Venetian School I & II are a pair of significant late-career works that exemplify Roy Lichtenstein’s enduring practice of transforming high art traditions and commercial clichés into Pop Art statements.
Introduction
Both prints are large, vertically oriented compositions that almost entirely depict a set of venetian blinds that are closed or nearly closed, typically framed by a window. The prints are an ironic representation of the mundane, industrial object, the venetian blind, rendered in the monumental scale and signature style of Pop Art. The image is defined by bold black outlines, flat fields of color, and Lichtenstein’s signature Benday dots. The horizontal slats of the blinds dominate the composition, creating a powerful, repetitive pattern. The mechanical, cool precision of this pattern contrasts sharply with the expressive, painterly work of the original Renaissance school.
In both prints, the blinds are described as being lowered nearly all the way down, leaving only a small horizontal sliver at the bottom. Through this opening, on one print, the viewer can glimpse a small strip of blue Benday dots, which hints at a concealed and unknown scene, perhaps the sea, sky, or water outside, beyond the industrial barrier. On the other one, the viewer can glimpse some kind of abstract greenery
Venetian School I
The title refers to The Venetian School (or Venetian Renaissance), a group of 15th- and 16th-century Italian Renaissance painters (like Titian and Veronese) celebrated for their primacy of color and soft, atmospheric effects (colore) over the strong outlines and drawing (disegno) favored by the Florentine School. Lichtenstein takes this historical movement, widely known for sensuality, rich color, and painterly light, and replaces it with an image of industrial, mechanical window coverings (venetian blinds). He subverts the historical emphasis on color and atmosphere by rendering the image with cool, static, reproducible colors and his characteristic harsh, black outlines.
Venetian School II
The prints function as a commentary on modern industrial society and contemporary culture. By depicting a mass-produced, functional object (the blinds) with the aesthetic of mechanical reproduction (the Benday dots and flat color), Lichtenstein critiques the machine-made quality that permeates modern life and modern art. The blinds themselves symbolize confinement, flatness, and abstraction, turning the window—a classic theme for painting that implies a view into the world—into a barrier of sterile, repetitive pattern.
Venetian School I and II were part of a larger portfolio of eight prints produced at Gemini G.E.L. during 1995 and early 1996, which included diverse subjects like musical staff and notes, and “modern art” compositions. The Venetian School prints are thus highly refined works that use visual irony to collapse the history of fine art into the flatness of commercial design.
Venetian School I
Venetian School I
Medium: Screenprint in colors on Lana Lanaquarelle watercolor paper
Year: 1996
Image: 39 7/8 x 25 inches (101.2 x 63.5 cm)
Sheet: 47 3/8 x 32 inches (120.3 x 81.1 cm)
Edition: 50
Artist’s Proofs: 10 AP
Printer: Gemini G.E.L., Los Angeles
Publisher: Gemini G.E.L., Los Angeles
Literature: Corlett 295, Gemini 1665
Signed dated and numbered in pencil
Auction Results
Koller Zurich: 28 November 2024
Estimated: CHF 8,000 – 12,000
CHF 10,625 / USD 12,030
ROY LICHTENSTEIN (1923 New York 1997)
Venetian School I, 1996
Color lithograph and serigraph on wove paper by Lanaquarelle watercolor
Edition: 17/50
Signed and dated in pencil lower right: rf Lichtenstein 96
On the reverse with the workshop number: RL 95-5219
ROY LICHTENSTEIN
Venetian School I (C. 295), 1996
Lithograph and screenprint in colors on Lanaquarelle watercolor paper
Signed in pencil, dated, numbered 23/50 (total edition includes 10 artist’s proofs), paper, with the publisher’s blindstamp, Gemini G.E.L., Los Angeles, and their inkstamp and workshop number verso, unframed
Venetian School II
Venetian School II
Medium: Screenprint in colors on Lana Lanaquarelle watercolor paper
Year: 1996
Image: 40 x 26 7/8 inches (101.6 x 68.3 cm)
Sheet: 47 3/8 x 33 7/8 inches (120.3 x 86 cm)
Edition: 50
Artist’s Proofs: 10 AP
Printer: Gemini G.E.L., Los Angeles
Publisher: Gemini G.E.L., Los Angeles
Literature: Corlett 296, Gemini 1666
Roy Lichtenstein Catalogue Raisonne: RLCR 4616
Venetian School II, 1996 (RLCR 4616) | Catalogue entry | Roy Lichtenstein: A Catalogue Raisonné
Signed dated and numbered in pencil
Auction Results
Phillips New-York: 25 October 2019
Estimated: USD 8,000 – 12,000
USD 16,250
ROY LICHTENSTEIN
Venetian School II (C. 296), 1996
Screenprint in colors on Lana Lanaquarelle watercolor paper
Signed, dated and numbered 42/50 in pencil