Monday, January 24, 2022 – A GREAT PUNCH OF COLOR FOR MID-WINTER

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MONDAY,  JANUARY 24, 2022

580th Issue

ROY LICHTENSTEIN

POP ART 

AT THE 


SMITHSONIAN

POW!!

Roy Lichtenstein, Reverie, from the portfolio 11 Pop Artists, Volume II, 1965, color screenprint on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Philip Morris Incorporated, 1966.29.15, © Estate of Roy Lichtenstein

Like other pop artists, Roy Lichtenstein hoped to eliminate the distinction between ​“high” and ​“low” art. He drew inspiration from cartoons and advertisements, adopted the look of mechanical processes, and often borrowed images directly from comic strips. In Reverie​’s single frame, black outlines define fields of dots that mimic commercial half-tone printing, making a punchy and accessible image of a lovelorn songstress.

Roy Lichtenstein, Modern Head, 1974/1990, painted stainless steel, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Jeffrey H. Loria in loving memory of his sister, Harriet Loria Popowitz , 2008.28A-F, © Estate of Roy Lichtenstein

The Smithsonian American Art Museum acquired the monumental sculpture Modern Head by Roy Lichtenstein, a major figure in the pop art movement, in 2008.Modern Head stands thirty-one feet tall and is made of stainless steel painted blue. The sculpture is part of a series Lichtenstein began in the late 1960s that explored the idea of creating images of human figures that look like machines. This concept pervaded the artist’s work throughout his career. Lichtenstein created the first Modern Head in 1974 out of wood that was painted blue. In 1989 he produced an edition of four in brushed steel. In 1990 the artist painted one a vibrant blue, making the sculpture in American Art’s collection a unique work. Silhouetted against the urban skyline, the flat planes and curvilinear geometric forms of the sculpture blend the streamlined industrial style of 1930s art deco architecture and design with references to Picasso and Apollo, the Greek god of the arts. In 1996, Modern Head was installed by the Public Art Fund of New York City in Battery Park City, one block from the World Trade Center. The sculpture survived the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks with only surface scratches and was temporarily used by the FBI as a message board during its investigations. The sculpture was removed from the site on November 9, 2001, and was subsequently on view at the Nassau County Museum of Art in Roslyn Harbor, New York, and at the Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden in Coral Gables, Florida. The sculpture is installed on the grounds of the Museum’s main building at the corner of Ninth and F streets, N.W.Smithsonian American Art Museum, 2008Modern Head is part of a series Roy Lichtenstein began in the late 1960s that explored the idea of creating images of human figures that look like machines. The flat planes and curvilinear geometric forms of the sculpture blend the streamlined industrial style of 1930s art deco architecture and design with references to Picasso and Apollo, the Greek god of the arts. On September 11, 2001, the sculpture, which was installed one block from the World Trade Center, survived the terrorist attack on New York City with only surface scratches. It was temporarily used by the FBI as a message board during its investigations.Smithsonian American Art Museum: Commemorative Guide. Nashville, TN: Beckon Books, 2015.

Roy Lichtenstein, Sandwich and Soda, from the portfolio Ten Works x Ten Painters, 1964, screenprint on clear plastic, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Museum purchase, 1965.37.2G, © 1964, Wadsworth Atheneum

Roy Lichtenstein, Untitled, from the portfolio The New York Collection for Stockholm, 1973, color screenprint on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of the Woodward Foundation, 1976.108.124, © 1973, Roy Lichtenstein

Roy Lichtenstein, Sweet Dreams, Baby!, from the portfolio, 11 Pop Artists, Volume III, 1965, color screenprint on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Philip Morris Incorporated, 1966.29.23, © Estate of Roy Lichtenstein

MONDAY PHOTO OF THE DAY

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CREDITS

SMITHSONIAN AMERICAN ART MUSEUM

Thanks to Bobbie Slonevsky for her dedication to Blackwell’s Almanac and the RIHSThanks to Deborah Dorff for maintaining our website
Edited by Melanie Colter  and Deborah Dorff
FUNDING PROVIDED BY ROOSEVELT ISLAND OPERATING CORPORATION PUBLIC PURPOSE GRANTS
CITY COUNCIL REPRESENTATIVE BEN KALLOS DISCRETIONARY FUNDING THRU DYCD

Text by Judith Berdy
Thanks to Bobbie Slonevsky for her dedication to Blackwell’s Almanac and the RIHS
Thanks to Deborah Dorff for maintaining our website
Edited by Melanie Colter and Deborah Dorff

All image are copyrighted (c) Roosevelt Island Historical Society unless otherwise indicated

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rooseveltislandhistory@gmail.com