Fish and Sky
from Ten from Leo Castelli

Medium: Screenprint on gelatin silver print, mounted to lenticular offset lithograph in colors, on white composition board with window mount
Year: 1967
Image: 11×14 inches (27.9 x 35.6 cm)
Sheet: 23 5/8 x 20 inches (60 x 50.8 cm)
Edition: 200
Artist’s Proofs: 25 lettered A-Y
Printer: Maurel Studios, New York
Publisher: Tanglewood Press, Inc., New York
Published for the 10th anniversary of Leo Castelli Gallery
Literature: Corlett 50

Roy Lichtenstein Catalogue Raisonne: RLCR 1315

Fish and Sky, 1967 (RLCR 1315) | Catalogue entry | Roy Lichtenstein: A Catalogue Raisonné

Signed and numbered in pencil on the reverse of the lenticular and on the window mount

Fish and Sky depicts a simplified, two-part landscape: a conceptualized aquatic scene below a graphic sky. The upper portion is a black-and-white gelatin silver photographic print of clouds, taken by the artist himself. This introduces a level of realistic photography rarely seen in his pure Pop paintings. The lower portion is a flat, stylized depiction of water and a three-dimensional image of fish rendered in the bold colors and black outlines of a cartoon. A thick, black horizon line divides the realistic photograph of the sky from the stylized, mechanical depiction of the water and fish, creating a jarring, conceptual disjunction. The entire image is typically presented within a white composition board “window mount.”

Lichtenstein takes the traditional subject of landscape (a subject Pop Art generally avoided) and renders it through his Pop filter. By dividing the scene into a realistic (photographic) sky and a commercially-produced (graphic/lenticular) water/fish section, he forces the viewer to confront the difference between reality and reproduction. The work is a physical manifestation of the concept of duality: organic vs. artificial, realism vs. abstraction, high art vs. commercial process. It questions how we “see” or “represent” nature in the age of mass media. The fish, an image of life, is rendered using a modern, plastic, commercial process.

The use of the three-dimensional lenticular process is a highly conceptual move. It turns a static print into a dynamic, moving experience, anticipating the later art and technology movement. As the viewer walks past the print, the image in the lower half appears to shift and move. The technique employed in Fish and Sky is arguably the most significant aspect of the work, showing Lichtenstein’s commitment to pushing the boundaries of printmaking technology.

Ten prints and graphic objects by as many artists comprise the startling portfolio-in-a-box entitled Ten from Leo Castelli. Ten from Leo Castelli testifies eloquently to the avant-garde’s intense involvement with printmaking today. The renaissance in printmaking was accelerated in the mid-1960’s by a conceptual reorientation of aesthetics. Its visual manifestations, in relationship to printmaking of the past, sometimes seemed startling, and its implication and possibilities were extraordinary.

Graphic from the cover of the original pamphlet that accompanied Ten from Leo Castelli. Design © Elaine Lustig Cohen

The present Ten from Leo Castelli, more than any other edition yet published, personifies “the new look in prints.” Never before has the artist had so many opportunities for the realization of graphic images. The once sacred boundaries between painting, drawing, sculpture, and prints have been assaulted. Three-dimensional forms, often in part hand-painted or hand-stenciled, are completely acceptable as graphic objects. No longer must an artist suffer artificial restrictions imposed by arbitrary classifications of individual media.
—William S. Lieberman, in his introduction to Ten from Leo Castelli

Auction Results

Nagel Stuttgart: 5 February 2025
Estimated: EUR 1,800 – 2,500
EUR 3,500 (Hammer)
EUR 4,637 / USD 4,830

ROY LICHTENSTEIN (Manhattan, 1923 – 1997)
“Fish and sky”, 1967
from the series “Ten from Leo Castelli”.
Serigraph on gelatin silver print on three-dimensional lenticular offset lithograph
Laid on cardboard
Signed and numbered 143/200 in pencil on the passe-partout
Signed and numbered 144/200 on the back

Christie’s New-York: 19 November 2024
Estimated: USD 3,000 – 5,000
USD 6,930

ROY LICHTENSTEIN (1923-1997)
Fish and Sky, from Ten from Leo Castelli, 1967
Screenprint on silver gelatin photographic print mounted on three-dimensional lenticular offset lithograph
On white composition board with window mount (as issued)
Signed in pencil on the window mount and again on the reverse of the lenticular element
Numbered 109/200 (there were also 25 lettered proofs A-Y)

Wright: 18 April 2024
Estimated: USD 6,000 – 8,000
USD 6,300

ROY LICHTENSTEIN
Fish and Sky from: Ten from Leo Castelli, 1967
Mixed media with silkscreen, gelatin silver print, offset lithograph and lenticular print on cardboard
A numbered copy from an edition of 200
Signed on the mount lower right and on the reverse

Phillips New-York: 26 October 2023
Estimated: USD 5,000 – 7,000
USD 5,715

Bonhams LA: 3 October 2023
Estimated: USD 4,000 – 6,000
USD 4,096