ROY LICHTENSTEIN, THE RIVER, LANDSCAPES, MOONSCAPES AND SEASCAPES, LITHOGRAPH, WOODCUT AND SCREEN PRINT IN COLOURS, EDITION OF 60, 1985
Roy Lichtenstein revisited the landscape motif numerous times throughout his career. His vast Landscapes, Moonscapes and Seascapes comprise several individual series of prints. The River from 1985 belongs to the painterly Landscapes suites. 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 River shows a highly traditional landscape portrait with sailboats drifting down a narrow river. Abstracted figures observe the voyage from the shore. A row of houses with smoking chimneys are set in the background of the work. The whole scene is composed of intersecting pastel-toned and primary coloured brushstrokes. The explosive hand-painted sweeps 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.
Lichtenstein cleverly translates his stylised brushstroke variations into the conventional language of the landscape genre. As such, his simulated sweeps appear more instinctive and integrated. While Lichtenstein’s imitated painterly gestures symbolise shifting light and nature in motion, the detached cartoon elements produce spatial ambiguities. These strokes seem to have been cut out and pasted on, steering attention toward the object quality of the work.
Read more about Landscapes, Moonscapes and Seascapes 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.
