Modern Art Poster

Created concurrent with the Stedelijk Museum Poster, the work mimics the emblematic signage used in newspapers and comic strips. Modern Art Poster precedes Lichtenstein’s two-part Industry And The Arts sequence of 1969 and focuses on the trivialisation of culture. Using strident pigments and precise patterns, the print ironically integrates industrial sentiments with symbolic references of cultural heritage. Portraying the intersection of separate worlds and eras, the artist sets out to illustrate the dual objectives that dominate contemporary living.

Instead of solid white support, inflated shapes contain the purified colour fields situated on this densely dotted backdrop. Dark red and blue waves envelop the schematic illustration of a streamlined ocean liner’s funnels on the right, while the left depicts a column and a paint palette. A monumental sun is portrayed in the middle of the canvas, rising behind the back of a blonde female figure with lips for eyes. Lichtenstein’s dots suggest both a mechanically reproduced perfection, as well as organic tone, texture, and dimension.