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Summary
This video was produced on the occasion of an exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. It provides a useful overview to the work of this seminal Pop artist, and it also gets behind the sometimes impenetrably slick surfaces of Lichtenstein’s canvases and prints, to show how such works have their genesis.
Lichtenstein starts out drawing freehand, and the video shows many examples of his sketches that he later refines into finished paintings. Lichtenstein says about drawings, “It’s a way of describing my thoughts as quickly as possible”, and those thoughts are often on art history.
Bernice Rose, who curated the exhibition, breaks Lichtenstein’s oeuvre into distinct periods, many of which pursue versions of past art. Cubism, Futurism, Expressionism, Art Deco, Surrealism, and Abstraction have all provided him with imagery. Lichtenstein works these styles through the prism of commercial art that he investigated in his early paintings. As he states, “the cartoon seems to have everything I need to make modern drawings.” This video presents a lively look at Lichtenstein’s vision and technique.
Produced in association with THE MUSEUM OF MODERN ART.
A Checkerboard Library Film
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