Roy Lichtenstein: Connecting the Dots Selections from Four Decades
Edward Tyler Nahem Fine Art
Art Basel, Switzerland, June 13 - 16, 2013
Edward Tyler Nahem Fine Art, New York, announces an exhibition of works by celebrated American artist Roy Lichtenstein (1923 - 1997) to be held at their stand, Hall 2 F8, at Art Basel, Switzerland, June 13 16, 2013. This show will coincide with the landmark exhibition, Lichtenstein: A Retrospective, currently at the Tate Modern, London, which will be on view at the Centre Pompidou, Paris, from July 3 through November 4, 2013. Edward Tyler Nahem Fine Art’s exciting exhibition will feature significant works by Lichtenstein ranging from the 1960s through the mid 1990s.
Edward Tyler Nahem remarked on this special presentation, “An iconic artist of the idiomatic American century, Roy Lichtenstein continues to carry the Pop legacy into the 21st century. The subject of a current touring museum retrospective, Lichtenstein's emblematic and sundry subjects will be explored further at Art Basel. To our stand we will bring a carefully curated selection of paintings, drawings and sculpture, spanning four decades of Lichtenstein's talent. Art Basel attracts an exceptional clientele from all corners of the globe, knowledgeable and passionate in their pursuits. We are excited to share this exhibition of the work of Roy Lichtenstein with Art Basel's patrons.”
A highlight of the exhibition will be the large scale work, Imperfect Painting, 1986, that measures over nine by fourteen feet (283.8 x 426.7 cm). This painting is one of the most important works from the artist’s Perfect/Imperfect series, created between 1985 and 1987. The Perfect works celebrate the boundary’s edge and the ideal geometry of modern painting; the Imperfects humorously subvert them. Lichtenstein explained, “In the Imperfect paintings, the line goes out beyond the rectangle of the painting, as though I missed the edge somehow.” Accommodating this "mistake," each Imperfect work includes an attached triangular protuberance that breaks the edge of the canvas. This painting’s sister work, Imperfect Painting, 1986, is in the collection of The Broad Art Foundation, Santa Monica.
The exhibition will also feature two significant paintings from the 1970s: Things on the Wall, 1973, and Still Life with Sculpture, 1974. The former work references the still life paintings of 19th century artists John Frederick Peto and William Michael Harnett, and is a provocative Pop reimagining of their American classics. Still Life with Sculpture, a richly colored canvas with bold graphic patterns, similarly distills and expands upon the heroes of art history, with a quotation of a sculpture by Henri Matisse at its heart.
The show will also feature Lichtenstein’s Mobile I, 1989, and Metallic Brushstroke Head, 1994, two sculptures that represent the range of the artist’s work in three dimensions. Mobile I, measuring 30 by 35 ¾ by 10 ½ inches (76.2 x 90.8 x 26.7 cm), is a stationary bronze that recalls the geometric arrangements in space of Alexander Calder, a witty take on this 20th Century master.
With Metallic Brushstroke Head, 1994 (83 by 24 by 24 in. / 210.8 x 61 x 61 cm), Lichtenstein employs both of his brushstroke styles loosely painted brushstrokes (called “spontaneous”) with constructed (or “cartoon”) brushstrokes to great effect. His solid gestures of “spontaneous” black, blue, green and red “strokes” define the eyes, hair, and smiling mouth of this imposing work, while the red dots on nickel plated bronze define the figure’s head and sinuous neck, themselves fashioned in Benday dot form. Metallic Brushstroke Head doubles Lichtenstein’s hallmark brushstroke theme– a red dot brushstroke composition, painted with brushstroke features, ironically captured as the most solid of sculpture media– bronze.
Edward Tyler Nahem Fine Art
Art Basel, Switzerland, June 13 - 16, 2013
Edward Tyler Nahem Fine Art, New York, announces an exhibition of works by celebrated American artist Roy Lichtenstein (1923 - 1997) to be held at their stand, Hall 2 F8, at Art Basel, Switzerland, June 13 16, 2013. This show will coincide with the landmark exhibition, Lichtenstein: A Retrospective, currently at the Tate Modern, London, which will be on view at the Centre Pompidou, Paris, from July 3 through November 4, 2013. Edward Tyler Nahem Fine Art’s exciting exhibition will feature significant works by Lichtenstein ranging from the 1960s through the mid 1990s.
Edward Tyler Nahem remarked on this special presentation, “An iconic artist of the idiomatic American century, Roy Lichtenstein continues to carry the Pop legacy into the 21st century. The subject of a current touring museum retrospective, Lichtenstein's emblematic and sundry subjects will be explored further at Art Basel. To our stand we will bring a carefully curated selection of paintings, drawings and sculpture, spanning four decades of Lichtenstein's talent. Art Basel attracts an exceptional clientele from all corners of the globe, knowledgeable and passionate in their pursuits. We are excited to share this exhibition of the work of Roy Lichtenstein with Art Basel's patrons.”
A highlight of the exhibition will be the large scale work, Imperfect Painting, 1986, that measures over nine by fourteen feet (283.8 x 426.7 cm). This painting is one of the most important works from the artist’s Perfect/Imperfect series, created between 1985 and 1987. The Perfect works celebrate the boundary’s edge and the ideal geometry of modern painting; the Imperfects humorously subvert them. Lichtenstein explained, “In the Imperfect paintings, the line goes out beyond the rectangle of the painting, as though I missed the edge somehow.” Accommodating this "mistake," each Imperfect work includes an attached triangular protuberance that breaks the edge of the canvas. This painting’s sister work, Imperfect Painting, 1986, is in the collection of The Broad Art Foundation, Santa Monica.
The exhibition will also feature two significant paintings from the 1970s: Things on the Wall, 1973, and Still Life with Sculpture, 1974. The former work references the still life paintings of 19th century artists John Frederick Peto and William Michael Harnett, and is a provocative Pop reimagining of their American classics. Still Life with Sculpture, a richly colored canvas with bold graphic patterns, similarly distills and expands upon the heroes of art history, with a quotation of a sculpture by Henri Matisse at its heart.
The show will also feature Lichtenstein’s Mobile I, 1989, and Metallic Brushstroke Head, 1994, two sculptures that represent the range of the artist’s work in three dimensions. Mobile I, measuring 30 by 35 ¾ by 10 ½ inches (76.2 x 90.8 x 26.7 cm), is a stationary bronze that recalls the geometric arrangements in space of Alexander Calder, a witty take on this 20th Century master.
With Metallic Brushstroke Head, 1994 (83 by 24 by 24 in. / 210.8 x 61 x 61 cm), Lichtenstein employs both of his brushstroke styles loosely painted brushstrokes (called “spontaneous”) with constructed (or “cartoon”) brushstrokes to great effect. His solid gestures of “spontaneous” black, blue, green and red “strokes” define the eyes, hair, and smiling mouth of this imposing work, while the red dots on nickel plated bronze define the figure’s head and sinuous neck, themselves fashioned in Benday dot form. Metallic Brushstroke Head doubles Lichtenstein’s hallmark brushstroke theme– a red dot brushstroke composition, painted with brushstroke features, ironically captured as the most solid of sculpture media– bronze.