Name: The Sower
Brand: Roy Lichtenstein
Rating: 5 (236 reviews)

Track auction value trend

The value of Roy Lichtenstein’s The Sower (signed) is estimated to be worth between £40,000 and £60,000. This Planographic Print, created in 1985, has shown consistent value growth, with an average annual growth rate of 4%. This work has an auction history of eight total sales since its entry to the market in November 2007. In the past 12 months, the artwork has sold once, with an average selling price of £45,299. Over the past five years, the hammer price has ranged from £38,504 in November 2016 to £45,299 in the last 12 months. The edition size of this artwork is limited to 60.

Meaning & Analysis

Roy Lichtenstein revisited the landscape motif numerous times throughout his career. His vast Landscapes, Moonscapes and Seascapes comprise several individual series of prints. The Sower from 1985 belongs to the painterly Landscapessuites. The print mainly appropriates the formal attributes of landscape painting. However, it also imitates brushstrokes, thereby critiquing the idealised brushwork of the abstract expressionists.

The Sower depicts a figure planting seeds while walking along a field populated by haystacks. The whole scene is composed of explosive pastel-toned and primary coloured brushstrokes. The vivid hand-painted sweeps within this portrait interact energetically with the mechanical aspects of the artist’s own style. Consequently, the layout of the print becomes similarly abstracted as Lichtenstein’s concurrent Brushstroke Faces and Seven Apple Woodcuts.

Although the print presents a panoramic plough land, Lichtenstein only includes the most distilled and poignant details found in a natural setting. His stylised brushstrokes are translated into the conventional language of the landscape genre, making them appear more instinctive. While Lichtenstein’s simulated painterly gestures symbolise nature in motion, the detached cartoon elements produce spatial ambiguities. These strokes seem to have been cut out and pasted on, drawing attention to the surface texture and object quality of the work.

Roy Lichtenstein, born in New York, 1923, is a seminal figure in the Pop Art movement, renowned for his comic book and advertisement-inspired artworks. His transformative journey from classical painter to Pop Art pioneer began with his iconic piece, Look Mickey, marking the fusion of painting with pop culture. Lichtenstein’s works, including Whaam!, Drowning Girl, and Crying Girl, blend parody and satire, challenging the boundaries between popular culture and ‘high art’. With over 5,000 pieces to his name, Lichtenstein’s enduring influence resonates in contemporary art, his works celebrated in prestigious institutions worldwide.