Lot136 N11733 Roy Lichtenstein Sound of Music (Study)
"Each generation of illustrators makes modifications and reinforcements of these symbols, which then become part of the vocabulary of all. The result is an impersonal form. In my own work, I would like to bend this toward a new classicism."
Like a soft breeze, ledger lines gracefully stream through the open window, capturing our heroine’s attention with the “sound of music.” Executed circa 1963-64, Lichtenstein’s Sound of Music (Study) is an intimate scene of total enchantment. The present work is an iconic example of Lichtenstein’s legendary comic-inspired Pop works of the 1960s, which frequently capture beautiful heroines in melodramatic moments of surprise or marvel. Lichtenstein’s works from this period are among his most celebrated and paradigmatic, as the works which would catapult his fame and solidify his legendary status in Contemporary art. Preceding the artist’s iconic large-scale painting by the same title, the present work captures a moment of wonder and joy, paying homage to a 1962 comic illustration by Arthur Peddy published in the popular romance comic book, Heart Throbs. Lichtenstein’s studies are integral to his practice, as not only antecedents for large-scale paintings, but also fully realized works in and of themselves. The richly worked surface of the present work further reveals Lichtenstein’s presence and the conceptual development obscured from the precise execution of his paintings. Further test.mes nt to its importance, the present work has been featured in numerous major international exhibitions of Lichtenstein’s work, including the 2013 Retrospective at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York (and traveling), the most comprehensive exhibition of the artist’s work to date.
Entranced by musical melodies from afar, Lichtenstein’s subject gazes out towards the source of dazzling sounds. Her crystal blue eyes turn towards the window, her hand inquisitively rests on her chin, and her lips turn up in a smile. As with many of his early paintings, Lichtenstein closely crops the composition, so the figure’s face fills the majority of the picture plane. Her gaze, at once curious and playful, equally captivates the viewer who is privy to this clandestine moment of intrigue and intimacy. Inspired by the graphic and playful illustrations of contemporary comic book spreads, Lichtenstein recasts this popular iconography into the realm of Replica Handbags . An archival photograph from the artist’s studio reveals that Lichtenstein’s inspiration for the present work was a 1962 comic-book illustration for an amusing love story. Upon hearing a string of “La-La-La-La” from the window, the protagonist looks out and exclaims: “Oh, What a lovely baritone voice!” Lichtenstein’s figure appears deeply allured and intrigued by the music, coyly resisting the urge to turn her face fully towards the window, surrendering only a delicate smile. In Lichtenstein’s version, all text references are omitted from the composition, creating an additional layer of intrigue and fantasy to the scene. While created one year prior to the iconic 1965 film, The Sound of Music, Lichtenstein’s figure bears an undeniable resemblance to Maria Von Trapp and her infectious spirit which radiates a joyous mixture of innocence, mischief and exuberance.
Revealed through subtle shading and crisp graphite lines, Sound of Music (Study) offers a rare glimpse into Lichtenstein’s masterful creative process and the interventions hidden from his painted works. Through his studies, Lichtenstein resolved questions of composition and color, developing the structure for his bold contour lines, Ben-Day dots, and refined planes of pigment. Here, Lichtenstein renders the composition with vigorous graphite lines, defining areas of shading which will be replaced with Ben-Day dots in the painted iteration. The golden yellow of the protagonist’s hair gleams against the soft red and blue colored pencil used to render her face. The windowpanes are open and curtains billow in the breeze. In shifting from red to blue dots across the shadow of the figure’s face in the later canvas, Lichtenstein presages the same optical devices and illusions as Woman: Sunlight, Moonlight from 1996 and its collage study. His famed Ben-Day dots become a method of pictorial illusion, creating a juxtaposition between fullness and depth that further lends the work into fiction. This interplay between the study and the finished work reveals Lichtenstein’s creative interrogation of composition and depth, and the ongoing dialogue surrounding the representation of the female figure in the modern era.
"I had been interested in the comic strip as a visual medium for a long t.mes before I actually used it in a painting... These printed symbols attain perfection in the hands of commercial artists through the continuing idealization of the image made compatible with commercial considerations. Each generation of illustrators makes modifications and reinforcements of these symbols, which then become part of the vocabulary of all. The result is an impersonal form. In my own work, I would like to bend this toward a new classicism."
Drawn from the visual vocabulary of 1960s romance comics, Lichtenstein’s subject is simultaneously iconic and archetypal, embodying Lichtenstein’s enduring exploration of mass media’s portrayal of and commodification of feminine beauty. In his legendary “Girl Paintings,” Lichtenstein appropriates the artificial cliches of mid-century female glamour from magazines and advertisements, recasting them on canvas and brilliantly blurring the boundaries of high and low art. Through this method of appropriation, Lichtenstein exposed the artificiality of the comic-book heroes and their method of production. Reimaging these mass-produced fictional images through a process which is inherently manual and human. Somehow, the visibility of Lichtenstein’s intervention provides transparency and honesty to an image which is, of course, invented. Standing before Lichtenstein’s Sound of Music (Study), the viewer is enraptured by her wandering gaze and a sublime feeling of joy by the whisper of music. Lichtenstein’s rendering is a departure from the original comic illustration, imbued with a whimsy and innovation in the artist’s instantly recognizable Pop sensibility.
