Blonde, 1986: Print by Roy Lichtenstein from his Brushstroke Figures series

  • Blonde, 1989 is a print by american artist Roy Lichtenstein
    Blonde, 1989
    Lithograph, waxtype, woodcut, and screenprint on 638-g/m² cold-pressed Saunders Waterford paper
     Sheet: 57 13/16 x 37 3/8 in (irregular), Edition of 60; plus 1 BAT, 2 PP, 2 Presentation Proofs, 1 NGA archive proof, 1 Graphicstudio Proof, 1 USFP, 2 SP, 8 AP
    ©The Estate of Roy Lichtenstein
    BACK TO: BRUSHSTROKE FIGURES
     
    Roy Lichtenstein’s Blonde, 1989, is a striking print from the Brushstroke Figures series, where the human form is constructed entirely from expressive painterly marks. A central gold brushstroke defines the vertical structure of the figure, while sweeping blue curls of paint form contours and a flat pink stroke anchors the composition behind the head. Yellow brushstrokes create the hair and eye, set against a cool beige background that heightens the contrast between colour and line. By transforming the gestural brushstroke into the subject itself, Lichtenstein merges abstraction and figuration in a composition that reflects his ongoing dialogue with the history of modern painting.
     
    Executed in lithograph, waxtype, woodcut and screenprint on heavy Saunders Waterford paper, the print demonstrates the technical complexity of Lichtenstein’s late printmaking practice. Published by Waddington Graphics, London, and Graphicstudio at the University of South Florida, and issued in a limited edition of 60 with proofs, Blonde remains an important work within the Roy Lichtenstein Brushstroke Figures series.

  • "My work isn't about form. It's about seeing." 

     

    - Roy Lichtenstein

    Roy Lichtenstein explored the idea of constructing the human figure entirely from painterly marks in his Brushstroke Figures works. Rather than depicting the body through traditional drawing, he built faces and forms from bold, stylised brushstrokes rendered in bright Pop colours and sharp outlines. By turning the expressive brushstroke itself into the subject, Lichtenstein both referenced and satirised the dramatic gestures of Abstract Expressionism, transforming painterly movement into a controlled, graphic image.