Titled

Medium: Silkscreen on 300-gram Coventry Rag Vellum
Year: 1996
Sheet: 31 5/8 x 39 3/4 inches (80.3 x 101 cm)
Image: 24 1/8 x 32 5/8 inches (61.3 x 82.9 cm)
Edition: 175
Artist’s Proofs: 25 AP
Publisher: The artist and Ronald Feldman Fine Arts, Inc., New York for the Campaign for Freedom of Expression
Printer: Noblet Serigraphie, Inc., New-York
Literature: Corlett 307

Roy Lichtenstein Catalogue Raisonne: RCLR 4608

Titled, 1996 (RLCR 4608) | Catalogue entry | Roy Lichtenstein: A Catalogue Raisonné

Signed dated and numbered in pencil

The title of this work is given as Untitled (Sea) in a brochure produced by the organization Artists for Freedom of Expression. The print was produced for the 1996 election cycle, under the auspices of Artists for Freedom of Expression, for the benefit of candidates and organizations that support federal funding of the arts. Other artists who produced work to support the 1996 campaigns were Ida Applebroog, Nancy Chunn, Chuck Close, Peter Halley, Jenny Holzer, Ellsworth Kelly, Bruce Nauman, Robert Rauschenberg, James Rosenquist, Richard Serra, Carrie Mae Weems, and William Wegman.

Titled features a simple, stylized nature scene with an almost ethereal quality. Lush, deep green foliage hangs from branches on the left side, framing a calm body of water rendered in blue Ben-Day dots. A solid blue horizon line separates the water from the upper part of the composition, where a bold yellow sun is positioned in the “sky”. Titled uses Lichtenstein’s signature mechanical precision, with meticulously stenciled Ben-Day dots and strong outlines. However, it also evokes the more serene, atmospheric qualities of its artistic inspirations.

Titled is a prime example of Lichtenstein’s late-career work, where he reinterprets art history and challenges traditional notions of high art. It specifically references traditional Chinese landscape art, adopting its serene atmosphere and minimalist approach. It transforms these traditional elements through Lichtenstein’s own graphic vocabulary, a stark contrast to the organic brushwork typically associated with the style. Furthermore, the use of Ben-Day dots to create the blue water is a direct nod to Pointillism, the 19th-century painting technique pioneered by artists like Georges Seurat. Lichtenstein replaces the impressionist’s nuanced brushstrokes with his signature mechanical dots, translating a “high art” technique into a Pop Art aesthetic.

Titled creates a sense of harmony and balance while using a visual language associated with mass production. This interplay between the artificial and the natural, the mechanical and the aesthetic, was a persistent theme in Lichtenstein’s career.

Auction Results

ROY LICHTENSTEIN (1923 – 1997)
Titled, 1996
Serigraphy
Signed in pencil, dated and inscribed 165/25

Phillips New-York: 20 April 2023
Estimated: USD 20,000 – 30,000
USD 35,560

Phillips New-York: 22 October 2022
Estimated: USD 25,000 – 35,000
USD 40,320

ROY LICHTENSTEIN
Titled (C. 307), 1996
Screen-print in colors, on Coventry Rag paper
Signed, dated and numbered 102/175 in pencil

Phillips New-York: 21 April 2022
Estimated: USD 20,000 – 30,000
USD 37,800

ROY LICHTENSTEIN
Titled (C. 307), 1996
Screen-print in colors, on Coventry Rag paper
Signed, dated and numbered ‘PP 1/5’ in pencil
(a printer’s proof, the edition was 175 and there were also 25 artist’s proofs)

Christie’s New-York: 8 March 2022
Estimated: USD 20,000 – 30,000
USD 47,880

ROY LICHTENSTEIN (1923-1997)
Titled, 1996
Screen-print in colors on Coventry rag paper
Signed and dated in pencil, numbered 49⁄175
(there were also 25 artist’s proofs)