'The things I parody, I admire' —Roy Lichtenstein
Claude Monet, Waterlilies, 1916-19. Image: Bridgeman Images Bold, graphic and industrial are descriptors often applied to the work of Roy Lichtenstein, a pioneer of American Pop Art, and at first glance, place his commercially influenced artworks in binary opposition to the Impressionist paintings of Claude Monet. Yet, Lichtenstein frequently referenced the works of the venerated French master throughout his career, challenging the perceived differences between their artistic styles. Following his iterations of Monet’s Rouen Cathedral and Haystacks that he produced in 1968 and 1969 respectively, Lichtenstein turned to Monet’s most famous works: his paintings of water lilies at Giverny, France. In Water Lilies with Willows – one of six screenprints the artist produced in 1992 in reference to Monet’s paintings – Lichtenstein parodies these iconic works of art history, translating them for the modern age through his Pop Art aesthetic. In doing so, Lichtenstein reveals some unexpected parallels between the two artists’ formal concerns, despite their drastically different artistic styles.
Left: Claude Monet in his workshop in front of one of his paintings Waterlilies, c. 1918. Image: Bridgeman Images
Right: Roy Lichtenstein in his studio, 1992. Image: © Laurie Lambrecht.'When I did paintings based on Monet’s I realised everyone would think that Monet was someone I could never do because his work has no outlines and it’s so Impressionistic. It’s laden with incredible nuance and a sense of the different times of day and it’s just completely different from my art. So, I don’t know, I smiled at the idea of making a mechanical Monet' —Roy Lichtenstein
A key priority in the works of Monet and the Impressionists was capturing the subtle changes in light conditions and that desire drove Monet to create over two hundred and fifty oil paintings of the water lilies at Giverny. His fascination with light and its reflections produced some of the most spectacular renderings of water within the art historical canon. Acknowledging that the rendering of such delicate nuance in thick oils worked against his clinical and mechanical aesthetic style, Lichtenstein explored alternative ways to replicate the subtilities in Monet’s composition. Constructed using sign painter’s enamel screenprinted on to stainless steel, Lichtenstein’s Water Lilies series reinforces the industrial essence of his practice. However, his innovative use of stainless steel as the surface for his works gives them a reflective quality, mirroring the lighting, colours, and contents of the room in which they are exhibited. As stated by Mary Lee Corlett, Lichtenstein’s Water Lilies “transmogrify”, constantly changing as they are viewed from different angles. Lichtenstein’s choice of medium in Water Lilies with Willows allowed the artist to accurately replicate the characteristics of water, as Monet had sought to do through oil paint almost a century earlier. Lichtenstein had long been interested in reflections, most evidently exemplified in his Mirror Series of 1972, and his mediations on Monet’s works allowed him to further experiment with incorporating reflection into his art. The result is a modernised depiction of Monet’s Impressionist masterpiece, paradoxical in its use of industrial materials to portray the effects of the natural world: a “mechanical Monet”, as Lichtenstein described the work.
Left: Claude Monet, Nympheas, 1897-8. Image: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Mrs. Fred Hathaway Bixby Bequest (M.62.8.13)
Right: Roy Lichtenstein, Water Lilies with Willows (detail), 1992.Despite the apparent differences in their execution, both Lichtenstein and Monet had drawn inspiration from the aesthetic of Japanese woodcuts. Monet amassed a collection of over one hundred Japanese prints, and the gardens at Giverny were influenced by his love of these images. Rendered in block colours with thick black lines, Lichtenstein also pays homage to the woodcut tradition, a technique he frequently used throughout his printmaking career. While the influence of Japanese woodcuts on the work of Claude Monet is most evident through his celebration of nature, Lichtenstein’s appreciation is exemplified through the graphic qualities of his Pop Art style.
Kunisada II, An elegant, Gunji-like figure, punting a boat through water-lilies, 1960. Image: Wellcome Collection. Lichtenstein’s parody of Monet’s paintings of water lilies highlights his admiration for the Impressionist master, while simultaneously showcasing the possibilities afforded to him through the Pop Art aesthetic. What might at first appear as a whimsical Pop Art pastiche of the revered Impressionist paintings reveals itself as a complex exploration of medium, style and aesthetics. Lichtenstein creates a modern and eye-catching piece, imbued with the formal concerns of his artistic predecessors.
Provenance
Private Collection, New York
David Benrimon Fine Art, New York
Private Collection, Florida
Acquired directly from the above by the present ownerExhibited
New York, Leo Castelli Gallery, Roy Lichtenstein: Water Lilies, 1992 (another example exhibited, illustrated pp. 11-12)
London, Bernard Jacobson, Roy Lichtenstein: Last Still Life and Other Works, 2004 (another example exhibited)
New York, Jacobson Howard Gallery, Roy Lichtenstein: Water Lilies, 2006 (another example exhibited)Literature
Mary Lee Corlett 266
Tokyo, The Niigata Prefectural Museum of Modern Art/The Niigata Bandaijima Art Museum catalogue, 2003 (another example illustrated p. 113)
M. S. Kushner and Donald Saff, Art in Collaboration, Munich, Berlin, London, 2010, no. 99 (another example illustrated pp. 104-105)
Property from a Private European Collection
Ο◆123
Water Lilies with Willows, from Water Lilies (C. 266)
1992
Screenprinted enamel in colours, on processed and swirled stainless steel, the full sheet.
framed 147.5 x 264.5 cm (58 1/8 x 104 1/8 in.)
Signed, dated and annotated 'O.K.' in black felt-tip pen on the reverse (the single bon à tirer or 'good to print' proof before the edition of 23 and 7 artist's proofs), published by Saff Tech Arts, Oxford, Maryland, contained within the original artist's specified white wooden frame.
Estimate
£300,000 - 500,000 ‡
Sold for £378,000
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Evening & Day Editions
London Auction 14 - 15 September 2022
160
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347
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