Ink Abstract Prints

This Limited Canvas Edition ( #10 of 20 ) is hand painted on Giclée printed Canvas. , finishing by the artist Shizico Yi with original brushstroke and oil paints on 90% of the painti...

Werner Bronkhorst Sail Away, 2025 Giclée print on 310gsm Smooth Cotton Rag using Epson archival inks Shadow box framed in FSC certified timber with a smooth white finish and 3mm mu...

large format photograph of sun reflections on a coral reef water surface, mesmerizing light reflections of glistening sunlight on turquoise aquamarine water surface, an homage to th...

This is a large Artist's Proof with original oil and gesso paint highlighting; it is the No 1 of the only 3 Proofs; the colours of the painting and Shizico's expressive brushstrokes ...

This stunning Artist's Proof is an one-off, oil hand-painted by the artist , signed at front and on the back label too; each proof is 80% hand painted by Shizico Yi, because the natu...

This is an unique one-off Artist Proof, in a rare Extra-Large square format. A special Proof that only 3 have been made with hand gilded Gold Leaf. The outstanding hand-painted qua...

In the artist's abstract print series, Pink Cosmos, 2023 by a.muse represents an imaginary cosmos - the universe as a place of longing, dreams, wonder, and ethereal beauty. A 13.75" ...

This is an unique one-off Artist Proof in a stunning large square format and its hand-painted detail bringing still life to modernity; its outstanding hand-painted quality and rare...

Printer’s ink from rubber stamp on vélin Dalton natural bond paper. Paper Size: 8 x 8 inches. Inscription: Unsigned, as issued. Notes: From the folio, Rubber Stamp Portfolio, 1977. P...

large scale photograph capturing the soothing tones of nature's calming blue hour color palette Seascape I by Frank Schott 48 x 64 inches / 122cm x 162cm signed edition of 7 30 x 40 inches / 76cm x 102cm signed edition of 25 archival fine art pigment print signed & numbered by artist on certificate label ------------------------- Frank Schott grew up in Germany and attended the prestigious Academy of Arts in Cologne, studying under Professor Arno Jansen, who was an early influence. Moving to California in 1998, Schott's work has evolved to include the epic landscapes and deserts of the American West as well as architectural, conceptual and more formal environments from both home and his travels. Influenced by a number of photographic peers and precursors such as Candida Höfer, Andreas Gursky, Thomas Struth, Jeff Wall, Hiroshi Sugimoto, William Eggleston and Joel Sternfeld, Schott's images successfully blend technical, conceptual and formal rigor with a decisive sense of composition and color. Schott's images have an iconic sensibility and give us a bird's eye view onto humanity and its constructs. The specific is edged towards the abstract, often revealing the compelling and disjunctive moment where nature meets man. Frank Schott was born in Cologne, Germany in 1962. He currently lives and works in San Francisco. _________________________ Edition EKTAlux publishes an evolving curated selection of collectable large-scale photography in strictly limited editions, working closely with each artist to guarantee state-of-the-art museum level print and framing quality. Custom / larger print sizes available on request Images can be printed with white border ( 2in L prints / 4in XL prints )

Sean Scully Munich 1996 (Hand Signed), 2001 Offset Lithograph print Hand signed and dated by Sean Scully in 2018 Boldly signed in black marker on the recto. Hand signed by Sean Scull...

This is an exclusive handprinted unique cyanotype that takes its inspiration from the mid-century modern shapes. It's made by layering paper cutouts and different exposures using uv-...

This is an exclusive handprinted unique cyanotype that takes its inspiration from the mid-century modern shapes. It's made by layering paper cutouts and different exposures using uv-...

This X-Large size and hand-painted quality with artist's original paint and vibrant colours promises to bring huge impact to your space and wowing the visitors, furthermore, delights...

This is an exclusive handprinted unique cyanotype that takes its inspiration from the mid-century modern shapes. It's made by layering paper cutouts and different exposures using uv-...

Francisco Castro Leñero (Mexico, 1954) "Haz del Viento / Bco / Azul/" from serie "El exilio de los sentidos", 2004 Engraving, aquatint on paper...

Winter Moon Rising by Frank Schott 60 x 48 inches / 152cm x 122cm signed edition of 7 40 x 32 inches / 102cm x 81cm signed edition of 25 archival quality fine art pigment print li...

LA Parking by Frank Schott a burst of red in an urban landscape of striking minimalism, from a series of photographs capturing the mid century modern architecture and architectural e...

Frank Stella The Whale Watch Shawl (signed in indelible black marker), held in red silk presentation box; also with embossed COA hand signed by both Frank Stella and Kenneth Tyler, 1...

This is a lifetime edition - hand signed and numbered by Jean-Michel Basquiat himself in Basquiat's lifetime. Many younger collectors don't appreciate the difference between the numerous posthumous estate authorized prints...

large scale photograph of sunny cactus landscape, from a series of highly detailed large format nature observations, an homage to the photo realistic ...

mesmerizing light reflections of glistening sunlight on turquoise aquamarine water surface, an homage to the iconic pool reflections paintings by artist David Hockney 40 x 32 inches...

Giclée print on Archival Matte Paper with Archival Pigment Ink. In 2017 she was awarded the New York State Council for the Arts/New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship grant for...

Nick Thomm 'GHOSTS' (Blue) 69cm x 92cm (27"×36″) Limited Edition of 199 Hand Signed and Numbered #113 Archival Pigment Print on Hahnemühle 308gsm Fine Art Paper. Condition: NEW. Wo...

Nick Thomm 'After Dark' (Green) 69cm x 92cm (27"×36″) Limited Edition of 125 Hand Signed and Numbered #104 Archival Pigment Print on Hahnemühle 308gsm Fine Art Paper. Condition: NE...

Nick Thomm 'The Dreaming' (OPAL) 69cm x 92cm (27"×36″). Limited Edition of 99. Archival Pigment Print on Hahnemühle 308gsm Fine Art Paper. Sold Unframed

Nick Thomm 'After Dark' (Pink) 69cm x 92cm (27"×36″) Limited Edition of 125 Hand Signed and Numbered #84 Archival Pigment Print on Hahnemühle 308gsm Fine Art Paper. Condition: NEW....

David Hockney, Bridget Riley, Joe Tilson, Howard Hodgkin, Peter Blake + 99 artists Visual Aid for Band Aid - designed, and HAND SIGNED and annotated by 104 renowned artists, with official signed COA, 1985 Large olor silkscreen on velin Arches 300 gsm paper with publishers' blind stamp and COA Signed and annotated in various inks and pencil by all 104 artists listed in the official publishers' COA affixed to the back of the frame; numbered 215/500 Publisher Coriander Studio, United Kingdom Frame included: Floated and framed in a wood frame under UV acrylic glazing Measurements: Framed: 59.5 inches (vertical) by 39 inches (horizontal) by .75 inches (depth) Artwork: 48 inches (vertical) by 36 inches (horizontal) Some of the 104 renowned visual artists who signed and annotated this print in pencil are: Bridget Riley, David Hockney, Peter Blake, Allen Jones, Eduardo Paolozzi, Elisabeth Frink, R.B. Kitaj, Richard Hamilton, Howard Hodgkin, Joe Tilson, Patrick Heron, Paula Rego, Terry Frost, Patrick Caulfield, Craigie Aitchison. Gillian Ayres, Maggi Hambling, Michael Craig-Martin, Frank Bowling, Humphrey Ocean...

Nick Thomm 'After Dark' (Pink) 69cm x 92cm (27"×36″) Limited Edition of 125 Hand Signed and Numbered #104 Archival Pigment Print on Hahnemühle 308gsm Fine Art Paper. Condition: NEW...

"Earthcore" is an abstract of a familiar image ... a view of earth sliced in half usually as an explanation of the many layers of spaceship earth. This print is more than its title. It is rich in its depth of color and texture. Upon close inspection there is much activity on the surface which continually adds to its visual complexity. The name given to this print process is “Collagraph” It is made by glueing different materials to cardboard and creating a kind of collage. During the inking process the ink will rub off surfaces that are smooth or higher and stay on surfaces that hold more ink, at edge and at lower points thus creating the image. To protect the plate through the printing process it’s sealed with one or more layers of shellac. A collagraph plate is quite sensitive and will be deformed by the pressure of the printing press. Joyce Tilley Nagel...

Composition au verre a pied (Composition with stemmed glass) Lithograph (Ink drawing, pen and brush transferred to lithograph stone) , 1947 Unsigned Editi...

Stunning horizontal abstracted mesh and gold-leaf lithograph on heavy bond paper with artist's protocol notes (for future projects) by Patricia A. Pearce (American, b. 1948). Unsigne...

Carlos Garcia De La Nuez (Cuba, 1959) 'Pausas', 2006 silkscreen on paper 19.7 x 23.7 in. (50 x 60 cm.) Edition of 99 Unframed ID: GAR1649-006-104 ____________________________________________ "Carlos García de la Nuez. Born in Havana, Cuba, 1959. Lives and works in Mexico City, Mexico. He is a member of the renowned 1980s generation of Cuban artists, whose works differentiated from other contemporaries, noticeably in their intentional distancing from political criticism as a form of expression. This generation was interested in establishing and legitimizing new values of art for art’s sake, gathering inspiration from art movements happening outside of Cuba. Born in Havana, Cuba in 1959, the artist’s paintings explore abstraction and semiotics through the use of color, texture and scale. García de la Nuez participated in the historic 1982 exhibition titled 4x4 with colleagues Gustavo Acosta...

Nick Thomm 'After Dark' (Orange) 69cm x 92cm (27"×36″) Limited Edition of 125 Hand Signed and Numbered #104 Archival Pigment Print on Hahnemühle 308gsm Fine Art Paper. Condition: N...

Nick Thomm ARCHANGEL (XL SIZE 36" x 48"). Limited Edition #22 of 25. Hand Signed & Numbered. Archival Pigment Print on Hahnemühle 308gsm Fine Art Paper. Condition: NEW - Unopened in...

Nick Thomm 'After Dark' (Blue) 69cm x 92cm (27"×36″) Limited Edition of 125 Hand Signed and Numbered #106 Archival Pigment Print on Hahnemühle 308gsm Fine Art Paper. Condition: NEW...

large format Panorama photograph of sun reflections on pool water surface, mesmerizing light reflections of glistening sunlight on turquoise aquamarine water surface, an homage to th...

Nick Thomm - ONYX - Dusk (XL SIZE 36" x 48"). Limited Edition #15 of 25. Hand Signed & Numbered. Archival Pigment Print on Hahnemühle 308gsm Fine Art Paper. Condition: NEW - Unopene...

Please be aware that all prints are produced to order. Lead times expected between 15-20 days. Prices may change due to currency fluctuations. Giclée print on Archival Matte Paper w...

Damien Hirst Butterfly Heart (Small) H7-4, 2020 Laminated Giclée print on aluminium composite panel in original publisher's packaging Signed by Damien Hirst & numbered 1483/3510 on t...

"Carlos Garcia De La Nuez (Cuba, 1959) 'Caracoles nocturnos', 2006 silkscreen on paper 19.7 x 23.7 in. (50 x 60 cm.) Edition of 104 ID: GAR1649-007-104" ____________________________________________ "Carlos García de la Nuez. Born in Havana, Cuba, 1959. Lives and works in Mexico City, Mexico. He is a member of the renowned 1980s generation of Cuban artists, whose works differentiated from other contemporaries, noticeably in their intentional distancing from political criticism as a form of expression. This generation was interested in establishing and legitimizing new values of art for art’s sake, gathering inspiration from art movements happening outside of Cuba. Born in Havana, Cuba in 1959, the artist’s paintings explore abstraction and semiotics through the use of color, texture and scale. García de la Nuez participated in the historic 1982 exhibition titled 4x4 with colleagues Gustavo Acosta...

Archival pigment ink print on archival paper, Edition of 20 Sumit Mehndiratta is an Indian artist born in 1986 who lives & works in New Delhi, India. He has pursued Master of Scienc...

Ray Smith (United States, 1959) 'La Espera', 2020 Silkscreen on paper. Edition of 50 11.7 x 17.8 in. (29.5 x 45 cm.) Ref: SMI-101 Ray Smith (American, b.1959) Born in Brownsville, T...

"The Sun Shines All Over", a bold minimalist vintage abstract landscape print by the renowned printmaker Shiou-ping Liao (Taiwanese, b.1936). A perfectly circular, high voltage rainb...

This is a monotype print meaning that it is a unique print with no other editions. This geometric abstract monotype on Asian paper layers shapes in cobalt blue, maroon, red, black, g...

large scale abstract panoramic photograph of lush emerald green nature biotope, a highly detailed observation of the natural beauty of Japan's famous Arashiyama Bamboo Grove Bamboo Forest by Erik Pawassar 48 x 175 inches (122 x 444cm) six individual glass panels (48 x 29 inches / each) signed edition of 7 archival quality fine art pigment print “Frameless” acrylic glass mounting * artist signed + numbered certificate of authenticity ________________________ About the artist: Erik Pawassar's work focuses on the beauty of the disregarded or mundane object. The subjects for his striking and captivating visuals are typically set in the most ordinary environments, drawing the viewer into a charged but serene experience based on composition, palette and formal lines. Saturated in color, the nominal subjects gather a haunting and mesmerizing quality, creating a poignant pretext for the making of a formal color photograph. Decisively capturing the traces left by humanity, Pawassar's images are filled with a sense of universal nostalgia and pay homage to the passage of time and the extinguished moment, referencing documentary and street photographers like Henri Cartier-Bresson, Sebastian Salgado...

George Condo at Cycladic (hand signed by George Condo), 2018 Limited Edition monograph with slipcase (hand signed by George Condo) 11 × 8 1/2 inches Published in a stated limited edi...

Nick Thomm - ONYX - SET (XL SIZE 36" x 48" per print). Limited Edition #15 of 25. Hand Signed & Numbered. Archival Pigment Print on Hahnemühle 308gsm Fine Art Paper. Condition: NEW -...

Cyd Fontaine (Lausanne, 1992) is a contemporary artist renowned for her captivating use of dreamy atmospheric gradients, which has helped her carve a distinctive niche in the world of digital art. Drawing inspiration from the ethereal beauty of nature, Fontaine's artistic journey has taken her on an imaginative exploration of space, depth, and emotion through the medium of large digital prints. Her signature style is characterized by the use of vast, immersive gradients that seem to stretch infinitely across space. These gradients evoke a sense of enigmatic calmness, inviting viewers to lose themselves in the expanse of her visual landscapes. Her ability to create a feeling of boundless depth and space within her pieces, combined with subtle minimalist compositions, is a testament to her mastery of the digital medium. Fontaine’s pieces resonate with audiences seeking a connection to the sublime, offering a window into a world where colors blend seamlessly and boundaries dissolve. Her work can be found in several private collections throughout Europe and the United States. She currently lives and works between Barcelona and Lausanne. Details: Title: Dawn from an Airplane...

Joan Miro (Spain, 1893-1983) 'Maravillas con variaciones acrósticas en el jardín de Miró (cobertura para el estuche)', 1975 lithograph on canvas 21.5 x 32.25 x 21 in. (54 x 82 cm.) Edition of 1500 Unframed ID: MIR2001-014 It is documented in Cramer, P (1992). Miró Litographer V (1972-1975). Maeght Éditeur, pp 162-163. No. 1051. Artwork history: At the end of 1971 Rafael Alberti wrote from Rome to Joan Miró in the following terms “(…) I think I have news that you liked my folder...

Instant Nutriment #4, 1969 - Modern Pop Art Psychedelic Print A vintage psychedelic print, Instant Nutriment #4, 1969 by Peter Max (German, b. 1937). Unframed. Shipped Rolled in tube. Some edge wear to paper. Image: 36"H x 24"W One of the most famous of all living artist's, Peter Max is a pop culture icon. His bold colors, uplifting images and an uncommon artistic diversity have touched almost every phase of American culture and has inspired many generations. Peter Max has painted for six U.S. Presidents and his art is on display in Presidential Libraries and in U.S. Embassies. Max has painted our Lady Liberty annually since America's Bicentennial and in 2000 a collage of his Liberties adorned over 145 million Verizon phone books. Max has been named an official artist of the 2006 U.S. Olympic Team at the Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy. He has also been Official Artist of 5 Super Bowls, World Cup USA, The World Series, The U.S. Open, The Indy 500, The NYC Marathon...

Andy Warhol Portraits of the 1970s (Deluxe Limited Edition Monograph with Slipcase, Hand Signed and Numbered by Warhol), 1979 Hand Signed and Numbered Hardback Monograph with 120 Bound offset lithographs and text, held in original slipcase (boxed set). Boldly signed by Andy Warhol and numbered 7, from the edition of 200 on the colophon page. 9 1/2 × 8 1/2 × 2 inches Provenance The original (uptown) Whitney Museum An amazing and historic gift! As dazzling as the Warhol show was in 2019 at the new Whitney Museum -- only his show in the late 1970s at the old Whitney Museum, could offer this Deluxe limited edition collectors item - hand signed and numbered by Andy Warhol - because the latter was published during his lifetime. This rare 1979 First (and only) Edition hardback monograph is held in the original slipcase, and is hand signed by Andy Warhol and numbered 108 out of only 200 on the first front end page (see image). This collectors item features text, accompanied by 120 full page color offset lithograph bound, double sided plates on regular pages. (Total pages are: 145) It was published by the Whitney Museum in collaboration with Random House, in conjunction with the exhibition held at the Whitney Museum of American Art, November 20, 1979 to January 27, 1980. Text foreword is by Tom Armstrong, the Whitney's director. Total pages are: 145. The Warhol portraits included are: Giovanni Agnelli, Marella Agnelli, Corice Arman, Marian Block, Irving Blum, Truman Capote, Cristina Caramati, Leo Castelli, Carol Coleman, Norman Fisher, Kay Fortson, Tina Freeman, Diane Von Furstenberg, Henry Geldzahler, Halston, Brooke Hayward, Barbara Heizer, Michael Heizer, Carolina Herrera, David Hockney, Baby Jane Holzer, Dennis Hopper, Victor Hugo, Alexander Iolas, Caroline Ireland, Charles Ireland, Mick Jagger, Paul Jenkins, Katie Jones, Ivan Karp, Marilyn Karp, Evelyn Kuhn, Jane Lang, Francis Lewis, Sydney Lewis, Dorothy Lichtenstein, Roy Lichtenstein, Daryl Lillie, Joe MacDonald...

Printer’s ink from rubber stamp on Cambersand paper, mounted on vélin paper, as issued. Paper Size: 8 x 8 inches. Inscription: Unsigned, as issued. Notes: From the folio, Rubber Stamp Portfolio, 1977. Published by Parasol Press, Ltd., New York; distributed by Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York; rubber stamp engraved by Unity Engraving Company Inc, Englewood; printed by Parasol Press, Ltd., New York, under the direction of Aaron Arnow, New York, from an edition of M, 1977. ROBERT MANGOLD (1937) is an American minimalist artist. His son is the film director, producer and screenwriter James Mangold. “Robert Mangold’s paintings...

David Hockney Hockney's Alphabet, 1991 26 color lithographs in Fine Art Cartridge paper bound in quarter vellum with handmade Fabriano Roma paper sides, housed in matching box; signed by David Hockney and most contributors in ink and numbered 178 in black ink on the justification page Numbered 178/250 Hand signed by 24 of the contributors, including David Hockney and Steven Spender 12 5/8 x 9 5/8 inches Bound in book and held in slipcase This portfolio features 26 color lithographs in Fine Art Cartridge paper with full margins, bound as issued, in quarter vellum with handmade Fabriano Roma paper sides, in original grey slipcase. It is signed by David Hockney (the artist) and most contributors in ink and numbered 178 in black ink on the justification page, from the edition of 250, with full text and title page, published by Faber & Faber, London, text edits by Stephen Spender, who also signed. It is illustrated by David Hockney, hand signed by David Hockney and Stephen Spender and also signed by the following contributors: Douglas Adams, Martin Amis, Julian Barnes, William Boyd, Margaret Drabble, Patrick Leigh Fermor, William Golding, Seamus Heaney...

large scale art photograph of mesmerizing aquatic surface in ocean tones of cyan, blue and azure SEASCAPE VIII by Frank Schott 72.5 x 58 inches / 184cm x 147cm signed edition of 7 60 x 48 inches / 152cm x 122cm signed edition of 7 archival quality fine art pigment print limited art edition published by Edition EKTAlux...

Roy Lichtenstein Handwritten note on card ink on paper hand signed by Roy Lichtenstein The card reads "Thank you so much for the wonderful prints Very kind of you to send them to me Best regards, Roy Lichtenstein This card depicts Roy Lichtenstein's American Indian Theme II (from American Indian Theme Series), 1980, Woodcut in colors on Suzuki handmade paper Provenance: This card was acquired from Dan Pope, a longtime CBS photographer and cameraman, who had amassed a superb collection of autographs by visual artists over many decades. This work has been elegantly floated and framed in a museum quality wood frame under UV plexiglass. Measurements: Framed 14.75 inches vertical by 11.5 horizontal by 1.5 inches depth Card (image) Roy Lichtenstein Biography Roy Lichtenstein was one of the most influential and innovative artists of the second half of the twentieth century. He is preeminently identified with Pop Art, a movement he helped originate, and his first fully achieved paintings were based on imagery from comic strips and advertisements and rendered in a style mimicking the crude printing processes of newspaper reproduction. These paintings reinvigorated the American art scene and altered the history of modern art. Lichtenstein’s success was matched by his focus and energy, and after his initial triumph in the early 1960s, he went on to create an oeuvre of more than 5,000 paintings, prints, drawings, sculptures, murals and other objects celebrated for their wit and invention. Roy Fox Lichtenstein was born on October 27, 1923, in New York City, the first of two children born to Milton and Beatrice Werner Lichtenstein. Milton Lichtenstein (1893–1946) was a successful real estate broker, and Beatrice Lichtenstein (1896–1991), a homemaker, had trained as a pianist, and she exposed Roy and his sister Rénee to museums, concerts and other aspects of New York culture. Roy showed artistic and musical ability early on: he drew, painted and sculpted as a teenager, and spent many hours in the American Museum of Natural History and the Museum of Modern Art. He played piano and clarinet, and developed an enduring love of jazz, frequenting the nightspots in Midtown to hear it. Lichtenstein attended the Franklin School for Boys, a private junior high and high school, and was graduated in 1940. That summer he studied painting and drawing from the model at the Art Students League of New York with Reginald Marsh. In September he entered Ohio State University (OSU) in Columbus in the College of Education. His early artistic idols were Rembrandt, Daumier and Picasso, and he often said that Guernica (1937; Museo Reina Sofía, Madrid), then on long-term loan to the Museum of Modern Art, was his favorite painting. Even as an undergraduate, Lichtenstein objected to the notion that one set of lines (one person’s drawings) “was considered brilliant, and somebody’s else’s, that may have looked better to you, was considered nothing by almost everyone.”i Lichtenstein’s questioning of accepted canons of taste was encouraged by Hoyt L. Sherman, a teacher whom he maintained was the person who showed him how to see and whose perception-based approach to art shaped his own. In February 1943, Lichtenstein was drafted, and he was sent to Europe in 1945. As part of the infantry, he saw action in France, Belgium and Germany. He made sketches throughout his time in Europe and, after peace was declared there, he intended to study at the Sorbonne. Lichtenstein arrived in Paris in October 1945 and enrolled in classes in French language and civilization, but soon learned that his father was gravely ill. He returned to New York in January 1946, a few weeks before Milton Lichtenstein died. In the spring of that year, Lichtenstein went back to OSU to complete his BFA and in the fall he was invited to join the faculty as an instructor. In June 1949, he married Isabel Wilson Sarisky (1921–80), who worked in a cooperative art gallery in Cleveland where Lichtenstein had exhibited his work. While he was teaching, Lichtenstein worked on his master’s degree, which he received in 1949. During his second stint at OSU, Lichtenstein became closer to Sherman, and began teaching his method on how to organize and unify a composition. Lichtenstein remained appreciative of Sherman’s impact on him. He gave his first son the middle name of “Hoyt,” and in 1994 he donated funds to endow the Hoyt L. Sherman Studio Art Center at OSU. In the late 1940s and early 1950s, Lichtenstein began working in series and his iconography was drawn from printed images. His first sustained theme, intimate paintings and prints in the vein of Paul Klee that poked lyrical fun at medieval knights, castles and maidens, may well have been inspired by a book about the Bayeux Tapestry. Lichtenstein then took an ironic look at nineteenth-century American genre paintings he saw in history books, creating Cubist interpretations of cowboys and Indians spiked with a faux-primitive whimsy. As with his most celebrated Pop paintings of the 1960s, Lichtenstein gravitated toward what he would characterize as the “dumbest” or “worst” visual item he could find and then went on to alter or improve it. In the 1960s, commercial art was considered beneath contempt by the art world; in the early 1950s, with the rise of Abstract Expressionism, nineteenth-century American narrative and genre paintings were at the nadir of their reputation among critics and collectors. Paraphrasing, particularly the paraphrasing of despised images, became a paramount feature of Lichtenstein’s art. Well before finding his signature mode of expression in 1961, Lichtenstein called attention to the artifice of conventions and taste that permeated art and society. What others dismissed as trivial fascinated him as classic and idealized—in his words, “a purely American mythological subject matter.”ii Lichtenstein’s teaching contract at OSU was not renewed for the 1951–52 academic year, and in the autumn of 1951 he and Isabel moved to Cleveland. Isabel Lichtenstein became an interior decorator specializing in modern design, with a clientele drawn from wealthy Cleveland families. Whereas her career blossomed, Lichtenstein did not continue to teach at the university level. He had a series of part-time jobs, including industrial draftsman, furniture designer, window dresser and rendering mechanical dials for an electrical instrument company. In response to these experiences, he introduced quirkily rendered motors, valves and other mechanical elements into his paintings and prints. In 1954, the Lichtensteins’ first son, David, was born; two years later, their second child, Mitchell, followed. Despite the relative lack of interest in his work in Cleveland, Lichtenstein did place his work with New York dealers, which always mattered immensely to him. He had his first solo show at the Carlebach Gallery in New York in 1951, followed by representation with the John Heller Gallery from 1952 to 1957. To reclaim his academic career and get closer to New York, Lichtenstein accepted a position as an assistant professor at the State University of New York at Oswego, in the northern reaches of the state. He was hired to teach industrial design, beginning in September 1957. Oswego turned out to be more geographically and aesthetically isolated than Cleveland ever was, but the move was propitious, for both his art and his career. Lichtenstein broke away from representation to a fully abstract style, applying broad swaths of pigment to the canvas by dragging the paint across its surface with a rag wrapped around his arm. At the same time, Lichtenstein was embedding comic-book characters figures such as Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck in brushy, expressionistic backgrounds. None of the proto-cartoon paintings from this period survive, but several pencil and pastel studies from that time, which he kept, document his intentions. Finally, when he was in Oswego, Lichtenstein met Reginald Neal, the new head of the art department at Douglass College, the women’s college of Rutgers University, in New Brunswick, New Jersey. The school was strengthening and expanding its studio art program, and when Neal needed to add a faculty member to his department, Lichtenstein was invited to apply for the job. Lichtenstein was offered the position of assistant professor, and he began teaching at Douglass in September 1960. At Douglass, Lichtenstein was thrown into a maelstrom of artistic ferment. With New York museums and galleries an hour away, and colleagues Geoffrey Hendricks and Robert Watts at Douglass and Allan Kaprow and George Segal at Rutgers, the environment could not help but galvanize him. In June 1961, Lichtenstein returned to the idea he had fooled around with in Oswego, which was to combine cartoon characters from comic books with abstract backgrounds. But, as Lichtenstein said, “[I]t occurred to me to do it by mimicking the cartoon style without the paint texture, calligraphic line, modulation—all the things involved in expressionism.”iii Most famously, Lichtenstein appropriated the Benday dots, the minute mechanical patterning used in commercial engraving, to convey texture and gradations of color—a stylistic language synonymous with his subject matter. The dots became a trademark device forever identified with Lichtenstein and Pop Art. Lichtenstein may not have calibrated the depth of his breakthrough immediately but he did realize that the flat affect and deadpan presentation of the comic-strip panel blown up and reorganized in the Sherman-inflected way “was just so much more compelling”iv than the gestural abstraction he had been practicing. Among the first extant paintings in this new mode—based on comic strips and illustrations from advertisements—were Popeye and Look Mickey, which were swiftly followed by The Engagement Ring, Girl with Ball and Step-on Can with Leg. Kaprow recognized the energy and radicalism of these canvases and arranged for Lichtenstein to show them to Ivan Karp, director of the Leo Castelli Gallery. Castelli was New York’s leading dealer in contemporary art, and he had staged landmark exhibitions of Jasper Johns and Robert Rauschenberg in 1958 and Frank Stella in 1960. Karp was immediately attracted to Lichtenstein’s paintings, but Castelli was slower to make a decision, partly on account of the paintings’ plebeian roots in commercial art, but also because, unknown to Lichtenstein, two other artists had recently come to his attention—Andy Warhol and James Rosenquist—and Castelli was only ready for one of them. After some deliberation, Castelli chose to represent Lichtenstein, and the first exhibition of the comic-book paintings was held at the gallery from February 10 to March 3, 1962. The show sold out and made Lichtenstein notorious. By the time of Lichtenstein’s second solo exhibition at Castelli in September 1963, his work had been showcased in museums and galleries around the country. He was usually grouped with Johns, Rauschenberg, Warhol, Rosenquist, Segal, Jim Dine, Claes Oldenburg, Robert Indiana and Tom Wesselmann. Taken together, their work was viewed as a slap in the face to Abstract Expressionism and, indeed, the Pop artists shifted attention away from many members of the New York School. With the advent of critical and commercial success, Lichtenstein made significant changes in his life and continued to investigate new possibilities in his art. After separating from his wife, he moved from New Jersey to Manhattan in 1963; in 1964, he resigned from his teaching position at Douglass to concentrate exclusively on his work. The artist also ventured beyond comic book subjects, essaying paintings based on oils by Cézanne, Mondrian and Picasso, as well as still lifes and landscapes. Lichtenstein became a prolific printmaker and expanded into sculpture, which he had not attempted since the mid-1950s, and in both two- and three-dimensional pieces, he employed a host of industrial or “non-art” materials, and designed mass-produced editioned objects that were less expensive than traditional paintings and sculpture. Participating in one such project—the American Supermarket show in 1964 at the Paul Bianchini Gallery, for which he designed a shopping bag—Lichtenstein met Dorothy Herzka (b. 1939), a gallery employee, whom he married in 1968. The late 1960s also saw Lichtenstein’s first museum surveys: in 1967 the Pasadena Art Museum initiated a traveling retrospective, in 1968 the Stedelijk Musem in Amsterdam presented his first European retrospective, and in 1969 he had his first New York retrospective, at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. Wanting to grow, Lichtenstein turned away from the comic book subjects that had brought him prominence. In the late 1960s his work became less narrative and more abstract, as he continued to meditate on the nature of the art enterprise itself. He began to explore and deconstruct the notion of brushstrokes—the building blocks of Western painting. Brushstrokes are conventionally conceived as vehicles of expression, but Lichtenstein made them into a subject. Modern artists have typically maintained that the subject of a painting is painting itself. Lichtenstein took this idea one imaginative step further: a compositional element could serve as the subject matter of a work and make that bromide ring true. The search for new forms and sources was even more emphatic after 1970, when Roy and Dorothy Lichtenstein bought property in Southampton, New York, and made it their primary residence. During the fertile decade of the 1970s, Lichtenstein probed an aspect of perception that had steadily preoccupied him: how easily the unreal is validated as the real because viewers have accepted so many visual conceptions that they don’t analyze what they see. In the Mirror series, he dealt with light and shadow upon glass, and in the Entablature series, he considered the same phenomena by abstracting such Beaux-Art architectural elements as cornices, dentils, capitals and columns. Similarly, Lichtenstein created pioneering painted bronze sculpture that subverted the medium’s conventional three-dimensionality and permanence. The bronze forms were as flat and thin as possible, more related to line than volume, and they portrayed the most fugitive sensations—curls of steam, rays of light and reflections on glass. The steam, the reflections and the shadow were signs for themselves that would immediately be recognized as such by any viewer. Another entire panoply of works produced during the 1970s were complex encounters with Cubism, Futurism, Purism, Surrealism and Expressionism. Lichtenstein expanded his palette beyond red, blue, yellow, black, white and green, and invented and combined forms. He was not merely isolating found images, but juxtaposing, overlapping, fragmenting and recomposing them. In the words of art historian Jack Cowart, Lichtenstein’s virtuosic compositions were “a rich dialogue of forms—all intuitively modified and released from their nominal sources.”v In the early 1980s, which coincided with re-establishing a studio in New York City, Lichtenstein was also at the apex of a busy mural career. In the 1960s and 1970s, he had completed four murals; between 1983 and 1990, he created five. He also completed major commissions for public sculptures in Miami Beach, Columbus, Minneapolis, Paris, Barcelona and Singapore. Lichtenstein created three major series in the 1990s, each emblematic of his ongoing interest in solving pictorial problems. The Interiors, mural-sized canvases inspired by a miniscule advertisement in an Italian telephone...

Vibrant Colorful Abstract-0-18,' a stunning piece of state-of-the-art HAND EMBELLISHED artwork by the talented artist Irena Orlov. This Giclee Reproduction is a true masterpiece, me...

Roy Lichtenstein 1970-1980 (Hand Signed and dated by Roy Lichtenstein), 1981 Offset lithograph. Hand signed and dated in ink Hand-signed by artist, H...

Rigoberto Mena (Cuba, 1961) "Parece que fue ayer" (Seems was yesterday), 2010 Series: Bon a Tirer engraving, mixed media, chine colle on paper Guarro Super Alpha 250g. 15.8 x 15.8 in...

“Sirocco” by Helen Frankenthaler . Mixographia embossed engraving on handmade paper. Unique color from the regular numbered edition. 51/52. Hand signed by artist, dated 1989. Pri...