Woodcut on Japanese paper
<span class="gray">Sheet:</span> 16 3/4 x 20 5/8 in. (42.6 x 52.4 cm) (variable)<div class="div_addlDim"><span class="gray">Image:</span> 12 3/8 x 15 1/16 in. (31.4 x 38.3 cm)</div>
Impressions are inconsistently signed, dated, titled, and numbered in pencil, bottom margin: One is titled [The Heavier Than Air Machine], dated [1953], inscribed [signed '79], signed [rf Lichtenstein], and inscribed [state proof]. One is titled [The Heavier-than-Air Machine], dated [1953], signed [Lichtenstein], and inscribed [Artist's proof]. One is titled [The Flying Machine], signed [Lichtenstein], numbered [1/1], and dated [1954]
Classification: print

Print

The print and poster entries in this online catalogue follow the documentation and comments published in the authoritative book:

Mary Lee Corlett. The Prints of Roy Lichtenstein: A Catalogue Raisonné, 1948–1993, 2nd ed. New York: Hudson Hills Press in association with the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 2002 (Corlett 2002). First published in 1994 (Corlett 1994). Introduction by Ruth E. Fine (Fine 1994a).

Corlett documented 311 editioned prints and posters by Lichtenstein produced from 1948 through 1997, with three works published in 1998 after the artist’s death: RLCR 4622, 4755, and 4752. Along with them, Corlett documented select posters, announcements, and other printed works in unspecified editions (totaling 76 items); these were either designed by the artist or based on the artist’s designs, or reproductions approved in collaboration with the artist. Prints not documented by Corlett (RLCR 999, 1178, 3625, 3664, 4685, 357, 4195, and 3884) were added. Reproductions are no longer included in this online catalogue, only references to them per Corlett or in added commentaries.

The individual entries’ style and structure closely follow Corlett 2002 and differ slightly from all other entries in this online catalogue except for small style changes made for consistency.

All prints or poster impressions formerly or currently in the artist’s estate were re-photographed by the Roy Lichtenstein Foundation for this online publication to provide the best image quality. Impressions or objects in other collections are reproduced with the best available imagery at the time of publication. Some entries are still illustrated with the images the book provided, mostly photographs of impressions in the collection of the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. Illustrations of woodblocks and other print matrices, as well as print variants, such as different states (RLCR 217, St. George and the Dragon (I) [Killing the Dragon]), ink color variants (RLCR 289, Hunter with Dog), paper color variants (RLCR 269, Approaching the Castle) and teaching aides (RLCR 2871, American Indian Theme I), have been added as Research Images when mentioned in the entry and/or when discovered and available....

Read more: Corlett Catalogue of the Prints of Roy Lichtenstein
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Catalogue entry

Artwork: The Heavier-than-Air Machine [The Flying Machine], 1953 (RLCR 419) Variant A (state proof)
Variant A (state proof)
Artwork: The Heavier-than-Air Machine [The Flying Machine], 1953 (RLCR 419) Edition impression (?)
Artwork: The Heavier-than-Air Machine [The Flying Machine], 1953 (RLCR 419) Edition impression (?)
Artwork: The Heavier-than-Air Machine [The Flying Machine], 1953 (RLCR 419) Variant B (artist proof)
RLCR 419 (Busche 271; Corlett 23; RL 3523)
The Heavier-than-Air Machine [The Flying Machine]
1953
Title Source
Corlett; RL Studio Card
Alternate titles and sources: The Flying Machine (Busche; RL Studio Card); The Heavier Than Air Machine (RL Studio Photograph)
Media
Woodcut on Japanese paper
Dimensions
Sheet: 16 3/4 x 20 5/8 in. (42.6 x 52.4 cm) (variable)
Image: 12 3/8 x 15 1/16 in. (31.4 x 38.3 cm)
Description
Edition: unknown; plus unknown number of unnumbered proofs, including 1 AP, 1 state proof, and 1 proof inscribed [1/1]

Publisher: the artist

Printer: the artist

Runs:
gray
blue-purple
red
light fuchsia
dark fuchsia
dark blue

variants:
A (state proof)
gray
light blue
maroon
fuchsia
red

B (artist's proof)
gray
light blue
dark blue
fuchsia
red
Inscriptions
Impressions are inconsistently signed, dated, titled, and numbered in pencil, bottom margin: One is titled [The Heavier Than Air Machine], dated [1953], inscribed [signed '79], signed [rf Lichtenstein], and inscribed [state proof]. One is titled [The Heavier-than-Air Machine], dated [1953], signed [Lichtenstein], and inscribed [Artist's proof]. One is titled [The Flying Machine], signed [Lichtenstein], numbered [1/1], and dated [1954]
Remarks

This print was briefly mentioned in Haas 1953. The article states: "Roy Lichtenstein's color-woodcut, The Heavier-than-Air Machine, is a whimsical conception of an early airplane. The motor, wings and markings have been segmented into red, blue and umber forms, but the tall assembly has been left intact. The entire design has been placed against a red-violet background." In this article's "New Prints: Check List," the woodcut's edition was "unspecified."

In addition to the color variants, there are at least two known states: one with a solid background and one in which the background field has horizontal striations cut into it.

One woodblock (gray block) is preserved in the Roy Lichtenstein Foundation Collection, as is a second woodblock used for printing the fuchsia colors. In 2019, the Roy Lichtenstein Foundation donated another woodblock (maroon block) to The Roy Lichtenstein Study Collection at the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York. 

Photo: Tricia Zigmund, courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington (Primary Image 3)
Research Images
The Heavier-than-Air Machine [The Flying Machine], 1953 (RLCR 419). Fuchsia-run woodblock (RLF Collection)
Fuchsia-run woodblock (RLF Collection)
The Heavier-than-Air Machine [The Flying Machine], 1953 (RLCR 419). Gray-run woodblock (RLF Collection)
Gray-run woodblock (RLF Collection)
The Heavier-than-Air Machine [The Flying Machine], 1953 (RLCR 419). Maroon-run woodblock (Whitney Museum of American Art)
Maroon-run woodblock (Whitney Museum of American Art)
Literature
Haas 1953
Haas, Irvin. "The Print Collector: November Color Prints." ARTnews 52, no. 7 (November 1953).
Busche 1988
Busche, Ernst A. Roy Lichtenstein: Das Frühwerk, 1942–1960. Berlin: Gebr. Mann Verlag, 1988, no. 271 p. 111 b/w ill.
Entry Updated October 27, 2023