Modern Head 2, 1970: Print by Roy Lichtenstein

  • Roy Lichtenstein *Modern Head #2* (1970), featuring a simplified geometric face outlined in white on a dark background with a circular eye, linear features, and a yellow Ben-Day dot section.
    Modern Head #2, 1970
    Lithograph, linecut with embossing on handmade Waterleaf paper, sheet: 61 x 46.4 cm (irregular)
    Edition of 100; plus 7 AP, 1 RTP, 1 PPII, 3 GEL, 1 C
    ©The Estate of Roy Lichtenstein
    BACK TO: MODERN HEAD SERIES
     
    Modern Head #2, 1970, presents a more pared-back and linear interpretation of the human face, constructed through a network of fine white lines set against a dark ground. The head is defined by geometric precision , with a circular eye, angular nose, and simplified mouth emerging from intersecting lines and shapes. A section of black Ben-Day dots on a yellow background introduces contrast on the left, while curved linear forms on the right suggest hair, reinforcing the balance between structure and abstraction. The composition feels architectural, with each element positioned as part of a carefully engineered system.
     
    Produced as a lithograph and linecut with embossing on handmade Waterleaf paper, the work forms part of Lichtenstein’s Modern Head series, inspired by Alexei von Jawlensky’s portrait heads but transformed through a mechanised visual language. Here, Lichtenstein pushes further toward reduction, stripping the face down to its essential components and aligning it with the aesthetics of industrial design and technical drawing. 

  • "We like to think of industrialisation as being despicable. I don't really know what to make of it. There's something terribly brittle about it." 

    - Roy Lichtenstein

    Lichtenstein draws on Constructivist ideas and early modernist interest in machinery to reimagine the human face as a constructed system. Rather than depicting a natural likeness, he reduces the figure to precise lines, geometric shapes, and repeatable elements, giving it the appearance of something engineered. This approach reflects his ongoing focus on process and reproduction, where the image feels designed and assembled rather than drawn, aligning the human form with the logic of industrial production.