Haystack #4, 1969: Lithograph and screenprint by Roy Lichtenstein

  • Haystack #4, 1969, is a print by Lichtenstein depicting Monets haystack series
    Haystack #4, 1969
    Lithograph and screenprint on BFK Rives paper, sheet: 52.5 x 78.1cm 
    Edition of 100; plus 10 AP, 1 RTP, 1 PPII, 3 GEL, 1 C
    ©The Estate of Roy Lichtenstein
     
    BACK TO: HAYSTACK & CATHEDRAL SERIES
     
    Roy Lichtenstein’s Haystack #4, 1969, pushes his reinterpretation of Claude Monet’s iconic motif further into optical complexity. Using a combination of red and blue fields overlaid with white Ben-Day dots, the composition becomes visually unstable, with the haystack forms partially obscured by the competing colour structures. The image is no longer immediately legible, requiring the viewer to actively search for the underlying form.
     
    By layering contrasting colour systems, Lichtenstein disrupts traditional figure-ground relationships, transforming Monet’s atmospheric subject into a dynamic, perceptual exercise. The interaction between red and blue creates a vibrating surface, where depth and structure are suggested rather than clearly defined. This heightened ambiguity reinforces Lichtenstein’s interest in perception, reproduction, and the tension between visibility and abstraction.

  • “Everybody has called Pop Art 'American' painting, but it's actually industrial painting.”

     

    - Roy Lichtenstein

    In his Impressionist series, Claude Monet depicted haystacks at different times of day to explore the shifting relationship between colour and light. Roy Lichtenstein adopts a similar serial approach in his Haystack prints, 1969, progressing from bright yellow compositions suggestive of daylight through to darker, near-black works evoking night. Each image was meticulously planned using a full-scale drawing, which was transferred onto printing plates through a Ben-Day dot stencil process, reinforcing the mechanical precision of the series.