Sunrise
Medium: Offset lithograph printed in colors on lightweight white wove paper
Year: 1965
Image: 17 1/4 x 23 1/4 inches (43.8 x 58.9 cm)
Sheet: 18 1/4 x 24 1/4 inches (46.5 x 61.7 cm)
Edition: Unknown size
Publisher: Leo Castelli Gallery, New-York
Printer: Graphic Industries, Inc., New-York
Literature: Corlett II.7
Signed in pencil
Although well-known for his paintings that drew their subject matter from the melodrama played out between the covers of mass-market comic books, Roy Lichtenstein’s landscapes are an important part of his early oeuvre and did much to help develop and enunciate his iconic Pop language. Painted in 1965, Sunrise is one of a select group of landscapes that Lichtenstein painted incorporating his strong, bold lines and passages of high-keyed color together with his signature Ben-Day dots to capture the ethereal emotions and sensations conjured up by the warm rays of the rising sun. This rare example is the only one of the six sunrise works to have been executed as a painting, the others all having been fabricated in a variety of media ranging from screen-print on silk to porcelain enamel on perforated steel.
Christie’s New-York: 11 November 2014
Estimated: USD 12,000,000 – 18,000,000
USD 16,405,000
Roy Lichtenstein (1923-1997), Sunrise | Christie’s (christies.com)
ROY LICHTENSTEIN (1923-1997)
Sunrise, 1965
Oil, Magna and graphite on canvas
36 1/8 x 68 3/8 inches (91.7 x 173.6 cm)
Both physically and metaphorically, the majestic red sun that emerges from the nest of cumulus white clouds lies at the very center of this painting. Not only does its searing core act as the focal point of the entire composition, it also becomes the source of many of the other elements that make up this painting. From the warm yellow rays of light that radiate out from the center to the blankets of dark shadow that cover the ground and the peaks of the clouds, Lichtenstein’s sun—much like the real thing—is the sustainer of all things. By the time he painted Sunrise, Lichtenstein’s graphic language had become so advanced that he was able to convey some of the most subtly nuanced areas of light and shadow to greater effect here than in many of his earlier works. The strong rays of the early morning sun are demarcated by solid bands of yellow tones deftly constrained by borders of black paint. In the lower portions of the canvas areas of red Ben-Day dots offer up a sensation of warm, hazy sunshine while passages of blue Ben-Day dots add a sense of depth and volume to the fluffy white cloud. Finally the artist makes a rare foray into chiaroscuro by laying down an area of red dots, overlaid with blue dots, to produce a passage of deeper shadow, a method that directly imitates the two-color printing process of early mass-commercial printing that energized Lichtenstein’s painting so much.
Auction Results
Works from the Collection of Dorothy and Roy Lichtenstein
Sotheby’s New-York: 26 September 2025
Estimated: USD 8,000 – 12,000
USD 114,300
NEW AUCTION RECORD FOR SUNRISE
ROY LICHTENSTEIN (1923 – 1997)
Sunrise (Corlett II.7), 1965
Offset lithograph printed in colors on wove paper
Signed (lower right)
From the edition of unknown size
Estimated: USD 4,000 – 6,000
USD 12,065
From the edition of unknown size published by Leo Castelli Gallery, New York
Phillips New-York: 22 October 2024
Estimated: USD 8,000 – 12,000
USD 25,400
ROY LICHTENSTEIN
Sunrise (C. II.7), 1965
Offset lithograph in colors on lightweight wove paper
Sheet: 18 3/8 x 24 3/8 inches (46.7 x 61.9 cm)
Signed in pencil, from an unknown edition size
Phillips New-York: 27 June 2024
Estimated: USD 5,000 – 7,000
USD 8,890
ROY LICHTENSTEIN
Sunrise (C. II.7), 1965
Offset lithograph in colors on lightweight wove paper
Signed in pencil, from the edition of an unknown size
Dorotheum Vienna: 21 June 2024
Estimated: EUR 6,000
EUR 12,350 / USD 13,220
ROY LICHTENSTEIN (New York 1923–1997)
Sunrise (Corlett II.7), 1965
Offset lithograph in color on lightweight wove paper
Signed rf Lichtenstein, from an edition of unknown size
Condition: red and blue in the lower part of the image extensively retouched
Estimated: USD 10,000 – 15,000
Offset lithograph in colors on wove paper
Signed in pencil, from the edition of unknown size
Doyle New-York: 30 April 2024
Estimated: USD 4,000 – 6,000
USD 11,520
ROY LICHTENSTEIN (1923-1997)
SUNRISE (CORLETT II.7), 1966
Color offset lithograph on thin wove paper
Signed in pencil, from the edition of unknown size
LA Modern: 10 January 2024
Estimated: USD 12,000 – 18,000
USD 16,770
ROY LICHTENSTEIN (1923–1997)
Sunrise, 1965
Offset lithograph in colors
Signed to lower edge ‘rf Lichtenstein’
This work is from the edition of unknown size printed by Graphic Industries, Inc., New York
Sotheby’s New-York: 3 October 2023
Estimated: USD 8,000 – 12,000
USD 15,240
ROY LICHTENSTEIN (1923 – 1997)
Sunrise, 1965
Offset lithograph printed in colors on lightweight wove paper
Signed in pencil rf Lichtenstein (lower right)
This impression is from an edition of unknown size
Wright: 8 August 2023
Estimated: USD 3,000 – 5,000
USD 10,710
ROY LICHTENSTEIN (1923–1997)
Sunrise, 1965
Offset lithograph in colors
Signed to lower right ‘rf Lichtenstein’
This work is from the edition of unknown size printed by Graphic Industries
Sotheby’s New-York: 28 October 2022
Estimated: USD 6,000 – 8,000
USD 32,760
AUCTION RECORD FOR SUNRISE
ROY LICHTENSTEIN (1923 – 1997)
Sunrise, 1965
Offset lithograph printed in colors on lightweight white wove paper
Signed in pencil
This impression is from the edition of unknown size
Christie’s London: 28 September 2021
Estimated: GBP 6,000 – 8,000
GBP 17,500
ROY LICHTENSTEIN (1923-1997)
Sunrise, 1965
Offset lithograph in colors on wove paper
Signed in pencil, from the edition of unknown size