piece of artwork

Mirror Series, Mirror #5
, 1972

Lithography

Printer: George Page • Publisher: Gemini G.E.L.

Gift: Steinmetz Family, 2001


 
 

Painter and sculptor Roy Lichtenstein stands as a central figure of the Pop Art Movement. Born in New York City in 1923, Lichtenstein had a passion for comic books as a child.

In his teens he became interested in art and began taking courses.  He was drafted into WWII when he was a student at Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio, but after the war, Lichtenstein returned to school and completed both his bachelors and masters in fine arts.

In the early 1960’s, Lichtenstein began looking to comic books and commercialized printing for inspiration. He began using a stencil to create his artwork, imitating the impersonal method of mechanical printing. The patterns of dots used throughout his pieces were influenced and fashioned after the Ben Day dots used in newspaper printing. Over time, this style would become synonymous with Lichtenstein himself. After mastering his personal technique, Lichtenstein began copying works by famous artists in his own style: paintings by Cezanne and Monet were recreated using a gradation of colored circles on canvas.

In the late 1960’s, Lichtenstein became influenced by different artistic movements and his style changed to become more abstract—this style is evident in the works included in the Permanent Collection at Chapman University.  
Mirror #5
, from the artist’s Mirror Series, questions whether or not the function of representational art was to reflect reality. The other work by Roy Lichtenstein in Escalette Collection is The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum Poster from 1969: it was created to advertise an exhibit of his work at the Guggenheim Museum in New York City.

 

piece of artwork

The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum Poster
, 1969

Serigraph

Published by the artist and Leo Castelli Gallery, New York, for the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York

Gift: Guggenheim Trust, 2001


 

All text and images under copyright. Please contact collections@chapman.edu for permission to use. Information subject to change upon further research.