ROY LICHTENSTEIN, RED AND YELLOW APPLE, SEVEN APPLE WOODCUT SERIES, WOODCUT IN COLOURS, EDITION OF 60, 1983
Roy Lichtenstein’s Red And Yellow Apple of 1983 belongs to his Seven Apple Woodcuts, a humorous revision of two major art historical practices. Lichtenstein in this sequence interrogates the act of touching brush against canvas, as idolised by the abstract expressionists. Additionally, he also reflects on the enduring status of still lifes, as immortalised by renaissance and impressionist masters in particular.
The Seven Apple Woodcuts are abstracted versions of Lichtenstein’s previous Six Still Lifes of 1974. The series also serves as the conceptual predecessor of Lichtenstein’s Brushstroke Faces of 1989. Expressive sweeps of colour are the vehicles, with which Lichtenstein reconsiders the formal qualities of still lifes and the authority given to painterly gestures of the past.
Red And Yellow Apple displays energetic strokes situated on a simple off-white background, devoid of patterns. Prompted by the title, the observer visualises two fruits, however, in reality, only one red apple is portrayed, while the other is symbolised by bright yellow streaks. Red And Yellow Apple proves that it isn’t necessary to figuratively capture both shapes, in order for audience’s to recognise the subject matter. Lichtenstein keenly embraces a sense of technical finesse with which he engages in a simulated process of painting. As a result, the beholder forgets that the print was in fact executed as a woodcut.
Read more about Seven Apple Woodcut series 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.
