ROY LICHTENSTEIN, PEACE THROUGH CHEMISTRY IV, PEACE THROUGH CHEMISTRY, LITHOGRAPH IN COLOURS, EDITION OF 56, 1970
The strategies of printmaking are fundamental to the visual language of Roy Lichtenstein. Peace Through Chemistry IV, executed in 1971, is from a five part sequence composed of four prints and one bronze plate. The bold artwork repurposes the inescapable imagery of commercial culture, thereby counteracting notions of fine art.
Peace Through Chemistry IV showcases a horizontal rectangle divided into three panels, akin to a triptych. Each third is halved by a strong diagonal line running across it. The print depicts a schematised progression, starting with natural imagery and concluding with a portrait of scientific growth. The artist uses elementary symbols to mark the different themes. The curvature of nature’s forms on the left counterbalances the angular industrial components in the middle and on the right.
This print exhibits limited fields of primary colour and eventually fades to black and white entirely. As a matter of fact, Lichtenstein treats the whole canvas in the same sparing manner. Peace Through Chemistry IV is an abstracted version of the other compositions from the same series. Nevertheless, the print wraps up the sequence neatly, pinning humanity against machinery. It ultimately functions as a printed mural, ridiculing industrialisation’s claim that peace is achievable through a scientific approach.
Read more about the Peace Through Chemistry by Roy Lichtenstein.
ABOUT ROY LICHTENSTEIN
Born in Manhattan in 1923, Roy Lichtenstein was a leading figure in the Pop Art movement during the second half of the 20th century. His distinctive artistic style is inspired by the visual language of consumerism and advertising that pervaded American popular culture at the time, and his work recalls a society of widespread commercialism that has remained powerfully relevant to this day. Learn more about Roy Lichtenstein.
