Bull III
Bull III
Signed Mixed Media
Roy Lichtenstein
Mixed Media, 1973
Signed Mixed Media Edition of 100
H 68cm x W 81cm
Critical Review
Bulls series by Roy Lichtenstein, an outstanding figure of Pop Art, is a composition of six prints created in 1973. The Bull Profile series is manufactured through different media, showing the development of printing techniques as well as the transformation of art forms. Building on the art historical heritage of his predecessors, Pablo Picasso among others, Lichtenstein based the prints in this series on preconceived drawings and preparatory collages.
All prints in the sequence represent a bull, but the manner of representation differs, mapping a gradual shift from figuration to abstraction. Bull III is right in the middle of the sequence, signifying the first formal move towards simplification. The playful composition lacks shading, making the lines seem ambiguous and fluctuating. The portrayed elements expand further than the centre of the canvas, contrary to the layout of Bull I and Bull II.
The canvas is divided into three semi-geometrical sections. The animal is still recognizable, but his figurative characteristics are less dominant on account of the colouring. The shape has been rendered in the solid primary colours frequently employed by Lichtenstein; red and yellow. Bull III also bears the artistic mark of Lichtenstein’s comic book style, though the main geometric elements follow a curved, rather than mechanical, outline.
