Product Description
One of the most complete monographs of the artist to date, this volume depicts the career of Roy Lichtenstein, one of the finest American pop artists of his era. Roy Lichtenstein (1923-1997) was the master of the stereotype, and the most sophisticated of the major pop artists. An emblematic protagonist of the New York art scene of the second half of twentieth century, he became a legend in his prolific lifetime. Even now, thirteen years after his death, his works and lexicon of symbols, subjects and themes continue to intrigue the art world. Published on the occasion of the major exhibition at the Milan Triennial, this monograph covers the entire artistic development of Roy Lichtenstein, through more than 250 paintings and sculptural works, a rich photographic section including unpublished material, and critical text. The reproductions of Lichtenstein’s work are large-format, in full color. The insightful quotes and most of the references to his personal life serve to explain how his art evolved or how he came to be in a particular place in the world. This deluxe edition (large square format with padded cover) offers a dynamic and provocative look at the works of Lichtenstein through a powerful combination of text and visual elements. It will appeal to Lichtenstein fans, critics, dealers, and anyone interested in contemporary art. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

What makes a Lichtenstein a Lichtenstein
This hefty volume is the catalogue for an exhibition held in early 2010 in Milan, Italy, which later went to Cologne in Germany. There are some very interesting essays in this book, such has the one tackling the issue of the original versus the copy in Lichtenstein's art (at a time when artists had reached a kind of dead-end with abstraction, Lichtenstein's answer was "repainting in all the possible senses of the word"), as well as a very informed study of the artist's themes and technique by art historian Robert Pincus Witten, a first-hand witness of Lichtenstein's rise in the NYC artworld of the early 1960's, who quotes the painter on the different types of dots - the famous benday dots : "Not only the size of the dots help date the early works but the angle of the dots too...Earlier, this angle was more acute, approximately a 45 degree angle".

Now the main asset of this book is undoubtedly the top-quality illustrations, from photographs of the artist at work at various stages of his career, to color plates of the works themselves, some coming out as real surprises, such as the early works from the 1950's which hark back to Picasso or Larry Rivers. The only drawback is that most of the works in the show are from the 1970's onwards; there is no 1964 Girl painting for example, probably because of the rising insurance value of those works, and, therefore, it is an incomplete retrospective ,but it still remains a valuable addition to the literature on the artist. ... Read more

Product Description
Between 1961 and 1968, at the height of the Pop art movement, Roy Lichtenstein (1923-1997) created about 50 large black-and-white drawings. Not only was their imagery, culled from consumer culture, entirely new--baked potatoes, ads for foot medication and BB Guns--but so was their treatment, which drew on the rudimentary character of cheaply printed commercial drawings. Conceived independently from Lichtenstein's paintings, these drawings recast illustrations from newspaper ads and comic books into works of keen visual intensity, curiously echoing the clean-edge aesthetic of 1960s geometric abstraction. "Drawing is the basis of my art," Lichtenstein later affirmed; "It is where my thinking takes place." Published for an exhibition at the Morgan Library in New York, this richly illustrated publication offers 120 color illustrations, plus essays on Lichtenstein's technique and on his little-known 1967 Aspen project, in which the artist transformed a room into a black-and-white cartoon drawing. ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (2)

WHAAM! says it all
I bought this book as a reference material for 5th graders when I was teaching a Pop Art lesson in each art and computer. I love the quality of the images and the information it provided for my students. The book is about 12" x 12" for the images are nice and big with lots of detail. I would recommend this book to anyone.

Comics and ads complimenting a 46-page biography kids - and parents too - will find absorbing
Ray Lichtenstein brought a new era and look to comics, changing them from a limited audience and bringing them into a mainstream world where panels juxtaposed print, advertising and more, and even came to be considered their own art form. WHAAM! The Art & Life of Roy Lichtenstein surveys the life and contributions of Roy Lichtenstein, with full-page panels of his comics and ads complimenting a 46-page biography kids - and parents too - will find absorbing. Any collection strong in comic history, for all ages, needs this.
... Read more

Product Description
The Amercian master Roy Lichtenstein appropriated his classic modern high-art style from the pop art of comics. His distinctive look-filled with brillant color, dots, and stripes-is one of the most identifiable in all contemporary art. Here, Lichtenstein's unique style celebrates our beloved ABCs, with results that are surprising, delightful, and amusing. D is for a comically vicious growling Dog. H is a Horse that races by in dizzying dots and stripes. And A is for Art, Lichtenstein's first pop comic masterpiece, Look Mickey, now in the collection of the National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.

This mini-retrospective is a must for art lovers, letter lovers, and those just cutting their teeth on the alphabet.

One of the founders of pop art, Roy Lichtenstein is best known for large-scale renditions of comic-stip art and for fusing comic images with "high art" in his appropriations of such artists as Picasso and Mondrian.Amazon.com Review
This little ABC book is so wonderful that adults may have trouble sharing it with the babies, toddlers, and growing children in their midst. Every two-page spread contains an alphabet letter and a painting by Roy Lichtenstein, one of the first and most successful of the pop artists. The 26 letters here were each lifted from one of Lichtenstein's prints, drawings, or paintings, and each has a style and a presence all its own, apart from the art on the facing page. Finally, below each member of the alphabet, in comic-book type, are a few words that begin with that letter and refer to objects or ideas pictured in the art on the opposite page. Lichtenstein, who died in 1997, was a witty and subtly classical artist who combined humor and whimsy in his work with an effortless dignity and a broad knowledge of art history. His comics-derived imagery was so crisp and stylish when he first rose to prominence--so now, as one might have said in the '60s--that viewers were surprised when in the 1980s he began painting monumental images of abstract friezes from ancient temples. This little book is tremendously appealing, showing paintings of water lilies, dogs, a sweet kiss, a "Matisse" still life with goldfish (and a golf ball), a nurse, a cup of coffee, an ice-cream soda, and other recognizable images. Babies and toddlers especially will love to peruse its pages, and art-loving parents everywhere will be enthralled. --Peggy Moorman ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A book for all ages
I originally bought this book for my husband, who loves Roy Lictenstein, to read to our son.I bought it because I thought that my huband would love it.In fact, my son, who is a year and a half, also LOVES it, and ithelped him learn the alphabet as well as some words. For those familiarwith LIctenstein's work, it is interesting because all of the work existedand was put together for each letter.For example, the letter O has apicture of the oval office.It is an easy way for children -- of all ages-- to learn about words and art. ... Read more

Product Description
Think "Roy Lichtenstein" and you probably conjure up comic strip-based paintings and the colorful dots that comprise them. Lichtenstein intended his now iconic depictions of characters in tense, dramatic situations as commentaries on modern man's plight, in which the media--magazines, television, and advertisements--shapes everything, including our emotions. Many of the same concepts behind the artist's paintings apply to the significant number of prints he produced in the latter part of this life. Focused on works created from the mid-50s until his death in 1997, this exhibition catalogue gives a full overview of Lichtenstein's printmaking accomplishments. Accompanying reproductions of the artist's works are essays by two outstanding scholars: Dave Hickey, a MacArthur Award-winning writer on art and culture; and Elizabeth Brown, who wrote her thesis on Lichtenstein at Columbia University, under the tutelage of the late Kirk Varnedoe. Approximately 40 prints are illustrated in this elegant, intimately-scaled book, which highlights a specific body of work from one of the most innovative forces in post-World War II art.Essays by Dave Hickey and Elizabeth Brown. Introduction by Chris Bruce.Hardcover, 8 x 10 in./80 pgs / 50 color and 3 b&w. ... Read more

Product Description
Twelve years ago, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) Arts for Transit commissioned Roy Lichtenstein to create a mural for the Times Square subway station at 42nd Street and Broadway in Manhattan. Fabricated by Lichtenstein in 1994, the mural was finally unveiled on September 5, 2002, a gift from the artist to all New Yorkers. Standing 6 feet high and 53 feet long, the mural provides a skyline view of a futuristic metropolis, as represented through Lichtenstein's trademark benday dots and comic book flair. The development of the mural is explored here through an essay by Harvard University scholar Scott Rothkopf and "Report on Miniaturization (Metropolis, 2030 A.D.)," a new, specially commissioned short story by Rick Moody. In this appropriately oversized book, viewers get a glimpse of Lichtenstein's creative process, interweaving motifs, and visionary themes, and of the four decades of art making and rich associations that went into the making of the Times Square Mural.

Essays by Scott Rothkopf and Rick Moody.
Introduction by Jack Cowart.

Paperback, 11 x 15 in., 49 color, 15 b/w illustrations ... Read more

Product Description
Lichtenstein ushered in the American pop art movement of the 1960s while commenting on the fabricated reality of postwar American society. This comprehensive monograph focuses on the artist's painting and sculpture from the '60s to the present. Chronology and bibliography. 250 full-color reproductions. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Pop Art as a Reaction to Abstract Expressionism
In the early to mid-1950s, it seemed like modern art was inevitably and permanently headed towards ever more spiritual abstraction.Then out popped the popular art created by Roy Lichtenstein and Andy Warhol, among others.Nothing could have been more different and more direct in its focus and style.

But there's more there than meets the eye.Lichtenstein's work opened up doors to hitherto unexpected potential for a variety of art styles from Impressionism and Cubism to the classic still life.

As you become more familiar with the work, the strong ties to Matisse's desire to simplify to the essence become apparent . . . but in a new form.

This book is an astonishing resource from a number of perspectives:

1.The images are a superb compilation of Lichtenstein's work through the time of his Guggenheim retrospective in 1993.

2.Most of the images are placed next to the sources for Lichtenstein's pieces.This permits you to better see how Lichtenstein transformed his prosaic sources.

3.Ms. Waldman, who wrote the main essay, has an astonishingly good understanding of this work which she conveys both visually and in her writing.You'll know more about Benday dots than you ever thought possible before you're done.I was intrigued to see how much the technique for these dots (familiar to us all from newspaper images and comic books) changed over time and how those changes affected how the art looks and appeals to the viewer.

4.Excellent information about the raw materials and how they influenced the resulting works.

I only found Ms. Waldman off the mark in a few places.She seems to think that Americans only flew combat missions in World War II and in Vietnam, and mistakenly describes Korean War jet fighters as belonging to the former conflict.Ms. Waldman also seems to find Mr. Lichtenstein's murals beyond her interpretive abilities. When an artist creates so much that is direct, why not explore the meaning of his more obscure works in careful detail?The text could also have been made a lot more interesting by concentrating the discussion of Benday dots into a shorter essay so that every other paragraph didn't have to mention the dots.

A TREASURE FOR LOVERS OF CONTEMPORARY ART

If, as English art critic Lawrence Alloway posed in the late fifties, Pop art refers as much to the art as to the attitudes that directed it, Roy Lichtenstein led in both.To this artist, it seems not very much is improbable.Why not art based on cartoons and advertising?

The chapter prefacing the artist's oeuvre in "Roy Lichtenstein" states, "He wanted to make painting that resembled cliches and, in so doing, to confront the cliches of art and the conventions that govern how we recognize art as art."This he did as no other artist has done before him.

His use of primary colors as a vital force and introduction of Benday dots as a way of painting produced images that startle and compel.Not only is Lichtenstein's work featured in galleries, museums and collections, but he has created murals and public sculptures seen in cities throughout the world.

Diane Waldham has compiled a stellar collection of landmark examples from each phase of the artist's career.Her laudable text places Lichtenstein's work in proper historical context and is a valuable addition to the archives of art.

Published in conjunction with a major retrospective of the artist's work, "Roy Lichtenstein" holds over 350 full-color reproductions, and is a veritable treasure trove for all lovers of contemporary art.

- Gail Cooke

Pop art with more humor than Warhol ever dreamed of!
Some of Roy Lichtenstein's first works were humorous copies of Micky Mouse and Donald Duck that were done in part for his children.Thus her found both his trademark comic strip dots, and a charming sense of childlikeinnocence that can be found in most of his work.

Well, I'm a littlepartial, Roy Lichtenstein is one of my all time favorites, but this is abeautiful book.There are 350 full color reproductions and only 408 pages,so the majority of this book allows you to see the artist's work foryourself.

And what an incredible sample it is! The murals, the comicstrips, of course THE GIRLS, the surrealism.I love "Cow GoingAbstract".Who else could so lovingly mock every other artist! Carra, Picaso, Matisse, Magritte, Dali, Schlemmer- No one was safe!ButLichtenstein brought his own outlook to each of these artists, not merelycopying, but giving that childlike enthusiasm - bright colors and virtuallyno shading - to all of their works.

This book abounds with theinspirational material for Roy Lichtenstein's work - The Dali's are rightnext to Lichtensteins own versions.Even his Brushstrokes series makesmore sense when the little comic strip that inspired it is shown.

Thisbook is an absolute treasure.It's only fault - it needs a sturdierbinding!

Another gorgeous collection from the Guggenheim. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Pretty Nice Little Book
This is book is part of Taschen's "Basic Art" series, and is a nice overview of Lichtenstein with some really nice images of his paintings ... Read more

Product Description
A key figure in the Pop Art movement, Roy Lichtenstein was inspired by images from comic books, newspaper advertisements, and mail order catalogues, cheaply printed images whose look was as far from "art" as the average person could imagine. With their basic hand drawn line, they were also about as archetypal as image making can get. In response to this dumb beauty of pulp imagery, and to the odd powers of simple black and white images to stimulate our appetite, Lichtenstein made some of his most essential, enduring paintings. The apparently simple paintings of single objects--a tire, a curtain, a sock, a diamond brooch, a golf ball--project riveting clarity, simplicity, and astonishing newness that are the bedrock of his art, and of Pop Art itself.

Essays by Robert Rosenblum and Frederic Tuten. ... Read more

Product Description
Roy Lichtenstein's popular appeal—and his influence on pop culture, seen in everything from greeting cards to sitcoms—at times overshadows his importance to contemporary art. Yet, examined on its own terms, Lichtenstein's comics-inspired, deadpan artwork remains as truly unsettling to art-world orthodoxies today as when it first gained wide attention in the early 1960s. Lichtenstein (1923-1997), a central figure in Pop, consistently savaged the rules of painting—while remaining committed to the most traditional procedures and goals of the medium. (He once said, "The things that I have apparently parodied I actually admire and I really don't know what the implication of that is.") This book offers the most comprehensive collection of writings on Lichtenstein's work to appear in thirty-five years, with early reviews, artist interviews and statements (some never before published), and recent reassessments.

The book includes Donald Judd's reviews of Lichtenstein's three solo Pop shows in the early 1960s, an essay on the artist's 1969 Guggenheim retrospective, interviews that touch on topics ranging from the New York art world to Monet and Matisse, the transcript of a 1995 slide presentation in which Lichtenstein surveyed three decades of his work, and an in-depth study of Lichtenstein's first Pop painting, Look Mickey (1961). The texts explore Lichtenstein's career across the boundaries of medium and period, excavating early critical discussions and surveying more recent reexaminations of his artistic practice. The collection will be an indispensable resource for those interested in Lichtenstein, Pop Art, and American culture of the 1960s.

Contributors: Graham Bader, Yve-Alain Bois, John Coplans, David Deitcher, Hal Foster, John Jones, Donald Judd, Max Kozloff, Jean-Claude Lebensztejn, Roy Lichtenstein, Michael Lobel

October Files series ... Read more

Product Description
Blondes, beds, and black-and-white works sum up this selection of Roy Lichtenstein's series, based on an exhibition mounted at Vienna's famous Kunsthaus Bregenz in 2005. This substantial catalogue contains 80 essential color reproductions, some in high-quality foldouts, under three thematic groupings: early black-and-white works of the 60s; the woman as motif in his paintings from the 60s, 70s, and 80s; and his interiors, especially those from the 90s. Leading scholars in the field, including Michael Lobel and Avis Berman, newly illuminate the Pop master's oeuvre in the context of this juxtaposition of early and late periods. Also included are studio photographs, some of which have never been published before, and finally, a biography and bibliography related specifically to the exhibition themes. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Slightly disappointing
Being a fan of the Modern Masters series, I was a little disappointed with this book, not because of its text, which is full of information and insightul remarks written by a leading art historian, but because of the illustrations, most of which are in black and white. Lichtenstein's works gain a lot at being well reproduced and, in this case, this is a major flaw. Apart from that, the entire career of the artist is studied and most of his major works, especially the paintings from the 1960's, are illustrated.

Pop at its best
This book is the catalogue for an exhibition held at the Kunsthaus Bregenz in 2006. It studies Lichtenstein's work chronologically and dividing it by themes (women, interiors, early paintings...). The reproductions are very good and even show the paintings in their current frame (an unusual step which I think gives an extra dimension to the works). A very interesting book, easy to read, on an artist that changed the way we look at art.

Superb illustrations, intelligent text!
Taschen triumphs again with a beautifully produced overview of Lichtenstein's entire career, with excellent reproductions of his major works and some less wellknown pieces.Essential. ... Read more

Product Description
This long-awaited reissue makes this indispensable reference available again in a revised and enlarged editions that catalogues, for the first time, all of Roy Lichtenstein's graphic oeuvre, including twenty-three prints created between 1993 and his death in 1997. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

In my opinion a superior raisonne
It is the nature of the biz that catalogues raisonne need to be refined and updated over time.This is especially true of the attempts to catalogue the work of print artists.Some artists such as Warhol and Dali will likely never have definitive raisonnes of their legitimate work never mind that which is falsely attributed to them.It is a never ending battle on the part of researchers to continue to ferret out critical information relating to edition sizes, media (including the various kinds of paper a print might have been done on) etc., and by the collector and dealer to keep up with the changes made over time.One merely accepts that revised editions will appear making earlier tomes on the subject obsolete.What a pleasure then, to find a reference that has the look and feel of a truly comprehensive study of an artist's work.Mary Lee Corlett, the editor of this excellent book, seems to have done her homework so well that it is unlikely that a 3rd edition of this book will be necessary anytime soon, if ever.It helps that she is an industry insider (a researcher of the Modern Prints and Drawings dept. at the National Gallery of Art) thus had access to other critical insiders and the full cooperation of the Lichtenstein estate.This book containing more than 400 illustrations, the overwhelming majority in color, proposes to document all of the limited edition prints of the artist as well as his posters, unlimited prints, periodical and book material.Along with the usual technical information each entry has a helpful comment section that gives important information about the work.It makes for an excellent and comprehensive survey of the artist's work as well as an 'art' book that is a pleasure to flip through for a deeper appreciation of the artist's work.In my opinion this is almost the perfect art reference/raisonne.The only things that I wish it included are some full page reproductions so that one might get a feel for the scale of some of the grander pieces, and that the paper stock had a gloss finish rather than the semi-matte finish it has.Otherwise this is a stupendously good effort. ... Read more

Product Description
Roy Lichtenstein made a tremendous impact on Modern art in the twentieth century. As a pioneer of Pop art, he was a key figure in the postwar tradition that brought American art to the forefront of the international scene. This new volume in the MoMA Artist Series, which explores important artists and favorite works in the collection of The Museum of Modern Art, guides readers through a dozen of the artist's most memorable achievements. A short and lively essay by Carolyn Lanchner, a former curator of painting and sculpture at the Museum, accompanies each work, illuminating its significance and placing it in its historical moment in the development of Modern art and the artist's own life. This volume provides a unique overview of someone who shaped the development of American art since mid-century and is an excellent resource for readers interested in the stories behind the masterpieces of the Modern canon. ... Read more

Product Description
The Interiors , one of the artist's major final series, caricature colourful magazine spreads of art-filled rooms. With the artist's usual dry wit, they depict domestic spaces, occasionally occupied by Nudes from his other late series. Includes paintings, prints, sculpture, source materials, and drawings. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

In Roy Lichtenstein's living room
A companion to a 1999 exhibition held at the Chicago Museum of Contemporary Art, this book focuses on a series that the artist painted in the 1990's, one of the last before his death in 1997, of interiors (living rooms, bathrooms, bedrooms...), a series that obviously harks back to Richard Hamilton's landmark collage "Just what is it that makes today's homes so different, so appealing?", a defining moment of Pop Art. The illustrations (all in color)and photographs of Lichtenstein's studio or source material (popular comics) are accompanied by short and lively texts, all written by authorities on Lichtenstein (his widow Dorothy, his late dealer Leo Castelli)and make this publication a valuable addition to the literature on the artist, even though this particular body of works may not be the most memorable in the artist's career.

An impressive and fully rounded presentation
Roy Lichtenstein is one of America's premier "pop art" painters and print makers. His style is instantly recognizable and powerfully influenced the popular culture of the last thirty years. Roy Lichtenstein: Interiors is an informative, wonderfully illustrated introduction and analysis of his "interior" paintings -- many published her for the first time. Robert Fitzpatrick is Director of the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago and effectively collaborates with Dorothy Lichtenstein, the late Leo Castelli, Sidney B. Felsen, and Cassandra Lozano to present an impressive and fully rounded presentation on the life, work, and artistic innovations of Lichtenstein. Roy Lichtenstein: Interiors is a very highly recommended addition to personal, academic, and community library American art history collections.

Blends social commentary with caricatures
Roy Lichtenstein has a distinctive pop art style which blends social commentary with caricatures: Interiors profiles many of his drawings of structures and space, with occasional people included in the sketches. Full-page color drawings accompany surveys of Lichtenstein's works and achievements. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A TREASURE FOR LOVERS OF CONTEMPORARY ART
If, as English art critic Lawrence Alloway posed in the late fifties, Pop art refers as much to the art as to the attitudes that directed it, Roy Lichtenstein led in both. To this artist, it seems not very much is improbable. Why not art based on cartoons and advertising?

The chapter prefacing the artist's oeuvre in "Roy Lichtenstein" states, "He wanted to make painting that resembled cliches and, in so doing, to confront the cliches of art and the conventions that govern how we recognize art as art." This he did as no other artist has done before him.

His use of primary colors as a vital force and introduction of Benday dots as a way of painting produced images that startle and compel. Not only is Lichtenstein's work featured in galleries, museums and collections, but he has created murals and public sculptures seen in cities throughout the world.

Diane Waldham has compiled a stellar collection of landmark examples from each phase of the artist's career. Her laudable text places Lichtenstein's work in proper historical context and is a valuable addition to the archives of art.

Published in conjunction with a major retrospective of the artist's work, "Roy Lichtenstein" holds over 350 full-color reproductions, and is a veritable treasure trove for all lovers of contemporary art.

- Gail Cooke ... Read more

Product Description
Roy Lichtenstein's distinctive paintings of the early 1960s are synonymous with the Pop art movement. These bold, oversized images inspired by newspaper advertisements and comic book scenes have been taken as reflecting the artist's fascination with the links between art and popular culture. In this highly readable and original book, Michael Lobel challenges this circumscribed view of Lichtenstein's work, offering a set of compelling new interpretations that reveal the artist's confrontation with a far wider range of issues. Lichtenstein's art is fundamentally engaged with a set of concerns central to art making in the postwar period: the relation between vision and technology, the possibility of articulating artistic identity, and the effect of mechanical reproduction on the work of art. Lichtenstein's project, Lobel argues, is structured by the tension between painting understood as a fully expressive, humanistic gesture and, conversely, as the product of a purely mechanical act.This handsomely illustrated book makes available for the first time an array of archival materials about Lichtenstein and his work, including photographs of the artist and many newly discovered sources for his imagery in the comics and advertisements of the early 1960s. It also provides new information on the context of the artist's Pop paintings in relation to contemporary developments in advertising culture, mechanical reproduction, and visual technologies. Examining the artist's work from fresh perspectives, the author not only offers a comprehensive analysis of Lichtenstein's early Pop paintings but also provides new insight into the issues that shaped the Pop art movement, artistic practices in the 1960s, and the historical relation between modern art and popular culture. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Academic diatribe
This is art speak at its best - contains a lot of valuable information if you really search for it. The text reads more like a thesis rather than a book. Lots of bulking to fill the covers and a tendency to give the inconsequential consequence. For the academic there are a lot good references, quotations and examples of pompous phraseology. Pity it was not written in plain English - it would have been a ripper!

Roy Lichtenstein: Image Duplicator
This is a fantastic book, beautifully illustrated and well-written. A must for all admirers of Lichtenstein's work.

Finally a good Lichtenstein analysis
One of only a very few books on Roy Lichtenstein available is fortunately a very good one indeed. Includes an analysis of his work, his sources and influences, and his influence on contemporary art. Illustrations include some of the source material for his most recognized paintings. Smart, sensible, accessible, and attractive. ... Read more