Roy Lichtenstein (1923-1997), Hopeless

Graphics, limited edition of 150 pieces, on handmade paper.
Each print is individually numbered.
Dimensions: 35 x 50 cm (sheet)
Inscription in pencil l.d.: 31/150, p.d.: facsimile "R.Lichtenstein (R)".
Thick French paper, on the back stamp: Castelli Graphics, New York.
At the bottom, dry seal of the publisher: Styria Studio
Condition: very good

Roy Lichtenstein (1923-1997) - American painter, printmaker, sculptor.
In the 1930s he went to New York jazz clubs and sketched portraits of musicians. He was fascinated by Charlie Parker, John Coltrane, Miles Davis and tried to play the saxophone himself. He studied painting at Ohio State University in the 1940s. He had his first solo exhibition in 1951 in New York. He initially painted in the style of abstract expressionism, which was triumphant in American art at the time.
His Pop Art breakthrough came in the early 1960s, when he began painting popular Disney cartoon characters. His first Pop Art painting Look Mickey was created in 1961.
Soon his inspiration came from cartoons, advertisements and motifs from other artists' paintings. He began exhibiting his first cartoon paintings at New York's Castelli Gallery, which promoted pop art artists. In 1965, he represented the US at the Venice Biennale. In the second half of the 1960s, he began creating paintings of the Brushstrokes series parodying expressive abstractionism. In the 1970s and 1980s, he painted the abstract Mirrors series. In 1979 he became a member of the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters.
In 1994, he designed large murals for the Times Square - 42nd Street subway station in New York (installed in 2002). In 1995 he was awarded the Kyoto Prize in Art and Philosophy.
He died from complications of pneumonia in 1997 in New York. Retrospective exhibitions at: Guggenheim Museum and Museum of Modern Art