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OHHH… ALRIGHT… $42 million, and that’s my final offer

Yesterday, Christie’s auctioned a Roy Lichtenstein painting for $42,642,500. The painting is “OHHH… ALRIGHT…”, from 1964. I had to smile (maybe it was more of a smirk) when I read this in the catalog listing.

The seamless surface of Ohhh…Alright… may look as if it was rolled off a printing press in a matter of seconds, but it is actually the product of a long, painstaking procedure. Lichtenstein chose the original illustration from the DC comic book Secret Hearts, which Lichtenstein has made his own by subtly manipulating its content.

Attributing the source material that Lichtenstein used is undoubtedly thanks to the diligent research of David Barsalou, whose Deconstructing Lichtenstein project reveals what’s really behind Roy’s “monumental iconography.”

“Barsalou is boring to us,” comments Jack Cowart, executive director of the Lichtenstein Foundation. He contests the notion that Lichtenstein was a mere copyist: “Roy’s work was a wonderment of the graphic formulae and the codification of sentiment that had been worked out by others. Barsalou’s thesis notwithstanding, the panels were changed in scale, color, treatment, and in their implications. There is no exact copy.”

OH... ALRIGHT !... DECONSTRUCTING ROY LICHTENSTEIN © 2000 DAVID BARSALOU

Nonsense. I don’t deny that Lichtenstein had his own style, but “OH… ALRIGHT…” was copied from a panel in a DC romance comic-book that was drawn by Bernard Sachs, and Barsalou is the only reason why Christie’s acknowledges that. If Art is supposed to be about Truth, Deconstructing Lichtenstein is an essential resource.

The best, and most evocative, use of Lichtenstein’s work I have seen in another medium is by our own Miss Lia Pamina, featuring Margo Guryan’s sublime “Love Songs”.

The Beeb on Sparky

It’s hard to believe it’s already been three years since the controversial biography Schulz and Peanuts, by David Michaelis. You have until next Tuesday to listen to a BBC Radio 4 feature on Charles M. Schulz.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/i/vrvdm/

I’m a bit surprised to hear Jeannie say, “David did a marvelous job…” Russell T. Davies, who brought Doctor Who back from hiatus, chimes in with the factoid that long before the Tardis, Snoopy’s doghouse was much bigger inside than it appeared outside.

Michael J.

Mike Fox’s stage name is Michael J. Fox. Mike is a great guy. I make a point of featuring Mike every so often because I have a personal connection to him, for a reason that some of you know. Tonight, Michael J. is the guest programmer on Turner Classic Movies…

… and tonight he’s also appearing on the CBS series The Good Wife.

Back in September, Fox talked about his life with Parkinson’s Disease with Sanjay Gupta on CNN.

Pratt extracts bat

Over four years ago I put up a bat house in our back yard…

… but did any bats move in? Nope. I thought it might be due to the disease that’s decimating the bat population around here, but then, while cleaning out the gutters, I found a bat.

A dead one. Not due to the disease, but trapped as it tried to escape from behind a bedroom window shutter. I loosened the shutter, pulled out the unfortunate winged mammal, and tossed it into the woods.

The sounds of the Silents

Discussions of the various IPTV streaming video players that are available (go Roku!) all revolve around the prospect of consumers having the option of dropping cable TV. But as long as that’s where Turner Classic Movies is found, there’s no letting go of cable for me.

Monday, TCM began its new 7-part series, Moguls & Movie Stars. The first installment is The Films of Thomas Edison, and it reminds me in no small way of Hollywood: A Celebration of the American Silent Film.

At least once each week, either as a comment at the link above, or by mail, I hear from somebody requesting (sometimes pleading) that I post the complete series or make DVD copies. Silent aficionados are anything but silent! The one thing I won’t do is make DVD copies. That’s crossing a line too far.

The acclaimed Hollywood series was produced 30 years ago in England, by Kevin Brownlow and David Gill (now deceased). Brownlow is being awarded an honorary Oscar™ this month, so this week and next, New York’s Documentary Festival will be honoring Brownlow.

The TCM documentary is a survey of the entire history of Hollywood, so there’s no way it can even begin to scratch the surface of silent films, compared to Brownlow and Gill’s in-depth, 13-part series. Yet I won’t be surprised if it kindles some more interest in the Silent era.

I know that Brownlow would love to see a DVD set released of Hollywood: A Celebration of the American Silent Film. While we’re waiting, I would certainly love to post it, but even if Brownlow were to contact me he couldn’t grant permission, due to the copyright hassles that have been holding back the set’s release. What I would like to see is TCM step in and help get things moving legally. Ideally, TCM would show the series the same way it presents everything — complete and unedited — and promote a DVD box set with some never-seen extras.