Brushstroke Still Life with Lamp

Brushstroke Still Life with Lamp forms part of Roy Lichtenstein's last series of still life prints. Completed in 1997, the work combines a background of familiar elements: Lichtenstein's stripes and Benday dots, with unique hand-painted brush strokes. Described as the 'obliterating brushstroke', the artist conceived of this idea in a dream; 'defacing or effacing' the surface of the image with his mark. In Brushstroke Still Life with Lamp, the flat assembly of printed furniture is washed with an assortment of colour, invading and obliterating the work's uniform authority.

The motif of the brushstroke, originated in Lichtenstein's art in 1965-1966, when the artist first parodied the Abstract Expressionist's concept of the artist's hand as conduit for the subconscious. In creating each brush stroke, the artist meticulously made and collaged paper stencils to the surface of the canvas, filling each with flowing paint. This mechanical method eschewed all romantic notions of the artist's gesture, yet created a dramatic and spontaneous appearance; a triumph of aesthetic duplicity. In his later works, Lichtenstein abandoned the iconic brushstroke, working extensively in the 1970s on his still life compositions of tables, chairs, lamps and interior paintings unadulterated by such brushstrokes. In Brushstroke Still Life with Lamp, Lichtenstein resurrects both of these iconic elements, combining his trademark of the Pop era to great effect.