ROY LICHTENSTEIN RED LAMP

In 1963 Roy Lichtenstein  defended Pop art against its critics, contending that “there are certain things that are usable, forceful, and vital about commercial art.” By choosing comic-book illustrations as a theme, and using simulated Benday dots to suggest cheap printing, Roy Lichtenstein acknowledged (and perhaps questioned) the role of commercial images in daily life.

Red Lamp, made in the early 1990s, is one of many pieces made during this time depicting domestic interiors. Featuring furniture and decoration that exemplifies modernist living at the time, these Roy Lichtenstein’s prints of interior spaces are both a time capsule and a critique of the era from which they came.

Roy Lichtenstein initially became interested in domestic interiors when he saw a billboard advertisement for a furniture store outside of Rome. When Roy Lichtenstein returned home, he began to source images of furniture from advertisements found in the Yellow Pages.

In the US, Pop artists reacted against the Abstract Expressionism and post-painterly abstraction that prevailed in the art of the 1950s by incorporating imagery appropriated from popular culture and features of design into their work in an attempt to introduce aspects of life into art. As in much of Roy Lichtenstein’s work, there is a sense of detachment to the print; the living room furniture represented here is generic, and the rendering is flat, unreal and illustrational.

The New York Times said “These works suggest that the artist has seen too many glossy magazine spreads featuring the overdecorated homes of art collectors and is now taking revenge.”

Red Lamp  (1992) by Roy Lichtenstein is an original lithograph on Rives BFK paper and is referenced in Corlett 279. Red Lamp is an edition of 241 out of 250 and hand signed in pencil. For more information about Roy Lichtenstein or Red Lamp, please contact the gallery. SOLD