Lichenstein at Tate Modern

Tate Modern Shop
- and the Lichenstein Retrospective Memorabilia

I had a quick canter around Lichenstein: A Retrospective at Tate Modern yesterday before going to see the Spring Exhibition of the Royal Watercolour Society.

I intend to go back and visit the exhibition again when I have more time and when it's a bit quieter. (Apparently it's quieter on Saturday and Sunday evenings after 7pm!)

I'd RECOMMEND this exhibition to anyone wanting to understand a little bit more about how he came to develop his style.

Halfway round I was reminded of how much more satisfying it is when an artist works in series - it makes for a great retrospective!

The early work comes very late in the exhibition - presumably to avoid interfering with the telling of the story of how his particular stye came about.

It was interesting to see how the work became progressively more sophisticated over time - I particularly enjoyed the two series on "art on art" and "the artists studio"

The landscapes were also very interesting - particularly those that borrowed from nineteenth century Japanese woodcuts.

Lichtenstein is renowned for his works based on comic strips and advertising imagery, coloured with his signature hand-painted Benday dots. The exhibition showcases such key paintings as Look Mickey 1961 lent from the National Gallery Art, Washington and his monumental Artist’s Studio series of 1973–4. Other noteworthy highlights include Whaam! 1963 – a signature work in Tate’s collection – and Drowning Girl 1963 on loan from the Museum of Modern Art, New York.

The artist’s rich and expansive practice is represented by a wide range of materials, including paintings on Rowlux and steel, as well sculptures in ceramic and brass and a selection of previously unseen drawings, collages and works on paper.

I also noted from the working drawings and sketchbooks which he kept to develop a new work that he often worked using coloured pencils - or "graphite with colour" as the Tate has labelled the drawings!

Here's  a video about the Roy Lichenstein.


Diagram of an Artist: Roy Lichtenstein 

The exhibition continues until 27 May 2013. Open until 20.00 on Sundays, with last ticket sale at 19.00. Tickets are available for £14 with concessions available. Note: The exhibition is proving to be very popular. Tate Modern has announced the current situation re ticketing for the upcoming Easter Weekend.

Lichtenstein is proving very popular this bank holiday weekend. Some timeslots have sold out for advance bookings on Friday 29 March, Saturday 30 March and Sunday 31 March,