Shipboard Girl
Medium: Offset lithograph printed in colors on textured wove paper
Year: 1965
Image: 26 x 19 1/4 inches (66 x 48.7 cm)
Sheet: 27 1/8 x 20 1/4 inches (69 x 51.5 cm)
Edition: Unknown size
Publisher: Leo Castelli Gallery, New-York
Printer: Graphic Industries, Inc., New-York
Literature: Corlett II.6
Signed in pencil
Created in 1965, this original color offset lithograph was published by the Leo Castelli Gallery in New York, a major figure in the Pop Art world, and printed by Graphic Industries, Inc., NY. This work is hand-signed by Roy Lichtenstein in pencil in the lower right and is from an unnumbered edition. There were different editions, including a smaller, hand-signed and numbered edition, and a larger, unnumbered edition (sometimes described as a signed poster or lithograph) of unknown size (some sources suggest up to 3000 copies were printed). The use of lithography and the large edition size were deliberate choices to embrace the mass-reproducibility central to the Pop Art ethos.
Shipboard Girl is a quintessential example of Roy Lichtenstein’s Pop Art style, transforming a melodramatic comic book image into high art. The print features a close-up, cropped image of a blonde woman’s face, a frequent figure in Lichtenstein’s work often referred to as a “comic heroine.” Her eyes are closed, and her lips are parted, suggesting a moment of intense emotional experience—either pleasure, longing, or anxiety.
Shipboard Girl employs Lichtenstein’s signature visual vocabulary:
- Ben-Day Dots: The face, background, and other areas are filled with meticulously rendered Ben-Day dots, mimicking the cheap, mechanical printing process of comic books and commercial media. This technique intentionally draws attention to the artifice of the image.
- Bold Outlines and Flat Color: Strong, black outlines define the forms, and the colors are flat, unmodulated areas of primary pigments (yellow for hair, red for lips). This flatness is a key element of his style, suggesting a detachment from traditional, hand-painted depth and texture.
- Composition: The tight, cinematic cropping and enlarged scale heighten the drama and emotional immediacy of the scene, despite the subject’s mechanical rendering.
Shipboard Girl engages with several core themes central to Pop Art:
- Appropriation and High vs. Low Art: By isolating and monumentalizing a panel from a disposable romance comic, Lichtenstein blurs the line between “lowbrow” popular culture and “highbrow” fine art. He simultaneously celebrates and critiques mass media imagery.
- The Commodification of Romance and Beauty: The subject is one of idealized, stereotypical femininity common in post-war American consumer culture—specifically, the emotional drama and clichés of romance comics. Lichtenstein critiques this commodification by reproducing the image with a cool, detached, and mechanical hand.
- Incomplete Narrative: Small details like a life preserver and the ship’s rail anchor the woman in a nautical, romantic setting. However, the exact reason for her expression is ambiguous: is it bliss or turmoil? This “incomplete narrative” forces the viewer to confront the emotional intensity conveyed by simple graphic elements.
Lichtenstein’s immediate inspiration came from panels in contemporary romance and war comic books of the 1950s and 60s. He sought out the most clichéd, emotionally charged, or banal imagery. The work is situated firmly within the Pop Art movement of the 1960s, alongside artists like Andy Warhol. Pop Art rejected the emotional depth and abstract expressionism that preceded it, embracing instead the imagery and techniques of advertising, consumerism, and mass production.
Auction Market Overview
2025 Auction Highlights
3 lots sold at auction so far in 2025. One print from the Collection of Dorothy and Roy Lichtenstein sold at Sotheby’s in New-York, on 26 September 2025, for USD 152,400, a new auction record for Shipboard Girl.
Works from the Collection of Dorothy and Roy Lichtenstein
Sotheby’s New-York: 26 September 2025
Estimated: USD 40,000 – 60,000
USD 152,400
NEW AUCTION RECORD FOR SHIPBOARD GIRL
ROY LICHTENSTEIN (1923 – 1997)
Shipboard Girl (Corlett II.6), 1965
Offset lithograph printed in colors on wove paper
Signed (lower right)
From the edition of unknown size
2024 Auction Highlights
Shipboard Girl sold 4 times at auction in 2024, at an average price of USD 36,543. It sold at Sotheby’s in New-York, on 19 April 2024, for USD 63,500, its highest price for 2024.
Shipboard Girl, 1965
Sotheby’s New-York: 19 April 2024
Estimated: USD 30,000 – 50,000
USD 63,500
HIGHEST PRICE AT AUCTION FOR 2024
ROY LICHTENSTEIN (1923 – 1997)
Shipboard Girl (Corlett II.6), 1965
Offset lithograph printed in colors on wove paper
Signed in pencil
This impression is from the edition of unknown size, published by Leo Castelli Gallery
2023 Auction Highlights
Shipboard Girl sold 5 times at auction in 2023, at an average price of USD 30,141. It sold at Sotheby’s in New-York, on 19 April 2023, for USD 48,260, its highest price for 2023.
Shipboard Girl, 1965
Sotheby’s New-York: 19 April 2023
Estimated: USD 25,000 – 35,000
USD 48,260
HIGHEST PRICE AT AUCTION FOR 2023
ROY LICHTENSTEIN (1923 – 1997)
Shipboard Girl, 1965
Offset lithograph printed in colors on wove paper
Signed in pencil
2022 Auction Highlights
Shipboard Girl sold 12 times at auction in 2022, at an average price of USD 44,814. It sold at Christie’s in New-York, on 22 November 2022, for USD 81,900, its highest price for 2022.
Shipboard Girl, 1965
Christie’s New-York: 22 November 2022
Estimated: USD 30,000 – 50,000
USD 81,900
HIGHEST PRICE AT AUCTION FOR 2022
ROY LICHTENSTEIN (1923-1997)
Shipboard Girl, 1965
Offset lithograph in colors, on wove paper
Signed in pencil, from the edition of unknown size
Record Prices
Shipboard Girl sold at Dorotheum in Vienna, on 25 June 2020, for EUR 131,400 (USD 150,000), setting a new auction record for this print in 2020.
Shipboard Girl, 1965
Dorotheum Vienna: 25 June 2020
Estimated: EUR 50,000 – 60,000
EUR 131,400 / USD 150,000
AUCTION RECORD FOR SHIPBOARD GIRL
ROY LICHTENSTEIN (New York 1923–1997)
Shipboard Girl, 1965
Color offset lithograph on thin wove paper
Signed rf Lichtenstein
2026 Auction Results
Pop Impressions: Prints from the Collection of Dorothy and Roy Lichtenstein
Sotheby’s New-York: 15 April 2026
Estimated: USD 15,000 – 25,000
USD 40,960
ROY LICHTENSTEIN (1923 – 1997)
Shipboard Girl (Corlett II.6; RLCR 1149), 1965
Offset lithograph printed in colors on wove paper
Signed in pencil
This impression is from the edition of unknown size
Published by Leo Castelli Gallery
Christie’s London: 26 March 2026
Estimated: GBP 10,000 – 15,000
GBP 24,130 / USD 32,240
ROY LICHTENSTEIN (1923-1997)
Shipboard Girl (Corlett II.6), 1965
Offset lithograph in colors on wove paper
Signed in pencil, from the edition of unknown size
Published by Leo Castelli Gallery, New York
2025 Auction Results
Wright: 16 December 2025
Estimated: USD 15,000 – 25,000
USD 38,100
ROY LICHTENSTEIN (1923–1997)
Shipboard Girl (Corlett II.6), 1965
Offset lithograph in colors
Signed to lower right ‘rf Lichtenstein’
From the edition of unknown size
Published by Leo Castelli Gallery, New York
Estimated: SEK 200,000 – 250,000
SEK 200,000 (Hammer)
SEK 250,000 / USD 26,640
“Shipboard Girl” (Corlett II.6), 1965
Color offset
Signed in pencil
Published by Leo Castelli Gallery, New York
Works from the Collection of Dorothy and Roy Lichtenstein
Sotheby’s New-York: 26 September 2025
Estimated: USD 40,000 – 60,000
USD 152,400
NEW AUCTION RECORD FOR SHIPBOARD GIRL
ROY LICHTENSTEIN (1923 – 1997)
Shipboard Girl (Corlett II.6), 1965
Offset lithograph printed in colors on wove paper
Signed (lower right)
From the edition of unknown size
Christie’s online: 27 March 2025
Estimated: GBP 15,000 – 20,000
GBP 37,800 / USD 48,762
ROY LICHTENSTEIN (1923-1997)
Shipboard Girl (Corlett II.6), 1965
Offset lithograph in colors on wove paper
Signed in pencil
From the edition of unknown size
2024 Auction Results
Estimated: CAD 20,000 – 30,000
Hammer: CAD 32,500
CAD 40,250 / USD 28,895
Shipboard Girl (Corlett II.6), 1965
Sotheby’s online: 25 September 2024
Estimated: GBP 12,000 – 18,000
GBP 24,000 / USD 32,016
ROY LICHTENSTEIN (1923 – 1997)
Shipboard Girl, 1965
Offset lithograph printed in colors on wove paper
Signed in pencil from the edition of unknown size
Sotheby’s New-York: 19 April 2024
Estimated: USD 30,000 – 50,000
USD 63,500
HIGHEST PRICE AT AUCTION FOR 2024
ROY LICHTENSTEIN (1923 – 1997)
Shipboard Girl (Corlett II.6), 1965
Offset lithograph printed in colors on wove paper
Signed in pencil
This impression is from the edition of unknown size, published by Leo Castelli Gallery
Bonhams LA: 26 March 2024
Estimated: USD 6,000 – 8,000
USD 21,760
Offset lithograph in colors
Signed in pencil (in the upper left upside down)
From the edition of unknown size
2023 Auction Results
Shipboard Girl sold 5 times at auction in 2023, at an average price of USD 30,141. It sold at Sotheby’s in New-York, on 19 April 2023, for USD 48,260, its highest price for 2023.
Christie’s online: 15 November 2023
Estimated: USD 8,000 – 12,000
USD 15,120
ROY LICHTENSTEIN (1923-1997)
Shipboard Girl, 1965
Offset lithograph in colors on wove paper
Signed in pencil, from the edition of unknown size
Phillips New-York: 24 October 2023
Estimated: USD 15,000 – 25,000
USD 24,130
ROY LICHTENSTEIN
Shipboard Girl (C. II.6), 1965
Offset lithograph in colors on wove paper
Signed in pencil, from the edition of an unknown size
Heritage Auctions: 24 October 2023
Estimated: USD 15,000 – 25,000
USD 19,375
ROY LICHTENSTEIN
Shipboard Girl, 1965
Offset lithograph in colors on wove paper
Signed in pencil, lower right
Swann Galleries: 8 June 2023
Estimated: USD 30,000 – 50,000
USD 35,000
ROY LICHTENSTEIN (1923 – 1997)
Shipboard Girl, 1965
Color offset lithograph on textured white wove paper
Signed in pencil, lower right
Sotheby’s New-York: 19 April 2023
Estimated: USD 25,000 – 35,000
USD 48,260
HIGHEST PRICE AT AUCTION FOR 2023
ROY LICHTENSTEIN (1923 – 1997)
Shipboard Girl, 1965
Offset lithograph printed in colors on wove paper
Signed in pencil
2022 Auction Results
Shipboard Girl sold 12 times at auction in 2022, at an average price of USD 44,814. It sold at Christie’s in New-York, on 22 November 2022, for USD 81,900, its highest price for 2022.
Dorotheum Vienna: 1 December 2022
Estimated: EUR 40,000 – 60,000
EUR 57,600 / USD 60,465
ROY LICHTENSTEIN (New York 1923–1997)
Shipboard Girl, 1965
Color offset lithograph on thin wove paper
Signed rf Lichtenstein
Christie’s New-York: 22 November 2022
Estimated: USD 30,000 – 50,000
USD 81,900
HIGHEST PRICE AT AUCTION FOR 2022
ROY LICHTENSTEIN (1923-1997)
Shipboard Girl, 1965
Offset lithograph in colors, on wove paper
Signed in pencil, from the edition of unknown size
Bonhams New-York: 1 November 2022
Estimated: USD 20,000 – 30,000
USD 35,655
Offset lithograph in colors on white wove paper
Signed in pencil, from the edition of unknown size
Sotheby’s London: 14 September 2022
Estimated: GBP 30,000 – 50,000
GBP 40,320 / USD 46,623
ROY LICHTENSTEIN (1923 – 1997)
Shipboard Girl (Corlett II.6), 1965
Offset lithograph printed in colors
Presumably with a spurious signature, from the edition of unknown size
Bonhams New-York: 12 May 2022
Estimated: USD 25,000 – 35,000
USD 31,875
ROY LICHTENSTEIN (1923 – 1997)
Shipboard Girl (Corlett II.6), 1965
Offset lithograph in colors on white wove paper
Signed in pencil, from the edition of unknown size
LA Modern : 29 April 2022
Estimated: USD 30,000 – 50,000
USD 47,500
ROY LICHTENSTEIN (1923 – 1997)
Shipboard Girl, 1965
Offset lithograph in colors
Signed to lower right ‘rf Lichtenstein’
Doyle New-York: 26 April 2022
Estimated: USD 10,000 – 15,000
USD 37,500
ROY LICHTENSTEIN (1923-1997)
SHIPBOARD GIRL (CORLETT II.6), 1965
Color offset lithograph
Signed in pencil, from the edition of unknown size
Phillips New-York: 22 April 2022
Estimated: USD 10,000 – 15,000
USD 40,320
ROY LICHTENSTEIN
Shipboard Girl (C. II.6), 1965
Offset lithograph in colors, on wove paper
Signed in pencil, from the edition of unknown size
Clars Auction Gallery: 25 March 2022
Estimated: USD 40,000 – 60,000
USD 42,500 (Hammer)
USD 53,550
ROY LICHTENSTEIN (American, 1923-1997)
Shipboard Girl, 1965
Offset lithograph
Pencil signed lower right
From an unknown edition
Rago: 24 February 2022
Estimated: USD 40,000 – 60,000
USD 52,500
ROY LICHTENSTEIN (American, 1923-1997)
Shipboard Girl, 1965
Offset lithograph in colors
Signed to lower right ‘Roy Lichtenstein’
From the edition of unknown size
2021 Auction Results
Koller Zurich: 2 December 2021
Estimated: CHF 35,000 – 45,000
CHF 63,740 / USD 69,265
ROY LICHTENSTEIN (1923 New York City 1997)
Shipboard Girl, 1965
Color offset lithograph
From an unknown edition
Signed in pencil lower right: rf Lichtenstein
Dorotheum Vienna: 2 December 2021
Estimated: EUR 44,000 – 48,000
EUR 57,600 / USD 65,145
ROY LICHTENSTEIN (New York 1923–1997)
Shipboard Girl, 1965
Color offset lithograph on thin wove paper
Signed rf Lichtenstein
Heritage Auctions: 18 August 2021
Estimated: USD 6,000 – 8,000
USD 23,125
ROY LICHTENSTEIN (1923–1997)
Shipboard Girl, 1965
Offset lithograph on paper
Signed in pencil lower right