Art Critic
Medium: Screenprint on 300-gram Somerset textured paper
Year: 1996
Sheet: 26 x 19 1/8 inches (66 x 48.6 cm)
Image: 19 3/4 x 13 5/16 inches (50.2 x 33.8 cm)
Edition: 150
Artist’s Proofs: 25 AP
Publisher: The artist and The Brooklyn Academy of Music, New York
Printer: Noblet Serigraphie Inc., New York
Literature: Corlett 305, RLCR 4456
Art Critic, 1996 (RLCR 4456) | Catalogue entry | Roy Lichtenstein: A Catalogue Raisonné
Signed dated and numbered in pencil
Art Critic encapsulates Roy Lichtenstein’s iconic pop art style. It features bold, primary colors and Lichtenstein’s signature Ben-Day dots technique, which mimics comic book aesthetics. The composition shows a close-up profile of a woman’s face, with exaggerated features such as large eyes and red lips. The background is segmented with abstract shapes and patterns, adding a sense of dynamic contrast. The simplified forms, thick black outlines, and use of repetition demonstrate Lichtenstein’s commentary on commercial art and mass media.
The print portrays a deconstructed female face in a state of emotional turmoil. The artist composes her body entirely out of streaks of dots, colorful stripes, and blonde locks of wavy hair. Her head is depicted in profile and her elegant nose is turned slightly upward. She leans towards the abstract artwork mounted on the red wall in the background of the print.
Black delineating lines are prominent in Art Critic, along with saturated pigments and stylized appropriations of fundamental cubist and surrealist shapes. Lichtenstein takes advantage of the familiarity of these elements to compose his portrait. He shuffles the woman’s facial features around to rid the image of dimensionality. Utilizing the flattened picture plane, Lichtenstein juxtaposes content versus style. The result the viewer is left with is an absurd scene brimming with humor and irony.
Auction Results
Pop Impressions: Prints from the Collection of Dorothy and Roy Lichtenstein
Sotheby’s New-York: 15 April 2026
Estimated: USD 25,000 – 35,000
USD 44,800
ROY LICHTENSTEIN (1923 – 1997)
Art Critic (Corlett 305; RLCR 4456), 1996
Screenprint in colors on 300-gram Somerset textured paper
Signed in pencil, dated and inscribed AP 1/25
This impression is one of 25 artist’s proofs aside from the numbered edition of 150
Co-published by the artist and the Brooklyn Academy of Music
XXXXXXXXXX
Phillips New-York: 17 April 2025
Estimated: USD 25,000 – 35,000
USD 48,260
ROY LICHTENSTEIN
Art Critic (Corlett 305), 1996
Screenprint in colors on Somerset paper
Signed, dated and numbered 99/150 in pencil
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Estimated: USD 10,000 – 15,000
USD 14,080
UNSIGNED PRINT
Screenprint in colors on Somerset textured paper
A proof (aside from the edition of 150)
With the inkstamp and signature in pencil on the reverse of the printer Noblet Serigraphie Inc., New York
Sotheby’s New-York: 22 October 2024
Estimated: USD 25,000 – 35,000
USD 57,600
AUCTION RECORD FOR ART CRITIC
ROY LICHTENSTEIN (1923 – 1997)
Art Critic (Corlett 305), 1996
Screenprint in colors on Somerset wove paper
Sheet: 26×19 inches (66 x 48.4 cm)
Signed in pencil, dated and numbered 2/150
Christie’s New-York: 14 March 2024
Estimated: USD 25,000 – 35,000
USD 35,280
ROY LICHTENSTEIN (1923-1997)
Art Critic, 1996
Screenprint in colors on Somerset paper
Signed and dated in pencil, numbered 8⁄150
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Christie’s New-York: 28 October 2023
Estimated: USD 25,000 – 35,000
USD 40,320
ROY LICHTENSTEIN (1923-1997)
Art Critic, 1996
Screenprint in colors on Somerset paper
Signed and dated in pencil, numbered 55⁄150
Bonhams LA: 3 October 2023
Property Sold to Benefit the Westlund Center
Estimated: USD 25,000 – 35,000
USD 40,960
Screenprint in colors on Somerset textured paper
Signed in pencil, dated, and numbered 106/150
Bonhams New-York: 9 May 2023
Estimated: USD 10,000 – 15,000
USD 35,655
Screen-print in colors on Somerset textured paper
A proof (aside from the edition of 150)
Estimated: CAD 30,000 – 40,000
CAD 34,000 (Hammer)
CAD 41,820 / USD 32,485
Art Critic, 1996
Silkscreen, #75/150
Signed and dated ’96
Rago: 10 November 2020
Estimated: USD 30,000 – 50,000
USD 36,250
Screen-print in colors on Somerset paper
Signed, dated and numbered to lower edge ’59/150 Roy Lichtenstein 96′
Hindman Chicago: 2 October 2020
Estimated: USD 30,000 – 50,000
USD 42,500
ROY LICHTENSTEIN (1923-1997)
Art Critic, 1996
Screen-print on paper
Signed, dated and numbered 138/150 in pencil
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Christie’s New-York: 27 February 2018
Estimated: USD 25,000 – 35,000
USD 37,500
ROY LICHTENSTEIN (1923-1997)
Art Critic, 1996
Screen-print in colors on Somerset paper
Signed and dated in pencil, numbered 68/150