Museum, October 2, 2005 – February 12, 2006
Portland Oregon
2006 Roy Lichtenstein: In Process: Collage and Drawings 1980’s & 1990’s
Museum of Contemporary Art, March 7 - June 17
Palma de Mallorca Spain
2006 Roy Lichtenstein: Animated Life, Drawings and Collages
Museu Oscar Niemeyer, December 1, 2005 - March 5
Curitiba Brazil
2006 Roy Lichtenstein: Animated Life, Drawings and Collages
MAM (Museu de Arte Moderna), March 22 - May 21
Rio de Janeiro Brazil
2006 Roy Lichtenstein: American Indian Encounters
Santa Fe Museum of Fine Arts, February 2 - April 22
Santa Fe New Mexico
2006 Roy Lichtenstein: American Indian Encounters
Tacoma Art Museum, May 13 - September 4
Tacoma Washington
2006 Roy Lichtenstein Works on Paper : A Retrospective
James Goodman Gallery, Nov 20, 2006 - Jan 15, 2007
New York City
2007 Roy Lichtenstein: de Principio a Fin / Beginning to End
Fundacion Juan March, Feb 2 - May 27
Madrid Spain
2007 Roy Lichtenstein: American Indian Encounters
Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art
January 27 - April 15
Indianapolis Indiana
2007 Roy Lichtenstein: Évolution
Pinacothèque de Paris, June 15 - September 23
Paris
2007 Roy Lichtenstein at Fairchild
Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden, December 8, 2007 - May 31, 2008
Coral Gables, Florida
2008 Lichtenstein: In Process
Katonah Art Museum, March 29, 2007 - June 28, 2008
Katonah, New York
2009 Lichtenstein: in Process
Dixon Gallery and Gardens, October 18, 2009 - January 17, 2010
Memphis, Tennesee
