Lichtenstein Retrospective at Tate Modern

 

On Saturday I went to see Lichtenstein A Retrospective at the Tate Modern. I have to admit, embarrassingly, they I hadn’t heard of Roy Lichtenstein before the exhibition and when I first saw posters for the event I initially thought of the country. Who knew that a small Eastern European country was so famous for pop art?

The exhibition was surprisingly quiet for a Saturday afternoon (much quieter than Manet), which made the gallery very pleasant to drift round. I enjoyed the bold colours, strong lines and familiar images of the pop art (even if I didn’t always get some of the comic book style text).

I discovered that Lichtenstein was about more than just pop art, interpreting the works of two of my other favourite artists Picasso and Mondrian. My favourite piece in the exhibition was a study from 1974 where three portraits were done in the style of pop art, Picasso and Mondrian. I loved how the pop art image transitioned to the more abstract as it moved towards Mondrian’s style.

At the end of the exhibition the gift shop was selling prints at the amazingly good price of £6 each. Sadly the portrait triptych wasn’t among them.  Being an obscure study, rather than one of his famous pieces of work I’m not sure I’ll ever find it. If you know of places that sell obscure Lichtenstein prints, please let me know.