A very worthwhile discussion with James L. Hussey, director of BLAAM! WHAM! Roy Lichtenstein and the Art of Appropriation.
Tag: roy lichtenstein
Lichtenstein POP ART Productions
Whaam! Blam! Roy Lichtenstein and the Art of Appropriation is now available for online viewing. The documentary receives my highest recommendation, not only for setting the record straight, but for how it presents both sides of the case.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0BVJSVN18/
Much of Lichtenstein’s appeal depends on scale, so I recommend watching the documentary on the largest screen possible. Seeing the giant canvases displayed at auctions, in museums and galleries, only to be brought down to size both literally and figurately, makes the praise heaped on Lichtenstein by his apologists in the high art world seem laughable.
This documentary became not only necessary, but possible, by research that’s been done by fellow Westfield State alum David Barsalou. The reference David makes in this brief video clip is to an Art History course that was taught by Barbara Harris.
In this clip Russ Heath, one of the all-time great comic book illustrators, talks about Stan Lee giving him his start in comics.
Whether or not Stan realized that he had, in an indirect way, helped to make Lichtenstein’s fame possible, in 1965 he briefly embraced the Pop Art label, as seen in the corner box at the top of this post.
It’s disappointing that Bill Griffith, who I’m very much a fan of, doesn’t see a problem with Lichtenstein’s comic book appropriations. Griffith, who attended Pratt Institute during Lichtenstein’s initial burst of fame, seems to be expressing more of an art student’s view than one coming from a cartoonist. It was almost sad for me, seeing Griffith’s position undercut so deftly.
Irony as far as the eye can see?
David Barsalou, creator of the groundbreaking and exhaustive Deconstructing Lichtenstein project, wrote to point out another art swipe by Roy Lichtenstein that’s up for auction. I can see the whole room … and there’s nobody in it! is expected to fetch upwards of $45 million!
A gallery owner is quoted in the Bloomberg article at the link above, saying, “It epitomizes Roy’s use of irony, which is the most important theme throughout his work.” Irony, she says? It’s only ironic that the painting is worth so much money, because it’s a direct swipe from a Steve Roper comic strip panel drawn by William Overgard. Heck, it’s only 4×4 feet, and you’d think spending that much money would rate a wall-sized canvas.
Barsalou has some instructive links about the piece here and here. As you can see, the swipe was spotted by William Overgard, who wrote to Time magazine and asked, with some irony, “Very flattering…I think?” Not really. Notice how Lichtenstein changed the hand? Overgard’s original looks correct — you can tell it’s a thumb — but Roy got it wrong, so it looks like an index finger in the wrong place. Intentional artistic license? Nah, he couldn’t draw.
Roy Lichtenstein – the master of found art
Roy Lichtenstein couldn’t draw. I’ve seen Lichtenstein paintings in person, in New York, and the sheer scale of them is impressive; but I’m sorry, the man was a total fake. He swiped art done by others, some of them comic book greats, others not so great. In the video at this link (sorry, can’t embed), look for the examples of his early work, and it’s obvious that Lichtenstein was no draftsman, and had to resort to tracing. The latest outrage that has set me off is this news item.
Lichtenstein Drawing Acquired for $10 Expected to Achieve over $1,000,000 at Christie’s
A million dollars for a 6″x6″ drawing that any Silver Age comic book fan can see was traced from a John Romita Sr. panel in a DC romance story! Romita should sue for a cut of the proceeds. Heck, even I can draw better than Lichtenstein. This is a panel I did for a failed comic strip submission many years ago, with a character inspired by John Lennon’s I Am the Walrus.
© DOuG pRATt
It’s no longer acceptable to justify what Roy Lichtenstein did by saying he helped elevate comic books to an accepted art form, and thereby brought them recognition they wouldn’t have otherwise had. Nonsense. David Barsalou reveals the truth in his Deconstructing Roy Lichtenstein project.
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.”
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”.