Lichtenstein at the Tate

I'm finally getting around to catching up on all of the exhibitions I've been meaning to see...first on the list was the Lichtenstein retrospective at the Tate Modern.

Lichtenstein is one of those painters who you either get or you don't. 

You love him or you hate him. 

I really love him.

His work is instantly recognizable. The flat colors, restrained palate, bold outlines, and use of dots to mimic mechanically reproduced images from newspapers/etc was revolutionary during his time -  post-war 1960s America.

There is a level of irony in his work - although he deliberately makes each work look mass-produced, each dot is meticulously painted by his own hand. Each one is different and ever-so-slightly imperfect. Every mark is in a different place. 

This is difficult to see in reproductions...you have to get up close and personal with the works to really see it how individualized the dots/technique really is. 

(you'll have to trust me on this for now) 

Here were a few of my favorites...

The exhibition was organized into 13 sections, each of which represents a genre/theme in his work:

 Brushstrokes, Early Pop, Black and White, War and Romance, Landscapes/Seascapes, Modern, Art about Art, Artist's Studios, Mirrors and Entablatures, Perfect/Imperfect, Late Nudes, Early Abstractions and Late Brushworks, and Chinese Landscapes

Some of the rooms worked better than others. For example, I didn't love "early abstractions and late brushworks" ...it was a room that juxtaposed his very early work with some late works. This kind of juxtaposition would work well for a small-scale exhibition, but as a room in a "retrospective" kind of exhibition, it didn't work for me. 

What I did love was "Art about Art" - in this section, they collected the works where Lichtenstein had quoted other painters. Here are a few...

1. Lichtenstein's Rouen Cathedral vs. Monet's Rouen Cathedral 

   

2. Picasso Femme d'Alger vs. Lichtenstein Femme d'Alger

    

3. Lichtenstein Non-Objective vs. Mondrian Tableau I 

    

4. (my favorite comparison) Lichtenstein's Still Life with Goldfish vs. Matisse Still Life with Goldfish

 

The other work I really loved was something I had never seen before - a painting of the Laocoon. I love the loose brushwork and bright colors - though we still have the dots and lines, it is a completely different style and color palate than his earlier work. This was painted in 1988.

As usual, another great job on the part of Tate Modern! This doesn't exactly go along with my "study week" plans, as it is impossible that a Lichtenstein will be on my exam, but I'm okay with that. Totally worth the trip downtown. 

Also, it was an incredibly beautiful day outside! I got a drink with a friend (Pimms!) on the south bank of the Thames. Here are some pictures from our walk back.