"Brushstroke"
Signed in pencil and numbered 8/280. Colour screenprint, 1965. Printed by Chiron Press, New York. Published by Leo Castelli Gallery, New York. Image size 56.4 x 72.3 cm.
Purchased in 2014 at Galleri Nils Åberg, Gothenburg.
Corlett II.5.
Roy Lichtenstein's Brushstrokes series, created in the 1960s, turns our perception of the artist's brushwork on its head. Instead of painting in the traditional manner, Lichtenstein recreates brushstrokes with mechanical precision, inspired by advertising and comic books. By employing graphic lines and bold colours from mass-produced images, he creates art where both the popular and the high art expression intermingle.
The series questions the traditional artist's "hand" by replacing spontaneity with meticulously planned reproductions. Lichtenstein plays with the concepts of originality and authenticity, and with Brushstrokes, he celebrates art's ability to both reflect and evolve in a world where commercialism and mass media hold significant sway.