Paperink

1967

Brushstrokes

300

259

signed lower right

SignaturePrint number and run

lower right

Lichtenstein 259/300

In Artist's HandPencil

Sheet

23 in

38 in

Image

21-7/8 in

30-7/8 in

Wunderkammer: Introduction to Curatorial Practices Class Fall 2024 (2025)

Cultural/Historical Context

"Along with fellow Pop artists Andy Warhol, James Rosenquist, Red Grooms, Claus Oldenburg and others Lichtenstein defined and dominated the American an scene during the early and mid 1960s. In his works, Lichtenstein chooses action-charged images which, in the early stages, he took from melodramatic color comic strips. His distinctive style, which utilizes enlarged Ben Day screen dots, makes the actual process of print reproduction into the subject matter of his work. His predominant color range -- black, red. yellow and blue -- also suggests commercialism by imitating printers ink colors. Strong black outlines around his images further the graphic, 'reproduced"" look of Lichtenstein‘s art. Toward the 1970's, Lichtenstein moved away from direct comic bunk imagery but still retained his crisp, cool and cartoon-like style. From his visual environment came his series on mirrors, entablatures, still-lifes, American Indian designs and brush strokes. Regarding his work, Lichtenstein says he is ""dealing with the images that have come about in the commercial world, because there are certain things about them which are impressive or bold….It's that quality of the images that I'm interested in. The kind of texture the dots make is usable to me in my work. But it's not saying that commercial art is terrible, or 'look what I've come to' -- that may be a sociological fact, but it is not what this art is about."""