Roy Lichtenstein Study for Cosmology

Roy Lichtenstein (1923-1997) Study for CosmologyColored pencils on tracing paper, 1979, signed and dated in pencil, lower right and countersigned, titled and dated on the frame back. 18 7/8 x 23 3/4 inches. Executed in 1979, this work will be included in the catalogue raisonne being prepared by the Roy Lichtenstein Foundation Turning his focus to the Surrealist period during the late 1970s, Roy Lichtenstein continued to borrow the motifs and concepts from the masters of the Twentieth Century, placing these ideas within the framework of his own distinct style, among the Benday dots and bold linear lines. One of his most revered works from this period is Cosmology painted in 1978. The composition in Cosmology is directly taken from Pablo Picasso's The Studio (1927-1928), which depicts two figures flanking a window into which he has introduced surrealism in the form of a juxtaposition of seemingly unrelated objects and themes. The other main surrealist influence in this work being from Joan Mir¢, from whom Lichtenstein imitated his famous eyes for the two figures in profile. The work offered here is one of three known preparatory drawings finished in colored pencils for Cosmology; at 16 x 23 inches, its size lies between the other two known drawings. From what is known of Lichtenstein's process, it can be inferred that this drawing was the intermediate stage of Lichtenstein's composition of Cosmology. The artist's changing of ideas in both composition and color are evident in the faint contours seen intermittently on the paper upon close inspection of the drawing. Areas that received particular attention were the still life arranged on the folding chair and the sunburst on the left, which were redrawn to create balance and harmony with the rest of the composition. Studies and drawings are the foundation of an artist's oeuvre. This drawing by Lichtenstein provides clues to his creative process and allow one to see the artist in his truest form. Literature: Bernice Rose and Elizabeth Richebourg Rea. The Drawings of Roy Lichtenstein. New York: Museum of Modern Art, 1987, pp. 29, 37-38, 46.