Seascape (C.36) belongs to a pivotal moment in Roy Lichtenstein's early print career — a work of 1964 in which the subject matter and the material of its support were in precise material alignment. The seascape, set down as a simplified arrangement of sky and ocean in the spare print style Lichtenstein had developed through his comic-book work, was printed on translucent Rowlux plastic: an industrial moiré material whose shimmering, optically active surface shifted with the viewing angle, evoking the light on water through physical, not illusionistic, means.

The seascape as a genre had a long history in Western painting — from the Dutch marine tradition through Turner and the Impressionists to the popular coastal imagery of American commercial illustration. Lichtenstein's approach typically stripped the subject to its essential components, the horizon line dividing sky from sea, the blue tones of water built through the screenprint vocabulary he had developed across the preceding two years. The choice of Rowlux as the print's support was the work's most significant material decision. The translucent moiré material, with its optical interference pattern that shifted between shimmer and opacity as the viewer moved, brought a quality of optical movement that no static printed surface could produce.

For more information or to buy Seascape (1 by Roy Lichtenstein, contact our specialists using the enquiry button above.