ROY LICHTENSTEIN, VIEW FROM THE WINDOW, 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. View from the Window 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.
View from the Window shows a balcony featuring cursive iron railings and potted plants. The work reveals poignant details composed of intersecting pastel-toned and primary coloured brushstrokes. The view we see through the frame is overlooking a riverside, with figures wandering along the embankment. 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 Brushstroke Faces and Seven Apple Woodcuts.
The stylised brushstroke variations capture the essence of an everyday scene. Translated into the conventional language of the landscape genre, the imitations appear instinctive and integrated. While Lichtenstein’s simulated 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, drawing attention to the surface texture 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.
