Roy Lichtenstein: The Black-and-White Drawings, 1961-1968

Category: Books,Arts & Photography,Individual Artists

Roy Lichtenstein: The Black-and-White Drawings, 1961-1968 Details

From Publishers Weekly Dervaux, curator of modern and contemporary drawings at the Morgan Library & Museum, compiles a detailed study of Roy Lichtenstein's drawings, which were meant to stand on their own, a collection of images of everyday objects, that she calls "the most original contribution of Pop Art to the history of drawing." The stark black-and-whiteness of simple images like a steaming cup of coffee contrast with his colorful paintings. The essays cover a range of theoretical approaches to Lichtenstein's work during this period, when he sought to unravel the process of drawing in an age of mechanical reproduction and commercial imagery. Perhaps the most compelling and relevant essay, by Margaret Holben Ellis and Lindsey Tyne, discusses Lichtenstein's specific tools and processes for imitating offset lithography, giving crucial insight into the development of his deadpan aesthetic. All the contributors touch on the delicate boundary between fine art and commercial reproduction that was central to Lichtenstein's work and especially apparent in his finished drawings. The book creates a solid and sophisticated framework around this group of drawings, while placing it in the context of Lichtenstein's body of work. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Read more

Reviews

The catalog for the current exhibition held at the Morgan Library in NYC, this is a very interesting book on a seldom-studied aspect of Lichtenstein's art: his preparatory drawings for his famous Ben-Day-dot paintings of the 1960's. The works are very well reproduced as well as some source material for the paintings)and the text gives an intimate look into the artist's working process; the book also shows Lichtenstein's deft mastery of the medium and, as most of those drawings are held in private collections and seldom come to light, it is an opportunity not to be missed.