Roy Lichtenstein

Roy Lichtenstein, Seascape, 1965

Roy Lichtenstein was the only American Pop artist to participate in Edition MAT. Although throughout his career he primarily made Pop art, in 1964 he began to produce landscape paintings that share qualities with Op art. Seascape was described in the 1965 Edition MAT marketing materials as a “kinetic pop object.” It consists of screen-printed yellow and blue collage elements affixed to a background of blue Rowlux, a commercially available lenticular plastic that reflects light in curving patterns. The collage elements suggest a seashore, while the Rowlux creates undulating reflections that recall the effects of light on water. The entire collage sits inside a shallow box, whose interior sides are coated with reflective foil, further enhancing the play of light. Lichtenstein would later recall that Rowlux “seemed to be the perfect quotidian way of producing the appearance of a landscape that seemed… to be more real because it moved, but obviously less real.” This tension between the impression of real movement and the blatantly artificial, even kitschy quality of the material is central to the work’s aesthetic.

Image credit

Roy Lichtenstein (American, 1923–1997), Seascape, 1965. Screen print and die-cut collage on Rowlux in foil-lined painted wood box with Plexiglas, 67/100, 13 3/16 x 24 15/16 x 3 5/8 in. (33.5 x 63.3 x 9.1 cm). Published by Edition MAT / Galerie Der Spiegel, Cologne. Ludwig Museum Koblenz, Germany. © Estate of Roy Lichtenstein.