Roy Lichtenstein

Brushstroke

1965

© Estate of Roy Lichtenstein

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Not on display

Artist: Roy Lichtenstein 1923–1997
Medium: Screenprint on paper
Dimensions: Image: 565 × 724 mm
frame: 626 × 777 × 37 mm
Collection: Tate
Acquisition: Purchased 1979
Reference: P07354

Display caption

In 1965-6 Lichtenstein made a series of paintings depicting enlarged brushstrokes. Ironically, the motif was taken from a printed source, the comic book story entitled The Painting, printed in Strange Suspense Stories in October 1964. Here Lichtenstein used it to make a direct comment on the elevated content and loaded brushwork of Abstract Expressionism. The brushstroke, as the token of the artist's personal expression, is depersonalised. The motif is screenprinted onto paper in a manner usually associated with advertising or publishing to the effect that it seems banal and everyday.

Gallery label, April 2008

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