Woodcut on brown Kraft paper
<span class="gray">Sheet:</span> 12 15/16 x 25 1/4 in. (32.9 x 64.2 cm) (variable)<div class="div_addlDim"><span class="gray">Image:</span> 11 1/8 x 23 1/16 in. (28.3 x 58.6 cm)</div>
Impressions are inconsistently signed, dated, and numbered in pencil, bottom margin: One is numbered, signed [rf Lichtenstein], and dated [1950]. One is inscribed [AP], signed [rf Lichtenstein], and dated ['51]. One is numbered, signed [rf Lichtenstein], and dated [1954–1979]. Impression reproduced in E. Armstrong and McGuire 1989 appears to be numbered, titled [To Battle], signed [rf Lichtenstein], and dated [1950]
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: To Battle, 1950 (RLCR 238) Photo: Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington
RLCR 238 (Busche 262; Corlett 9; RL 3509)
To Battle
1950
Title Source
Busche; Corlett; RL Studio Card; RL Studio Photograph
Media
Woodcut on brown Kraft paper
Dimensions
Sheet: 12 15/16 x 25 1/4 in. (32.9 x 64.2 cm) (variable)
Image: 11 1/8 x 23 1/16 in. (28.3 x 58.6 cm)
Description
Edition of 10; plus unknown number of unnumbered proofs, all possibly part of the edition of 10

Publisher: the artist

Printer: the artist

Runs: dark blue
Inscriptions
Impressions are inconsistently signed, dated, and numbered in pencil, bottom margin: One is numbered, signed [rf Lichtenstein], and dated [1950]. One is inscribed [AP], signed [rf Lichtenstein], and dated ['51]. One is numbered, signed [rf Lichtenstein], and dated [1954–1979]. Impression reproduced in E. Armstrong and McGuire 1989 appears to be numbered, titled [To Battle], signed [rf Lichtenstein], and dated [1950]
Remarks

Image dimensions vary owing to inconsistent inking of the block. 

Chafetz 1970, p. 49, gives title as Storming the Castle; Busche 1988 gives date as 1951. It is likely that the AP [artist's proof cited above] was signed and dated by the artist years after the completion of the edition, with the date misremembered. According to Chafetz 1970, p. 48, Lichtenstein used a Burgess Vibratool to cut the block; however, the artist does not recall having done so.  

In 1952 this work was included in the Cleveland Museum of Art's Annual show (1952 Cleveland Museum), as was RLCR 289, Hunter with Dog (Fine 1994a, reprinted in Corlett 2002, p. 18).

This print was awarded a purchase prize in the Fifth National Print Annual Exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum, 1951 (1951 Brooklyn Museum).

Photo: Courtesy National Gallery of Art, Washington
Research Images
To Battle, 1950 (RLCR 238). Woodblock (Private Collection)
Woodblock (Private Collection)
Literature
H., B. "Reviews and Previews." ARTnews 50, no. 2 (April 1951), p. 44 b/w ill.
Chafetz, Sidney. "Four Early Lichtenstein Prints." Artist's Proof 10 (1970).
Busche, Ernst A. Roy Lichtenstein: Das Frühwerk, 1942–1960. Berlin: Gebr. Mann Verlag, 1988, no. 262 p. 86 b/w ill.
Entry Updated October 10, 2023