Roy Lichtenstein: Reflections on Pop & Water Lilies

ROY LICHTENSTEIN Reflections on Pop November 6 - December 18, 2014

ROY Reflections on Pop LICHTENSTEIN November 6 - December 18, 2014

David Benrimon Fine Art LLC The Crown Building 730 Fifth Avenue, 7th Floor New York, New York 10019

About David Benrimon Fine Art is pleased to announce its solo exhibition of Roy Lichtenstein’s work in our new state of the art gallery located in the Crown Building, 730 Fifth Avenue. The exhibition will showcase a wide range of works from the artist’s long and prolific career, examining how Lichtenstein became a central figure of the American Pop movement. The works were carefully selected from his most iconic series, namely Water Lilies, Nudes and Reflections.

Lichtenstein is primarily known for his interpretation of comic strips and advertising imagery, colored with his signature Benday dots, as portrayed in his earlier works such as Reverie and Shipboard Girl. He pioneered a new style of painting, executed by hand but inspired by the mechanics of the industrial printing process. His rich and expansive practice is further demonstrated by the wide range of mediums he worked with, including bronze, brass and Of the most innovative works are Lichtenstein’s Water Lilies, a small edition on stainless steel, inspired by Claude Monet’s Nympheas. Sign-painter’s enamel was screenprinted on the metal to build a surface of color that is collage-like in appearance.

Although not fully apparent in photographs, the image transmogrifies reflecting light and color of the room it occupies, shifting and changing as the work is viewed from different angles. Lichtenstein moved beyond Monet’s lessons in light not in irony but earnestly; thoughtfully using reflective forms, pop imagery, and careful composition to further a dialogue about abstraction and pictorial space.

Much like Pablo Picasso and Henri Matisse, Lichtenstein returned to the motif of the female form in the latter part of his career. The portrayals from the Nudes can be traced to the artist's archive of comicbook clippings, some dating back to the 1960s, the key difference being that the originally clothed heroines are now undressed.

The artist typically deployed his trademark version of painted Benday dots to mimic chiaroscuro, traditionally used in Rennaissance painting to represent dimension. Here however, they are used to create unrealistic contrasts in the illumination of forms, as seen in Nude with Blue Hair. Transgressing the limits of the nude's curvilinear torso, Lichtenstein's dots cascade from the top to the bottom, breaking the conventional distinctions of foreground and background and thereby flattening the picture plane.

This exhibition follows the gallery’s critically acclaimed presence in the Lichtenstein market for over 35 years. This exhibition has been curated by Linda Benrimon and is accompanied by an exhibition catalogue.

For further information please contact the gallery at info@benrimon.com or at +1.212.628.1600. All images are subject to copyright. Gallery approval must be granted prior to reproduction.

Essay by Linda Benrimon

Water Lilies

Water Lilies with Willows, 1992 Screenprint enamel on processed and swirled stainless steel ~ 58 x 104 1/4 inches

Water Lily Pond with Reflections, 1992 Screenprint enamel on processed and swirled stainless steel ~ 58 x 84 1/2 inches

Water Lilies with Cloud, 1992 Screenprint enamel on processed and swirled stainless steel ~ 65 1/2 x 44 3/4 inches

Blue Lily Pads, 1992 Screenprint enamel on processed and swirled stainless steel ~ 43 1/4 x 38 1/4 inches

NUDES

Nude with Blue Hair, State1, 1994 Relief print in colors ~ 57 3/4 x 37 1/2 inches

Two Nudes, 1994 Relief print in colors ~ 41 1/2 x 35 inches

Two Nudes, State I, 1994 Relief print in colors ~ 41 1/2 x 35 inches

Thinking Nude, 1994 Relief print in colors ~ 35 1/2 x 56 inches

Nude Reading,1994 Relief print in colors ~ 24 x 30 1/2 inches

VARIOUS

Reverie, 1965 Screenprint print in colors ~ 30 1/8 x 24 inches

Shipboard Girl, 1965 Offset lithograph ~ 27 1/4 x 20 1/4 inches

Art Critic, 1996 Screenprint print in colors ~ 26 x 19 1/8 inches

Composition I, 1996 Screenprint print in colors ~47 5/8 x 34 5/8 inches

Reflections on Expressionist Painting, 1990 Screenprint in colors ~59.5 x 39.38 inches

Reflections on Minerva, 1990 Screenprint and relief print in colors ~42 x 51 3/4 inches

Peace through Chemistry, 1970 Bronze ~27 1/4 x 46 1/4 x 1 1/4 inches

Modern Head Relief, 1970 Solid brass ~24 x 17 3/4 inches

David Benrimon Fine Art LLC The Crown Building 730 Fifth Avenue, 7th Floor New York, New York 10019