Cubist Cello
Cubist Cello
Signed Print
Roy Lichtenstein
£14,500-£21,000 VALUE (EST.)
$27,000-$40,000 VALUE (EST.)
$24,000-$35,000 VALUE (EST.)
¥130,000-¥180,000 VALUE (EST.)
€17,000-€24,000 VALUE (EST.)
$140,000-$210,000 VALUE (EST.)
¥2,470,000-¥3,580,000 VALUE (EST.)
$18,000-$27,000 VALUE (EST.)
This estimate blends recent public auction records with our own private sale data and network demand.
Screenprint, 1997
Signed Print Edition of 75
H 129cm x W 100cm
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Auction Results
| Auction Date | Auction House | Artwork | Hammer Price | Return to Seller | Buyer Paid |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 2022 | Bonhams New York - United States | Cubist Cello - Signed Print | |||
| November 2022 | Van Ham Fine Art Auctions - Germany | Cubist Cello - Signed Print | |||
| October 2022 | Sotheby's New York - United States | Cubist Cello - Signed Print | |||
| June 2022 | Bonhams New Bond Street - United Kingdom | Cubist Cello - Signed Print | |||
| October 2019 | Bonhams Los Angeles - United States | Cubist Cello - Signed Print | |||
| December 2016 | Freeman's - United States | Cubist Cello - Signed Print | |||
| June 2016 | Bonhams New York - United States | Cubist Cello - Signed Print |
Meaning & Analysis
Cubist Cello of 1997 is Roy Lichtenstein’s final tribute to his life-long passion for music. The artist’s enthusiasm for vocal and instrumental sound fueled a number of his projects. See his pre-pop paintings of the 1950s and his Compositions of the mid-1990s as notable examples.
Cubist Cello integrates the artist’s characteristic pop elements with the pictorial language of Cubism. This artwork was created to benefit the Tel Aviv Museum of Art’s American Friends initiative.
Lichtenstein centers a hovering pastel coloured cello in the middle of the print. The instrument is underscored by figurative elements poking out from behind its curved body. The work is self-referential, featuring a wide array of subject matter from Lichtenstein’s oeuvre. For instance, it integrates the cattle from his 1970s Bulls series and his famous cartoon heroine of the 1960s.
Fixing his musical portrait on a patchwork of geometric shapes adorned by Ben Day dots, Lichtenstein amplifies his illustrated collage through bold contours and thick lines. Creating a symphonic mixture of colour and form, the print unites painterly gestures with the ready-made qualities of printmaking. Lichtenstein’s detailed composition explores ways in which the various historical and cultural traditions defining music can be translated onto a canvas.
