Composition I

ROY LICHTENSTEIN (1923-1997)

Composition I

signed, numbered and dated in pencil '9/50 Roy Lichtenstein 96' (lower right margin)

screenprint on Lanaquarelle Watercolor paper

image: 39 5/8 x 30 1/16 inches (100.6 x 76.4 cm)

sheet: 47 11/16 x 34 11/16 inches (121.1 x 88.1 cm)

framed: 50 1/4 x 37 1/4 inches (127.6 x 94.6 cm)

Executed in 1996. This work is number 9 from an edition of 50 plus 10 artist's proofs, 1 RTP, 1 PPII, 2 GEL, 1C, 8 SP. Printed and published by Gemini G.E.L., Los Angeles with their blind stamp.

PROVENANCE:

Private collection, California

Phillips, New York, 24 April 2018, lot 70

Acquired from the above sale by the present owner

LITERATURE:

M.L. Corlett, A Catalogue Raisonné 1948-1997: The Prints of Roy Lichtenstein, New York, 2002, p. 266, no. 297.

Gemini G.E.L. Catalogue Raisonné no. 1668.

"Having grown up with Roy, I was thrilled when the Whitney Museum asked me to cater his retrospective party at the museum on Madison Avenue. We riffed on all his techniques - gliding page music, paint splattered sneakers and bananas."

-Martha Stewart

NOTES:

Born in New York City in 1923, Roy Lichtenstein emerged as one of the key figures of American Pop Art, rising to prominence in the 1960s with his iconic paintings based on comic strips and commercial imagery. Famous for his use of the Benday dot technique, which mimics the mechanical printing methods of newspapers and magazines, Lichtenstein’s work challenged the boundaries between high art and mass culture. Printmaking remained central to his practice throughout his long career and allowed him to continually explore themes of repetition, style and artifice. His influential works, such as In the Car and Whaam!, solidified his place in art history as a master of both irony and innovation.

Composition I is one of three screenprints in the series published by Gemini G.E.L. in Los Angeles. The work reflects Lichtenstein's lifelong passion for music, particularly jazz, and his own background as a musician playing the flute and saxophone. The print captures the spirit of musical improvisation through a dynamic interplay of forms and rhythms, translating into a vivid visual composition. Here, Lichtenstein’s exploration of structure and spontaneity mirrors the freedom inherent in jazz, with the staves looping around the page, broken up with swathes of color, stripes and dots. Despite the spontaneity, with one note even dancing off the left edge of the page, the work remains rooted in Lichtenstein’s precise, graphic style. A copy of Composition I is housed in the Tate Modern.