Bidspirit auction | Lichtenstein ”Water Lilies - Pink

Lichtenstein ”Water Lilies - Pink Flower ” 1992 - Roy Lichtenstein (American, 1923-1997). Mixed media screenprint titled ”Water Lilies - Pink Flower, ” 1992. From the ”Water Lilies” series. Screenprinted enamel on processed and swirled stainless steel with painted and routered relief wood frame. Ink signed, dated, and numbered 7/20 along the verso. Ink stamped and numbered ”RL92-003” along the verso. Printed and published by Saff Tech Arts, Oxford, Maryland. Reference: RLCR 4174 (Corlett 261, RL 3761). Lot Essay: Executed in 1992, ”Water Lilies - Pink Flower” represents a pinnacle conceptual achievement from Roy Lichtenstein’s late career, wherein the Pop Art pioneer directly engages with art history. Part of a highly acclaimed six-part series paying homage to Claude Monet’s ”Nympheas, ” this work features a radical dialogue across centuries. While Monet spent his final decades at Giverny attempting to dissolve physical form into fleeting, atmospheric impressions of light and water, Lichtenstein performs a brilliant inversion. ”I smiled at the idea of making a mechanical Monet, ” the artist once noted. He takes one of the most organic, romantic subjects in the Western canon and subjects it to the cool precision of commercial design, turning a transient natural moment into a bold, permanent graphic statement. What elevates ”Water Lilies - Pink Flower” beyond a mere pastiche is its innovative and highly tactile use of materials. The work is screenprinted with sign-painter's enamel directly onto processed, swirled stainless steel. Lichtenstein worked closely with master printmaker Donald Saff to achieve the distinct engine-turned swirls, which the artist nostalgically recalled from the metal dashboards of 1920s automobiles. By leaving large areas of the metal exposed, the swirled patterns catch and bounce light across the composition. This industrial surface serves as a direct surrogate for Monet's shimmering water, mirroring actual ambient light and shifting constantly based on the viewer’s perspective to create a stunning tension between the artificial and the organic. Visually, the composition is a masterclass in Lichtenstein’s mature aesthetic, housing the scene within an elegant, decorative oval field that evokes traditional tondos and framed medallions. Rather than replicating a vast atmospheric landscape panorama, the artist focuses on a poignant, stylized detail: a single pink blossom nestled among graphic lily pads, set against sharp vertical bands and diagonal stripes. The organic form of the flower is bounded by thick, unyielding black outlines and punctuated by flat bands of color, juxtaposed against his signature Ben-Day dots. Through this deliberate application of the visual lexicon of mass media, Lichtenstein interrogates how contemporary society consumes natural beauty through the lens of reproduction. Sight; height: 39 1/4 in x width: 34 1/4 in. Framed; height: 43 1/2 in x width: 38 1/2 in x depth: 1 1/2 in. Condition: There are no breaks, losses, or signs of repair. Along the lower left quadrant there is a linear scuff measuring approximately 1 1/4 in. Light wear to the frame including minute chips along the extreme edges of the lower right corner and the lower left edge. Not inspected out of frame.