Landscape Sketches: 1984-1985 (C. App. 9), 1986

FIRST EDITION, ONE OF ONLY 100 COPIES SIGNED BY LICHTENSTEIN

The complete suite, comprising 24 offset lithographs printed in colors on Coronado Opaque SST Cover paper, signed in blue felt tip pen, dated and numbered on inside of portfolio (there were also 2500 bound copies), loose as issued, published by Harry N. Abrams, Inc., New York, printed by Meriden-Stinehour Press, Meriden, CT, in excellent condition, with introductory essay and list of images, all housed in grey cloth covered clamshell portfolio with red letterpress title. Light soiling to box, else fine. 7 1/2 x 10 1/4in each sheet; 8 1/4 x 10 7/8 x 7/8in overall.

Although known primarily for large, bold works, Roy Lichtenstein “always worked from meticulous, finished sketches. During a distinguished career of almost three decades, he has seldom deviated from the practice of using these sketches to generate paintings, prints, and sculpture in ongoing, and discrete, series... 

“The twenty-four drawings in this sketchbook are ‘all landscapes, figures, and houses, but they are essentially landscapes.’ They do, in part, recall certain of his landscape images of the mid-sixties. However, now devoid of the familiar Lichtenstein dots, each is composed exclusively of brushstrokes—a combination of free, seemingly spontaneous marks evoking Abstract Expressionism played against what the artist refers to as ‘cartoon’ brushstrokes that continue to represent his concern for artifice... 

“[The] drawings in Landscape Sketches 1984—1985, inspired by a semiabstract landscape that appeared as an element in his recent Paintings series, constitute his first attempt at creating ‘plain landscapes out of all brushstrokes’—the frankly ‘fake’ or cartoon marks providing the link that allows us to associate these new works with those we recognize as archetypal.” (Constance W. Glenn, Introduction).  (17158)

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