A strident vision of bold graphic efficiency and riveting, resounding triumph, Reflections on Thud! from 1990 is a dazzling example from Roy Lichtenstein’s important series of Reflections Paintings, which he began in 1988 and completed in 1993. As a T-Rex hits the ground in definitive defeat, Lichtenstein’s titular ‘reflections’ panels, flawlessly rendered in immaculate striations of the artist’s signature Ben-Day dots, slice exultantly through the picture plane, embodying the ultimate crystallization of the artist’s enduring engagement with the role of vision and perception in art. The pictorial shorthand of reflective lines has a threefold effect: first, the device replicates the visual effect of reflective glass, acting as a trompe l’oeil element explicitly manifests the reflective act; second, the replicated glass acts as a formal barrier that simultaneously compels viewers in to the disrupted image while also keeping them at bay, heightening the intrigue and drama in the act of viewing; third, the shattered pictorial unity further complicates the narrative, amplifying the theatrical drama in the original image. Painted in 1990, Reflections on Thud! is particularly desirable for its focus on the most iconic subject in Lichtenstein’s idiom – the comic strip, as well as his incorporation of a comic-style exclamatory onomatopoeia – Thud!. Only eight of Lichtenstein’s Reflective Paintings contain an onomatopoetic device, and of the artist’s 22 Onomatopoeia Paintings from the 1960s, half reside in prestigious institution collects ions. Representing multiple levels of self-reflexivity, not least harkening to the artist’s landmark Mirror series from 1969-1972, Lichtenstein’s highly celebrated Reflections Paintings quote from earlier paintings in his oeuvre and from the broader history of art, comprising an extraordinary survey of his career-long exploration of art about art.

Lichtenstein had long been fascinated by the role of reflection in painting, evident in his early work Girl with Mirror (1964) and his Mirror series of 1969-1972. In the series of Reflections Paintings, Lichtenstein focuses specifically on the painterly device of diagonal lines to envision a painting as it would appear under a glass frame. Lichtenstein describes: “It started when I tried to photograph a print by Robert Rauschenberg that was under glass. But the light from a window reflected on the surface of the glass and prevented me from taking a good picture. But it gave me the idea of photographing fairly well-known works under glass, where the reflections would hide most of the work, but you could still make out what the subject was…I started this series of Reflections on various early works of mine… It portrays a painting under glass. It is framed and the glass is preventing you from seeing the painting. Of course, the reflections are just an excuse to make an abstract work, with the cartoon image being supposedly partly hidden by the reflections” (the artist cited in 1995, reprinted in G. Bader, ed., Roy Lichtenstein: October Files, Cambridge, 2009, p. 69). The resulting push-pull effect of the glass barrier and the refracted image simultaneously creates distance while intensifying the emotions of the image; as Graham Bader observes: “[The paintings] foreground their beholders’ separation from the content they present. The series illustrates not the deep space of mirror illusion but impenetrable surface laid bare by reflected light. Lichtenstein accentuates the blockage by deploying his reflective streaks over particularly loaded or emotionally charged scenes” (Graham Bader, Roy Lichtenstein Reflected, Exh. Cat., Mitchell, Innes & Nash, New York, 2011, p. 49). Bader continues: “The paintings suggest that to make art is to engage in a game of reflection and refraction that stretches across history and between works, enveloping artist, image and viewer alike” (Ibid, p. 57).

A paragon of Lichtenstein’s singular Reflections Paintings, Reflections on Thud! is joined by examples from the series in the San Francisco Modern Art, The Broad Museum in Los Angeles, the Yale University Art Gallery, and the Israel Museum, amongst others. Even within this rarified group, the present work stands out for its breathtaking pictorial exuberance and graphic charge, and its succinct articulation of Lichtenstein’s quintessential Pop vernacular. The use of the comic strip is a fundamental Lichtenstein premise; more than any artist of his generation Lichtenstein instinctively understood the phenomenal potential of popular imagery and realigned the cipher of that imagery to unveil verities behind the ever-proliferating pictorial panorama of culture. By depicting out-of-context moments of high drama on a magnified scale, the artist fabricates compelling narratives, at once impactful and elusive, that elevate the status of comic strips from popular culture to high art. In Reflections on Thud!, the efficacy of Lichtenstein’s syntax is on full display: Lichtenstein accentuates the melodrama by cropping the falling dinosaur in a tight angle, zooming in on both the moment and the area of impact. As Michael Lobel observes: “In Lichtenstein’s works there can be a kind of claustrophobic closing-off, so that the idea of psychological depth and spatial depth are related – we cannot gain access to the interior state of the depicted figure or the painting itself… Lichtenstein pushes the scene to the surface of the image in much the same way as emotional states are written on the surface of his figures” (Michael Lobel, Image Duplicator: Roy Lichtenstein and The Emergence of Pop Art, New Haven, 2002, p. 138).

Lichtenstein once stated: “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. This technique is a perfect example of an industrial process that developed as a direct result of the need for inexpensive and quick color-printing. 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” (the artist cited in Michael Lobel, Image Duplicator: Roy Lichtenstein and the Emergence of Pop Art, New Haven, 2002, p. 155). Such a classicism is precisely achieved in the present work, where Lichtenstein has effectively placed a popular comic book image ‘under glass’, which traditionally signals a preciousness and rarity of the work contained within. A painting of explosive dynamism and graphic force, Reflections on Thud! stands at the heart of Lichtenstein’s era-defining artistic legacy.

當然，影像的反射只是創作抽象畫的藉口，因為反光理應會把部分卡通圖像遮蓋。

羅伊．李奇登斯坦

《Reflections on Thud!》描繪的圖像鮮豔醒目，氣勢逼人，捕捉了巨大勝利的一瞬，這幅1990年的作品無疑是羅伊．李奇登斯坦「反射」系列的精彩範例。這系列的創作始於1988年，並於1993年完成，是藝術家的重要系列。在作品中，這道「反射」由李奇登斯坦標誌性的班戴點組成，密密麻麻的圓點排列成條紋狀，就在暴龍被徹底擊敗而僵直倒地的一刻，這道名義上的條狀「反射」將畫面切割開來，彷彿為此情此景歡呼助興。藝術家一直致力探索視角與感知在藝術中的作用，本作是這探索歷程的結晶。反射線以簡單的圖形組成，具有三重效果。首先，該手法模仿反射玻璃的視覺效果，同時也是一種錯視元素。其次，仿玻璃物體是一種形式上的屏障，它一方面迫使觀者聚焦被擾亂的圖像，另一方面又將觀者拒諸門外，藉此增強了觀看過程中的趣味和戲劇張力。第三，碎裂的圖像使敘事變得更加複雜，加強了原始圖像所要呈現的戲劇效果。《Reflections on Thud!》作於1990年，其之所以令人神往，特別在於它集中運用了李奇登斯坦獨特風格坦中最具標誌性的題材——連環漫畫，以及用漫畫風格表達的擬聲詞「砰！」。在李奇登斯坦的「反射」系列中，只有八幅作品用擬聲詞為主題元素。此外，他在1960年代創作了22幅「擬聲畫」，其中一半現屬知名博物館和機構收藏。「反射」系列代表著李奇登斯坦在不同層次上的自我反省，其意義絕不下於1969至1972年間所創作、被視為里程碑的「鏡子」系列。「反射」系列既引用了藝術家自己的早期作品，也向悠久的藝術史取材， 扼要地概括了李奇登斯坦畢生對藝術本身的探索。

李奇登斯坦一直對於繪畫中的反射作用為之著迷，這在他的早期作品《照鏡子的女孩》（1964年）及1969至1972年的「鏡子」系列已明顯可見。在「反射」系列中，李奇登斯坦特別注重以斜線設想畫作在玻璃框之下會呈現的效果。李奇登斯坦形容：「這一切緣於我那時候嘗試為羅拔．華森堡的版畫拍攝照片，而版畫放在玻璃下面。但是，從窗戶透進來的光線反射在玻璃表面上，使我無法拍出好照片。我靈機一觸，萌生了在玻璃下拍攝知名作品的想法，反光會令作品的一大部分被掩蓋，但仍然能夠分辨出主題……我以自己早期的作品為題材，開始了這系列的「反射」畫……它展現一幅玻璃下的畫作。它鑲嵌在框中，玻璃阻擋人觀看畫作。當然，影像的反射只是創作抽象畫的藉口，因為反光理應會把部分卡通圖像遮蓋。」（1995年引述自藝術家，重印於格雷厄姆．巴德編，《羅伊．李奇登斯坦：十月檔案》，劍橋，2009年，頁69）。結果，在玻璃屏障和被折射的影像的相互作用之下，作品產生了距離感，同時也增強了影像傳遞的情感。正如格雷厄姆．巴德所言：「（這些畫作）強調了觀者與它們所呈現內容之間的分隔。該系列闡明的並非鏡子錯覺造成的深層空間，而是被反射光覆蓋而無法穿透的表面。李奇登斯坦通過將反射條紋部署在充滿情緒張力的場景上，凸顯當中的阻隔」（格雷厄姆．巴德，《Roy Lichtenstein Reflected》展覽圖錄，Mitchell, Innes & Nash畫廊，紐約，2011年，頁49）。巴德續說：「這些畫作表明，藝術創造就是參與在反射和折射的遊戲中，這遊戲跨越歷史、跨越作品，藝術家、圖像和觀者同樣投入其中，無一例外」（同上，頁57）。

《Reflections on Thud!》是李奇登斯坦「反射」系列當中的範例，連同系列裡其他作品，曾於三藩市現代藝術博物館、洛杉磯布魯當代藝術館、耶魯大學美術館和以色列博物館等展出。在這個稀奇古怪的系列裡，本作依然脫穎而出，別樹一幟，這源於畫面洋溢的活力和能量，以及李奇登斯坦簡潔至上的表達方式。連環漫畫風格是李奇登斯坦創作的基礎；李奇登斯坦比他同時代的任何藝術家更能理解到流行圖像的驚人潛力，他憑藉直覺重新排列特定意象的暗號，以揭示人類文化裡不斷暴增的圖像背後的真理。藝術家通過擷取戲劇性事件發生的瞬間，將之抽離語境，並放大描繪，就這樣，藝術家虛構了扣人心弦的故事，富有影響力卻又難以言喻，令連環漫畫的地位從流行文化提升至高雅藝術。

《Reflections on Thud!》充分展示了李奇登斯坦敘述故事的高明手法。他剪裁出狹窄的角度，令倒地的恐龍猶如逼向觀者般；並聚焦在那一瞬間和受影響的區域，以突顯情節張力。如邁克爾．洛貝爾所述：「李奇登斯坦的作品存在一種封閉狀態，能觸發人對於幽閉的恐懼，讓心理深度和空間深度聯繫起來——我們無從進入所描繪對象或畫作本身的內在狀態……李奇登斯坦將一整個場面濃縮在單一影像的表面上，正如他將人物的情感狀態寫在其表情動作上一樣，方式幾乎相同」（邁克爾．洛貝爾著，《影像複製者：羅伊．李奇登斯坦與普普藝術的崛起》，紐黑文，2002年，頁138）。

李奇登斯坦曾說：「早在我實際將連環漫畫用於繪畫之前，我已經對這個視覺媒材深感興趣。這個技巧正好顯示了在廉價且快速的彩色印刷需求下，一個工業過程的發展成果。為了迎合商業考慮，這些印刷符號經過持續不斷的改善，最終在商業藝術家手中臻於完美。每一代插畫家都對這些符號作了修改和增強，令這些符號隨後成為藝術詞彙的一部分。結果出來是千篇一律的形式。在我自己的作品中，我想扭轉這個情況，向一種新的古典主義進發」（引述自藝術家，邁克爾．洛貝爾：《影像複製者：羅伊．李奇登斯坦與普普藝術的崛起》，紐黑文，2002年，頁155）。本作成功展現出這種古典主義；在本作裡，李奇登斯坦將流行漫畫的圖像「放置在玻璃下」。而現實上的這種做法，往往代表該畫珍貴特殊，備受重視。《Reflections on Thud!》是一幅活力澎湃、氣勢洶洶的作品，在李奇登斯坦劃時代的藝術創作中，本作絕對是其中一幅代表力作。