Page 76 July 30, 2021 DAN’S PAPERS danspapers.com
ROY LICHTENSTEIN, WASHINGTON CROSSING THE DELAWARE II, 1951. OIL ON CANVAS,
BY OLIVER PETERSON
Of the many artists woven into
the Hamptons fabric, Roy Lichtenstein
stands among the most
prominent.
The Pop artist, who bought a home
in Southampton with his wife Dorothy
in 1970 and lived here full-time
for a decade before his death in 1997,
is best-known for his comic bookinspired
works using Ben-Day dots
and primary colors. Lichtenstein’s
paintings and sculpture are instantly
recognizable by this style that defined
him as an important figure in the Pop
Art movement, but like all artists—
even the greatest icons—it took time
to find his groove. Brilliant careers
often begin with experimentation,
mimicry and the study of those who
came before.
To truly get a full picture of our
most remarkable talents, there’s
great value in looking back to these
times in a young artist’s development.
And the Parrish Art Museum
is doing just that with Roy Lichtenstein:
History in the Making, 1948–
1960, a comprehensive examination
of the painter’s early years and the
work that eventually led him to the
technique and aesthetic that brought
him fame and respect worldwide.
On view from Sunday, August 1
through October 24, and co-curated
by Elizabeth Finch, Chief Curator at
Colby College Museum of Art’s Lunder
Institute, and Marshall N. Price,
Chief Curator at Duke University’s
Nasher Museum of Art, History in the
Making collects some 90 paintings,
drawings, sculptures and prints, including
numerous pieces that have
never been shown publicly beyond a
limited run at Colby College in February
of this year. It’s the first major
museum exhibition to explore work
from this widely overlooked period
in Lichtenstein’s career.
An early peek at the show’s checklist
reveals a wide spectrum of style,
content and color, but even the artist’s
pre-Pop efforts demonstrate
consistencies throughout. Lichtenstein,
it appears, always leaned toward
bold lines, geometry and separate
fields of color. Still, he can be
seen emulating Picasso’s early and
later work in pieces such as his oil
on canvas “Self-Portrait at an Easel”
(1951–52) or the Cubist canvas
“Captain Stephen Decatur” (1954).
The latter, and other childlike, historic
portraits or homages, like his
1951 oil version of Emanuel Leutze’s
hallowed and patriotic 1851 work,
“Washington Crossing the Delaware,”
are formative examples of the
wry wit and satire that were hallmarks
of the paintings that delivered
Lichtenstein to the international
stage alongside vaunted Pop contemporaries,
such as Jasper Johns,
Andy Warhol and James Rosenquist.
Even as far back as 1950, Lichtenstein’s
oil painting “Man on a
Lion” feels heavily influenced by the
style and palette of Henri Matisse, a
painter he later lampooned or honored—
depending on who you ask—in
“Artist’s Studio ‘The Dance,’” a 1974
Ben-Day recreation of Matisse’s most
recognized painting.
Later in the timeline, the artist’s
rough and loosely rendered 1958
drawings of Bug Bunny and Mickey
Mouse on paper feel more like Willem
de Kooning’s charcoals than the
crisp imagery Lichtenstein eventually
appropriated from comic strips, but
the source material is closely aligned.
His use of primary colors emerges
soon after that in a series of untitled
watercolors from 1959–60, where we
see him go fully into abstraction and
highlight individual brushstrokes. It’s
clear that Lichtenstein was right on
the cusp of his big breakthrough, and
it’s wonderful to witness with knowledge
of happened next.
To add further context, History in
the Making features various paper
gallery announcements from Lichtenstein’s
shows in the 1950s, along
with other ephemera, such as photographs,
books and a 1949 copy of Life
magazine.
All the elements of this exhibition
connect to form a beautiful and
scholarly picture of an eminently
important artist and East End figure.
Whether you’re a fan of Lichtenstein’s
work or not, it tells a worthwhile
story of how a modern master takes
shape. And there’s no better place
to see it than the Parrish, which has
been exhibiting and celebrating Roy
Lichtenstein’s work, life and legacy
for the past four decades.
Visit parrishart.org for more info.
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
Roy Lichtenstein’s Early Years
Revealed at the Parrish
© ROY LICHTENSTEIN ESTATE
ROY LICHTENSTEIN, BUGS BUNNY, C. 1958. BRUSH AND INDIA INK ON PAPER. PRIVATE
COLLECTION.
ROY LICHTENSTEIN, SELF-PORTRAIT AT AN
EASEL, C. 1951–1952. OIL ON CANVAS, 34
1/16 X 30 1/8 INCHES. PRIVATE COLLECTION.
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