Transcript Roy Lichtenstein - Parkland College

Roy Lichtenstein Artist, Graphic Designer, Sculptor
“Roy Lichtenstein became famous in the
early 1960s for his deadpan recreations of
popular imagery, particularly paintings
based on war and romance comics.
Lichtenstein's interest in quoting subjects
form both high and low art has continued
throughout his career, producing a
fascinating and varied body of work.”
~Roy Lichtenstein, Vol. 1 by Lawrence Alloway
1923-1997
The Life of Roy
The Early Days
•On October 27th, 1923 Roy Lichtenstein was born in Manhattan to Milton, a
real-estate broker, and Beatice, a homemaker.
•As a child, Roy showed interest in drawing, science and building model
airplanes. For entertainment, he enjoyed listening to “Flash Gordon” on the
radio. Later, his work shows roots in these interests.
•At 14 years old he enrolled in a watercolor class at the Parson’s School of
design in Manhattan.
•In 1940, Roy graduated from high school and enrolled in his freshman year at
Ohio State University. There he took his first drawing classes.
The Life of Roy
The Early Days
•From 1943-1946 Roy did active duty in the Air Force. He traveled over to Europe
where he visited France and Belgium. While there he saw combat action in
Germany.
•While in the Air Force he kept his sketchbooks full of drawing of fellow
soldiers and new landscapes.
•After his tour of duty in the Air Force he returned to Ohio State University
where he graduated in June of 1946 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree.
•That August, in 1946, he began graduate school at Ohio State. While there as a
graduate student he was also teaching in the fine arts department as an
instructor. In 1949, he received his Master of Fine Art from Ohio State.
•While doing his undergraduate work his style at this time was based on
American genre paintings. The subjects of his work was recognizable but it
was in the Cubist style with Expressionist overtones.
Works of Roy
This one of his early works that
was inspired by the Cubist period.
In an iterview he had this to say
about Cubism:
“That element of play in Cubism:
where the play becomes more
literary, it led to Dada. I don't think
that my work relates to Dada,
though probably everybody's
painting is influenced by Dada,
including Jackson Pollock's. But I
think that the principal influence
was Cubism and still is.”
The Surrender of Weatherford to
Jackson
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•In 1949, Roy had his first gallery exhibition at the Chinese Gallery in
New York.
•Before he made a living doing art, he worked several different jobs,
that were each short- lived but still kept his skills sharp. Roy was a
drawing teacher for a commercial art school, an engineering
draftsman for a steel company, designed display windows for
department stores and drew black and white images for an
instrument company.
•Then in 1951, he began to take his work to galleries himself on the
roof of his car.
•His work at this time was made of wood, metal pieces and found
objects. He used muted colors like pinks and blues.
Works of Roy
In 1956, he showed
early signs of pop
art work to come.
This however was
the only lithograph
that he did like this
until many years
later.
Ten Dollar Bill
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.
Early on his career, he
began to use abstract
expressionist style in his
work. He began to dabble
with cartoon imagery with
the likenesses of Mickey
Mouse, Donald Duck and
Bugs Bunny.
Bugs Bunny
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Donald Duck
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In the summer of 1961, he created
his first painting using Benday
dots in his soon-to-be-signature
cartoon style with a dialogue
balloon. This was a process that
used a plastic bristle brush
dipped in oil paint and stenciled
onto a canvas using a roller. The
roller distributed the paint over
his handmade metal screen and
then he used a small scrub brush
to push the paint through.
Works of Roy
Here is an example of his
cartoon style. It resembles
a panel excerpt from a
comic book.
Look Mickey
Works of Roy
His work began to evolve into
a style that was unique to him.
He painted advertisement like
paintings depicting consumer
products. These were often
very simple and restricted to
few colors.
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Here he is working in
blue and white to give
this piece a simulated
printed reproduction
feel.
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Roy was able to impress the director
of the Leo Castelli Gallery with this
painting. They agreed to represent
him as an artist. It was there that
Roy’s work was seen by Andy Warhol.
After meeting Warhol, Roy was
invited to his studio to view his work.
While he was there, Roy saw the
works of Warhol for the first time. His
work consisted of similar subject
matter to Roy’s, comic strip style and
consumer goods .
Girl with Ball
Works of Roy
From 1961-1968
he created a
series of of
black and white
drawings using
ink and a
speedball pen.
Couch
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Bread in Bag
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This painting he based
on the works of Paul
Cezanne.
Man with Folded Arms
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In 1962 he creates his first
painting that depicts
women’s heads close up.
This will also become a
signature style for him in
much of his work.
Refrigerator
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He experimented with
painting only single
words on the canvas
but, that idea didn’t
last long. He decided
that wasn’t a great
idea.
In
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He based some of his
work on war comics.
These paintings felt
like excerpts from a
story. This makes the
viewer create a
situation in their mind
about what has
happened before this
and what will happen
next.
Brattata
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Torpedo Los
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Live Ammo
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Roy began a series of
paintings that involved
women that resembled
the women from the D.C.
comics. They were also
very close up angles of
the women’s faces.
Drowning Girl
Works of Roy
He replaced his handmade metal
screen that he used to apply the
Benday dots with manufactured one.
He also hired employees to apply the
paint to the Benday dots.
In 1963, his work begins to appear in
“Pop Art” shows.
Then in 1964, he replaced the metal
screens with paper screens made
especially for him. This enables him to
make the Benday dots in proportion to
the size of the canvas making the dots
larger.
Girl with Hair Ribbon
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Roy was also a sculptor. He
was inspired by the New
York subway signs. This
sculpture has an art deco
quality about it.
Modern Sculpture with Glass Wave
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This is a sculpture that
stands 30 feet high in
Arcadia, California. His
inspiration came from
Italian Futurism.
Modern Head
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Roy was
commissioned to do
the cover for
Newsweek, April 25th,
1966. It was an entire
issue about “The
Story of Pop.”
Works of Roy
He was asked again to do
another magazine cover,
this time for Time
Magazine. Roy was asked
to do two covers in 1967.
May 24th, the cover of
Time displayed
Lichtenstein’s portrait of
Bobby Kennedy. Then
again in June, Roy’s
artwork graced the cover
with his rendering of a
gun for “The Gun in
America” issue.
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This is a film poster that
he did that is reminisent
of the modern movement
in America.
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One of his more
recent works was
this book cover in
1993.
Tin Tin in the New World: a Romance
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This logo for Dreamworks
Records was his last completed
project before his death in 1997.
Roy Lichtenstein passed away of
complications from pneumonia.
Roy Lichtenstein was mostly a
painter but, his art and styles
greatly impacted the world of
graphic design. His style was a
timeless classic and will forever
be revered as the representative
for “Pop Art.”
Works of Roy Biblography
References:
Alloway,Lawerance & Lichtenstein, Roy(1983). Roy Lichtenstein, Vol. 1. Abbeville Press, Incorporated .
Sylvestor, David (1997). "Some Kind of Reality". New York City Broadcast.
Refer to:
The Roy Lichtenstein Foundation
http://www.lichtensteinfoundation.org/frames.htm
Henry Art Gallery
http://www.henryart.org/ex/lichtenstein.htm
Roy Lichtenstein Quotes
http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/r/roy_lichtenstein.html
Blam
http://hans.presto.tripod.com/blam.html