Late 20th Century Art

 

            Roy Lichtenstein’s painting Girl at Window was originally to be displayed at the 1964 World’s Fair in New York. This mural was in fact 24 feet by 16 feet and hung on the exterior of a building that was also constructed for the World’s Fair. The World’s Fair was a celebration of American culture, so it made sense to have many pop artists display their work because pop art was inspired by and celebrated culture. Although, many people at the time viewed pop art and comic strips as not worthy in comparison to what they believed to be high art. However, Lichtenstein thought otherwise and believed that high art and popular art were no different.

            In 1961 Lichtenstein moved away from abstract expressionism and began to paint in the style that we now know as pop art. Looking at pop art we can see that it is often commercial images and a reflection of our culture’s fascination of media. Lichtenstein’s work was inspired by culture and reflected very little of his own feelings. His artwork often incorporated primary colors that were contoured with black lines. Some of his artwork also has balloons of speech or thought bubbles that help the viewers understand what is going on in the scene, which is very similar to what we would see in a comic book or comic strip. Lichtenstein’s signature style was use of Benday dots. Benday dots are small colored dots that can be closely or widely spaced as well as overlapped if desired. These dots are always equally sized and help create shading. Lichtenstein was known for enlarging and exaggerating these dots.

            Looking at Girl at Window we can see Lichtenstein chose to paint the main subject of the painting, the woman, in primary colors. The woman’s dress is yellow, her hair, lips, and fingernails all red, and part of the background blue. The window frame however is green and the skin of the woman is a light tan color. All parts of the painting are however outlined and shaded with fairly thick black lines. The black lines help create shading as well as define shape. Looking closely we can see that Lichtenstein painted the woman’s skin using Benday dots that appear to be fairly large in size. The background behind her also incorporates Benday dots as well. We can see that the subject of this painting is a woman full of emotion leaning out an open window and looks as if she is yelling down to someone below. This painting appears to be very similar to something we would see in a comic strip due to its bright colors, thick black outlines, and use of Benday dots.

            Lichtenstein’s iconic images and style have now become well known and easily recognizable as pop art. His ability to incorprate both mechanical reproduction and drawing by hand has helped define him as an extremely successful pop artist. Though his artwork was once frowned upon and considered not worthy by some his art today is highly regarded and widely recognized. 

References

 

http://whitney.org/Collection/RoyLichtenstein/2002254/Audio

http://www.theartstory.org/artist-lichtenstein-roy.htm

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/11/arts/design/11roy.html