ANOTHER VISION OF POP ART
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| Beaubourg Centre |
There had already been the same retrospective at the Tate earlier this year but not an artist which tempts me to take trains or planes to see him. A Pop Artist of course and I tend to relate him to crying females, lines, comics and advertising. All those clichés that correspond to this era. Andy Warhol being another one. Roy Lichtenstein’s style was certainly clear, effective and memorable but my enthusiasm was not growing as I approached the centre. I had told myself that if there were queues outside the Beaubourg, I would give him a miss. There weren’t.
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| Fishing village 1987 |
This is the first major retrospective of his work in France. A selection of over 100 key works. In fact there were some here which were not shown in the same exhibitions in London or Chicago. We were not to know which ones they were. His work is LARGE - and I have got to admit it - surprising. There was even one painting which I would have put on my wall without hesitation.
In 1961, he produced «Look Mickey» . These are the works we know. He was recognized for the comic strips. Accused of copying. The stereotypes of American culture. His comic strips as we all remember were dramatic, battle scenes, and screaming colours. Even his sculptures - which I admit surprised me - were brash and artificial. Then there was the brushstroke period and the sculptures that went with it. A pictorial gesture in sculptural form.
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| Look Mickey - 1961 |
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| The ring 1962 |
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| sunrise 1965 |
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| cartoon strip |
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| Drowning girl 1963 |
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| Step on can with leg 1961 |
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| Torpedo LOS 1963 and Time - highly representative of the USA today.... |
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| Wall explosion - 1965 |
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| Small - 1965 |
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| Moders-n sculptures -1967/68 |
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| Woman: sunlight:moonlight 1996 |
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| Scholar's rock 1996 |
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| Blond 1965 - ceramic |
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| The adventures of Mao on the long march -1971 |
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| Amerind Figure 1981 |
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| sleeping-muse and I like her |
Or his brushstrokes......
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| Yellow apple 1981 |
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| Brustroke sculptures together |
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| Blond 1989 |
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| Brushstroke head ll -1987 |
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| Brushstroke 1986 |
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| Cup and saucer ll 1977 |
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| Goldfsh bowl ll 1978 |
I’m reading a fascinating book at the moment «L’Image Recylcée» (University press under the direction of Georges Rocque and Luciano Cheles) which explores art which has been copied, interpreted in another way. Lichtenstein produced paintings echoing reproductions of Picasso, Piet Mondrian, Cezanne and Manet. Works which are inspired by De Kooning, Matisse, Leger and even Brancusi. So often we look at such work and make the remark that such and such reminds me of ..... for some reason or another Lichenstein’s is funny, even comical and the «Master’s work» is cast aside.
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| The Bull series |
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| Rouen Cathedral after Monet |
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| Rouen Catheedral set 5 - 196? |
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| The Blue horse riders after Carro |
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| Artist's studio 1974- foot medication |
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| Woman 1981 after de Kooning |
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| Artist's studio - the dance 1992 |
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| Still life after Picasso 1964 |
It’s not until the 90’s that he tackles the female nude and those famous comic strips of the 60’s reappear. Dots and stripes which I could do without and paintings we have all seen before. I even had a cliché image in my head of what he looked like. Some kind of Andy Warhol. How wrong could I be.....
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| Taken from a video |
At the end of his life his work becomes Zen and he turned once more to landscapes inspired by Chinese paintings. Mechanical as always but meditative too. The philosopher, tiny as he may be in this painting, touched me deep down inside. I had liked his earlier landscapes too. In fact, I can say today that I like his work - some of it anyway.
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| landscape |
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| Landscape |
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| Landscape with philosopher -right down in the right hand corner |
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