| Brushstrokes | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Artist | Roy Lichtenstein |
| Year | 1965 |
| Medium | Oil and Magna on canvas |
| Movement | Pop art |
| Dimensions | 122.5 cm× 122.5 cm(48.25 in× 48.25 in) |
| Location | Private collection |
Brushstrokes is a 1965 oil and Magna on canvas pop art painting by Roy Lichtenstein. It is the first element of the Brushstrokes series of artworks that includes several paintings and sculptures. As with all of his Brushstrokes works, it is in part a satirical response to the gestural painting of Abstract Expressionism.
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." [1]
Despite the initial objective of parodying Abstract expressionism, the source for the first Brushstrokes work was a comic strip. [2] Measuring 122.5 cm × 122.5 cm (48.25 in × 48.25 in), Brushstrokes was the first element of the Brushstrokes series. [3] The source for the entire Brushstrokes series was Charlton Comics' Strange Suspense Stories 72 (October 1964) by Dick Giordano. [4] [5] 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. [6] [7] There is also "Brushstrokes 1970". [8] 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. [9]
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. [10] 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". [2] 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. [10] 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. [11]
When Lichtenstein took up the brushstroke motif in 1965, the gesture was immediately received as a satirical send-up of Abstract Expressionism. The artist himself helped pave the way for this reception. Speaking in a 1964 interview, before he had taken up the theme, he said:...
{{cite book}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)Although there is a real connection between the Brushstrokes painting and Abstract Expressionism, the initial source for the series was a panel from the comic strip "The Painting" (fig. 127), in Charlton Comics' Strange Suspense Stories, no. 72 (October 1964). Brushstrokes (fig. 126), 1965, is a direct reprise of that panel. In this painting, a hand holding a brush is situated at the lower-left corner of the canvas while above it to the right are a few bold horizontal and vertical strokes of paint and scattered drips. Lichtenstein liked the summary rendering of the hand holding the brush and the way in which the cartoonist indicated paint. From this image he developed a series of works that explored various aspects of painting,...
Begun in the autumn of 1965, Lichtenstein's series of Brushstroke paintings was initiated after he saw a cartoon in Charlton Comics' Strange Suspense Stories. 72 (October 1964). One scene shows an exhausted yet relieved artist who has just completed a painting. This depicts two massive brushstrokes that take up the entire surface area. The absurdity of using a small paintbrush to create an image of two monumental brushstrokes was explored in many different variations. Transforming an expressive act that was mythologized for its immediacy and primal origins into a cartoon-like, mechanically produced-looking image, Lichtenstein created a reflexive commentary on gestural painting.
Paul Jackson Pollock was an American painter and a major figure in the abstract expressionist movement. He was widely noticed for his "drip technique" of pouring or splashing liquid household paint onto a horizontal surface, enabling him to view and paint his canvases from all angles. It was also called all-over painting and action painting, since he covered the entire canvas and used the force of his whole body to paint, often in a frenetic dancing style. This extreme form of abstraction divided the critics: some praised the immediacy of the creation, while others derided the random effects. In 2016, Pollock's painting titled Number 17A was reported to have fetched US$200 million in a private purchase.
Roy Fox Lichtenstein 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. His work defined the premise of pop art through parody. Inspired by the comic strip, Lichtenstein produced precise compositions that documented while they parodied, often in a tongue-in-cheek manner. His work was influenced by popular advertising and the comic book style. His artwork was considered to be "disruptive". He described pop art as "not 'American' painting but actually industrial painting". His paintings were exhibited at the Leo Castelli Gallery in New York City.
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 Western art world, a role formerly filled by Paris.
Color field painting is a style of abstract painting that emerged in New York City during the 1940s and 1950s. It was inspired by European modernism and closely related to abstract expressionism, while many of its notable early proponents were among the pioneering abstract expressionists. Color field is characterized primarily by large fields of flat, solid color spread across or stained into the canvas creating areas of unbroken surface and a flat picture plane. The movement places less emphasis on gesture, brushstrokes and action in favor of an overall consistency of form and process. In color field painting "color is freed from objective context and becomes the subject in itself."
Whaam! is a 1963 diptych painting by the American artist Roy Lichtenstein. It is one of the best-known works of pop art, and among Lichtenstein's most important paintings. Whaam! was first exhibited at the Leo Castelli Gallery in New York City in 1963, and purchased by the Tate Gallery, London, in 1966. It has been on permanent display at Tate Modern since 2006.
Little Big Painting is a 1965 oil and Magna on canvas pop art painting by Roy Lichtenstein. It is part of the Brushstrokes series of artworks that include several paintings and sculptures. It is located at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City. As with all of his Brushstrokes works, it is in part a satirical response to the gestural painting of abstract expressionism.
El Cap de Barcelona (1991–1992) is a surrealist sculpture created by American Pop artist Roy Lichtenstein for the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Its English title is The Head of Barcelona.
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 fiction, before ending as a vehicle for the superhero Captain Atom. The title's second volume was more in the horror/suspense vein. Altogether, 72 issues of Strange Suspense Stories were published.
Look Mickey is a 1961 oil on canvas painting by Roy Lichtenstein. Widely regarded as the bridge between his abstract expressionism and pop art works, it is notable for its ironic humor and aesthetic value as well as being the first example of the artist's employment of Ben-Day dots, speech balloons and comic imagery as a source for a painting. The painting was bequeathed to the Washington, D.C., National Gallery of Art upon Lichtenstein's death.
Oh, Jeff...I Love You, Too...But... is a 1964 oil and magna on canvas painting by Roy Lichtenstein. Like many of Lichtenstein's works its title comes from the speech balloon in the painting.
Big Painting No. 6 is a 1965 oil and Magna on canvas painting by Roy Lichtenstein. Measuring 235 cm × 330 cm, it is part of the Brushstrokes series of artworks that includes several paintings and sculptures whose subject is the actions made with a house-painter's brush. It set a record auction price for a painting by a living American artist when it sold for $75,000 in 1970. The painting is in the Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen collection.
Drowning Girl is a 1963 American painting in oil and synthetic polymer paint on canvas by Roy Lichtenstein, based on original art by Tony Abruzzo. The painting is considered among Lichtenstein's most significant works, perhaps on a par with his acclaimed 1963 diptych Whaam!. One of the most representative paintings of the pop art movement, Drowning Girl was acquired by the Museum of Modern Art in 1971.
Roto Broil is a 1961 pop art painting by Roy Lichtenstein. It was one of the consumer goods paintings made in the early 1960s that "made a splash, sold well and immediately polarized the critics."
Brushstrokes series is the name for a series of paintings produced in 1965–66 by Roy Lichtenstein. It also refers to derivative sculptural representations of these paintings that were first made in the 1980s. In the series, the theme is art as a subject, but rather than reproduce masterpieces as he had starting in 1962, Lichtenstein depicted the gestural expressions of the painting brushstroke itself. The works in this series are linked to those produced by artists who use the gestural painting style of abstract expressionism made famous by Jackson Pollock, but differ from them due to their mechanically produced appearance. The series is considered a satire or parody of gestural painting by both Lichtenstein and his critics. After 1966, Lichtenstein incorporated this series into later motifs and themes of his work.
As I Opened Fire is a 1964 oil and magna on canvas painting by Roy Lichtenstein. The work is hosted at the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam. The source of the subject matter is Jerry Grandenetti's panels from "Wingmate of Doom," in All American Men of War, no. 90, DC Comics.
Yellow and Green Brushstrokes is a 1966 oil and Magna on canvas pop art painting by Roy Lichtenstein. It is part of the Brushstrokes series of artworks that includes several paintings and sculptures. It is located at the Museum für Moderne Kunst in Frankfurt, Germany. As with all of his Brushstrokes works, it is in part a satirical response to the gestural painting of Abstract Expressionism. It is in the collection of the Museum für Moderne Kunst.
M-Maybe is a 1965 pop art painting by Roy Lichtenstein. It is one of his romance comics-based works.
Ohhh...Alright... is a 1964 pop art painting by Roy Lichtenstein. It formerly held the record for highest auction price for a Lichtenstein painting.
Crying Girl is the name of two different works by Roy Lichtenstein: a 1963 offset lithograph on lightweight, off-white wove paper and a 1964 porcelain enamel on steel.
e-David is a painting robot developed at the Universität Konstanz that calculates brushstrokes from an input image and paints the image on a canvas. The project began in 2009 as a one-armed welding robot modified to be able to paint. The robot’s arm can interchange between different brushes and pens, and is equipped with a distance sensor to measure exactly how far the arm is from the canvas. e-David features two main painting methods: predefined stroke candidates and dynamically generated strokes.