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....
Catalogue entry
Publisher: Saff and Company, Oxford, Maryland
Printer: Saff and Company, Oxford, Maryland
Collaboration: Don Saff (project supervision); Patrick Foy (production supervision and screenprinting); George Holzer (photo processing and screenprinting); Ken Elliott (production assistance); Amanda Friend (screenprinting assistance); and Susan Czeckowiski (screenprinting assistance)
Runs: 29 colors, in 34 runs, from 29 screens:
1–4 light yellow and red (2 colors, in 4 runs, from 2 screens from hand-cut Rubyliths)
5 light, light blue (from hand-cut Rubylith)
6–7 blue (flat-color brushstroke) (2 runs from 1 screen from hand-cut Rubylith)
8–9 black (2 runs rom 1 screen from hand-cut Rubylith)
10–17 blue brushstroke (8 colors [7 variations of blue, plus silver], in 8 runs, from 8 screens from photo-stencils)
18–22 permanent green brushstroke (5 colors [5 variations of permanent green mixed with transparent base], in 5 runs, from 5 screens from photo-stencils)
23–30 sienna brushstroke (8 colors [6 variations of sienna and 2 of flesh], in 8 runs, from 8 screens from photo-stencils)
31–34 cadmium yellow deep brushstroke (4 colors [4 variations of cadmium yellow deep], in 4 runs, from 4 screens from photo-stencils)
This print is singular in Lichtenstein's print oeuvre in that each impression—in addition to the printed brushstrokes—incorporates unique brushstrokes hand-painted by the artist. One of a suite of three prints in process at Saff and Company in Oxford, Maryland, at the time of the artist's death, it was the only one the artist was able to complete with the addition of the hand-painted strokes.
Lichtenstein had executed several small paintings with the obliterating brushstroke theme before beginning on the print project early in 1996 (see Tuten 1998b, in which Frederic Tuten describes the dream origins of this imagery). Following his usual practice, he executed drawings and then a finished collage for each image in the suite. He also designed the frames.
Saff and Company photographically enlarged the collage image to the final size so that stencils could be cut to make the screens for the flat-color areas. Working with the printers at his studio in New York, Lichtenstein executed brushstrokes to the new scale by painting them on a clear Mylar sheet placed over a black-line proof. These brushstrokes on Mylar would be processed photographically in order to make the screens for the printed brushstrokes.
Honeycomb-core aluminum panels—chosen because the surface would not warp or deform as would paper with the stress of repeated inking and heavy applications of paint—were painted with flat, white alkyd enamel at the Oxford boat yard. The result was a look similar to stretched and prepared canvas. The panels were then screenprinted with oil-based enamel ink, completing the image except for the hand-painted stroke. At the artist's request, a pale blue stroke was also screenprinted to mark the location of the hand-painted stroke and serve as a guide.
In June of 1997 Lichtenstein travelled to the Saff and Company workshop to execute the hand-painted strokes of Brushstroke Still Life with Lamp. Each hand-painted stroke is actually a composite, consisting of multiple passes, wet on wet, with different colors. The printing of RLCR 4659, Brushstroke Still Life with Box and RLCR 4660, Brushstroke Still Life with Coffee Pot had not been completed at that time, so Lichtenstein had planned to return at a later date to execute the hand-painted strokes on those works. He died on September 29, 1997.
Note: In Corlett 2002, the illustration of this print is flipped.