Roy Lichtenstein
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"Modern Head Relief"
Signed Roy Lichtenstein and dated '70, numbered 29/100, on copper plate verso. Published by Gemini G.E.L., Los Angeles. Brass 61 x 45 x 2 cm.
Provenance
Presumably Galleri 69, Gothenburg.
Private Collection, Sweden.
Literature
Gemini 247.
Corlett 20.
More information
Lichtenstein named the motif Modern Head, and it appears in several variations. Lichtenstein explored the motif from different angles using various techniques. There are wood and brass reliefs, as well as graphic prints using techniques such as woodcut and lithography. Inspired by both 1930s decorative design and contemporary pop art, Lichtenstein created his highly abstracted portrait of a woman. "Modern Head" is also the name of the five monumental steel sculptures that Lichtenstein produced beginning in 1989. Several of them still exist. Sculpture No. 1 was briefly exhibited in Battery Park in New York City. It was then loaned to the Nassau County Museum of Art before being dismantled and shipped to Japan in 2001. It is currently owned by Matsumoto Dental University in Shiojiri, Nagano, Japan. Sculpture No. 2 is at Yale University. Sculpture No. 3 is in Jerusalem. The fourth piece, painted blue, was installed in Battery Park in January 1996, near the location of Sculpture No. 1. Despite standing only a block away, it survived the September 11 attacks in 2001 unscathed. It was later donated to the Smithsonian Institution by Jeffrey H. Loria. In 2019, a fifth copy was installed at Ohio State University.