Composition II
Composition II
Signed Print
Roy Lichtenstein
£18,000-£26,000 VALUE (EST.)
$35,000-$50,000 VALUE (EST.)
$30,000-$45,000 VALUE (EST.)
¥160,000-¥230,000 VALUE (EST.)
€21,000-€30,000 VALUE (EST.)
$170,000-$250,000 VALUE (EST.)
¥3,270,000-¥4,720,000 VALUE (EST.)
$22,000-$30,000 VALUE (EST.)
This estimate blends recent public auction records with our own private sale data and network demand.
There aren’t enough data points on this work for a comprehensive result. Please speak to a specialist by making an enquiry.
Screenprint, 1996
Signed Print Edition of 50
H 90cm x W 114cm
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Auction Results
| Auction Date | Auction House | Artwork | Hammer Price | Return to Seller | Buyer Paid |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 2023 | Swann Auction Galleries - United States | Composition II - Signed Print | |||
| July 2016 | Sotheby's New York - United States | Composition II - Signed Print | |||
| September 2015 | Cornette de Saint Cyr Paris - France | Composition II - Signed Print | |||
| October 2012 | Christie's New York - United States | Composition II - Signed Print | |||
| April 2012 | Sotheby's New York - United States | Composition II - Signed Print | |||
| April 2011 | Christie's New York - United States | Composition II - Signed Print | |||
| November 2009 | Phillips New York - United States | Composition II - Signed Print |
Meaning & Analysis
Born and raised in New York City, Roy Lichtenstein came to prominence in the 1960s as a pioneer of Pop Art. His comic book style illustrations feature his characteristic Ben Day dots, stripes and primary colours, aiming to elevate products of printmaking into the realm of fine art.
Lichtenstein’s mother was a gifted piano player. The artist himself played the clarinet as a child and learned to play the saxophone shortly before his death in 1997. As an ardent lover of jazz in particular, Lichtenstein hints at his passion for music already in his early prints of the 1960s. His Brushstroke Faces, for instance, reveal clever musical undertones. Alluding to the abstraction process applied in his Bulls series, Lichtenstein’s Composition series from the mid 1990s convey his passion for music ever so directly.
Composition II, in line with Composition I, responds to the improvisatory nature of music, presenting arrangements of curving musical notations. The overall composition zooms in on the red detailed black notes and looping staves, which are set against an area of magnified dots and stripes in the primary colours of blue, yellow and red. Eggshell, royal blue and pale cyan coloured bits peek through the background of the work’s landscape format.
