''Expressionist Head'' by pop artist

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. Hi ...

is the name associated with several 1980s works of art. It is widely associated with a set of six identical sculptures but is also associated with a series of paintings.

Sculptures

In the 1980s and 1990s, Lichtenstein created painted bronze sculptures that were based on his earlier paintings. ''Expressionist Head'' was among the earliest of these sculptural adaptations. The sculpture is composed of painted and patinated bronze with painted wooden base. ''Expressionist Head'' reflects rootings of German

Expressionist Expressionism is a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Northern Europe around the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it rad ...

prints because of its "angular anatomies and bold contours", but Lichtenstein swapped out his characteristic

Ben-Day dots The Ben Day process is a printing and photoengraving technique for producing areas of grey or (with four-colour printing) various colours by using fine patterns of ink on the paper. It was developed in 1879 by illustrator and printer Benjamin H ...

with hatch marks to in his favored primary colors. Like many Lichtenstein sculptures, this set is essentially two-dimensional rather than volumetric. Lichtenstein replaced

with stripes in some of his sketches because it was more efficient. Stripes did not become common in his finished goods until he began working with sculptures. In ''Expressionist Head'', stripes accentuate the sculpture's linear aspects. Like almost all 20 of his sculptures produced up to 1980, this "...began as a line drawing, in elevation; proceeded to full-scale blacktape layout; and then to a magna-painted, handcrafted wooden maquette, which established the mold for the casting...in bronze by lost-wax process."

Paintings

One element of the painting series (pictured in infobox) was sold at

Sotheby's Sotheby's () is a British-founded American multinational corporation with headquarters in New York City. It is one of the world's largest brokers of fine and decorative art, jewellery, and collectibles. It has 80 locations in 40 countries, and ...

on May 12, 2010 for $4,282,500. In the subsequent months that element of the painting series was exhibited at the Nevada Museum of Art in a four-month single-painting exhibition. There are five different paintings listed on the Lichtenstein Foundation website under the title ''Expressionist Head''. Three are from 1980, while one each is from 1982 and 1984. Another work by the same name had sold at

Christie's Christie's is a British auction house founded in 1766 by James Christie (auctioneer), James Christie. Its main premises are on King Street, St James's in London, at Rockefeller Center in New York City and at Alexandra House in Hong Kong. It is ...

, New York on November 18, 1997 for $ 300,000 USD.

Critical commentary

The work is presented as feelingless as a statement of the detachment of many current forms of production and reproduction of works of art.

References

External links

Lichtenstein Foundation website (sculpture)Lichtenstein Foundation website (1980 painting)Lichtenstein Foundation website (1980 painting)Lichtenstein Foundation website (1980 painting)Lichtenstein Foundation website (1982 painting)Lichtenstein Foundation website (1984 painting)
{{Roy Lichtenstein Paintings by Roy Lichtenstein Sculptures by Roy Lichtenstein 1980 paintings 1980 sculptures Busts (sculpture) Bronze sculptures Sculptures of women

Sculptures

Paintings

Critical commentary

See also

References

External links