''Brushstrokes'' is a 1965 oil and
Magna on canvas
pop art painting by
Roy Lichtenstein
Roy Fox Lichtenstein (; October 27, 1923 – September 29, 1997) was an American pop artist. During the 1960s, along with Andy Warhol, Jasper Johns, and James Rosenquist among others, he became a leading figure in the new art movement. ...
. It is the first element of the
''Brushstrokes'' series of
artworks
A work of art, artwork, art piece, piece of art or art object is an artistic creation of aesthetic value. Except for "work of art", which may be used of any work regarded as art in its widest sense, including works from literatur ...
that includes several paintings and sculptures. As with all of his ''Brushstrokes'' works, it is in part a satirical response to the
gestural painting
Action painting, sometimes called "gestural abstraction", is a style of painting in which paint is spontaneously dribbled, splashed or smeared onto the canvas, rather than being carefully applied. The resulting work often emphasizes the physical a ...
of
Abstract Expressionism
Abstract expressionism is a post–World War II art movement in American painting, developed in New York City in the 1940s. It was the first specifically American movement to achieve international influence and put New York at the center of the ...
.
Background
Prior to producing his first ''Brushstrokes'' work, Lichtenstein spun his upcoming work as a "satirical send-up of Abstract Expressionism" by saying: "I'm thinking now of doing something on Abstract Expressionism...The problem there will be to paint a brush stroke, a picture of a brush stroke...Purposely dripped paint and things, you know, where the drips are actually drawn drips that look like drops of water drawn by a commercial artist."
Despite the initial objective of parodying Abstract expressionism, the source for the first ''Brushstrokes'' work was a comic strip.
Measuring 122.5 cm × 122.5 cm (48.25 in × 48.25 in), ''Brushstrokes'' was the first element of the ''Brushstrokes'' series. The source for the entire Brushstrokes series was
Charlton Comics
Charlton Comics was an American comic book publishing company that existed from 1945 to 1986, having begun under a different name: T.W.O. Charles Company, in 1940. It was based in Derby, Connecticut. The comic-book line was a division of Charlton ...
' ''
Strange Suspense Stories
''Strange Suspense Stories'' was a comic book published in two volumes by Fawcett Comics and Charlton Comics in the 1950s and 1960s. Starting out as a horror/suspense title, the first volume gradually moved toward eerie fantasy and weird science f ...
'' 72 (October 1964) by
Dick Giordano
Richard Joseph Giordano (; July 20, 1932 – March 27, 2010) was an American comics artist and editor whose career included introducing Charlton Comics' "Action Heroes" stable of superheroes and serving as executive editor of DC Comics.
Early ...
.
According to the Lichtenstein Foundation, in addition to this painting named ''Brushstrokes'', there are also both a sculpture and a screenprint by the same name. There is also "Brushstrokes 1970".
The Lichtenstein Foundation website also notes that he began creating the ''Brushstrokes'' painting in the autumn of 1965 and presented the ''Brushstroke'' series at Castelli's gallery from November 20 through December 11.
Detail
As with many comics-based works, the connection to the source is evident in ''Brushstrokes''. This work depicts a cropped derivation of the source image.
In ''Brushstrokes'', as in its source, a hand holds a house painter's paintbrush in the lower left hand corner of the image, while in the upper right a few strokes of paint as well as spatterings of paint are presented. Lichtenstein selected this source because he "...liked the summary rendering of the hand holding the brush and the way in which the cartoonist indicated paint".
[ The three strokes in the upper right are the dominant imagery, while the partial view of the hand in the lower left limited by the edges of the canvas shows paint dripping from the brush.][ This is an example of Lichtenstein humorously presenting a subject that might be crowded out in a newspaper via a parody that relies on the difference between art and the rest of the world.]
See also
* 1965 in art
Events from the year 1965 in art.
Events
* March 19 – A record price of 760,000 guineas is paid at Christie's London auction house for Rembrandt's painting ''Titus''.
* May – Avant-garde artists Marta Minujín and Rubén Santantonín prese ...
Notes
External links
Lichtenstein Foundation website details
{{Roy Lichtenstein
1965 paintings
Paintings by Roy Lichtenstein
Paintings in the Whitney Museum of American Art
Paintings about painting