#FridayFeature | Roy Lichtenstein | Portrait from the Brushstroke Figures series | 1989 -- Lichtenstein's final series of prints incorporating brushstrokes as their predominant motif was begun in 1987 and is called Brushstroke Figures. Approached by Don Saff of Graphicstudio in Tampa with a technique he had developed of printing with wax (Waxtype), Lichtenstein agreed to make a group of prints that would utilize the medium...The immediate impression of Lichtenstein's Brushstroke Figures prints is that they have extremely remote figural relationships. In most cases only the general placement of a brushstroke mark hints at an eye or a mouth. Thematically similar to paintings Lichtenstein made in 1982 parodying de Kooning's famous paintings of women whose eyes and lips were the most discernible features of energetically painted abstractions, the new Brushstroke Figures are made up of marks that are positioned in expected relationships but are not otherwise designated except by relative size...The elements that differentiate the Brushstroke Figures of the 1980s from the brushstroke compositions of the 1960s are the handmade strokes, screenprinted from at least three screens for each segment, and the physical quality of the wax that is either matte or glossy, according to the finishing method. Contrasting with woodcut cartoon strokes, these elements tend to soften and somehow dissipate the rigor of disciplined composing that periodically pervades Lichtenstein's work. In the Brushstroke Figures, wax changes the overall surface, providing texture and a slight relief that, once again, relates the works to sculptures. -- Riva Castleman, Seven Master Printmakers and Innovators in the Eighties, The Museum of Modern Art, New York, 1991, pages 92-93 --Artwork info: Roy Lichtenstein, Portrait, from Brushstroke Figure Series, 1989, lithograph, waxtype, woodcut and screenprint, 52 1/2 x 34 inches, edition of 60, signed and numbered -- #roylichtenstein #lichtenstein #Friday #fbf #printmaking #graphicstudio #tampa #florida #fl #brushstroke #figure #abstract #popart #pop #arthistory #artist #dekooning #screenprint #waxtype #woodcut #lithography (at Leslie Sacks Gallery)
