Nude Reading, 1994: Print by Roy Lichtenstein from the Nude Series

  • Nude Reading, 1994 depicts a nude woman reading on a sofa. Lichtenstein uses ben-day dots in varyign shapes and colours
    Nude Reading, 1994
    Relief print on BFK Rives mold-made paper
    Sheet: 30 5/8 x 36 5/16 in. (77.8 x 92.2 cm), Edition of 60; plus 12 AP, 1 RTP, 1 PP1, 1 PPII, 1 PPIII, 1 TGLimp, 1 A, 1 C
    ©The Estate of Roy Lichtenstein
    BACK TO: NUDE SERIES
     
    Roy Lichtenstein’s Nude Reading presents a seated female figure positioned on a sofa, legs crossed, holding a book while her raised arm gestures toward her hair. The composition situates the nude within a stylised domestic interior rendered in tonal variations of teal, green, yellow and red. As part of the Nudes series, the work reflects Lichtenstein’s continued interest in combining figurative imagery with structured, graphic space.
     
    Across the surface, Lichtenstein employs Ben-Day dots in blue, black and white, varying their scale to create areas of shadow and depth. Rather than modelling the body through traditional painterly techniques, he constructs volume through controlled dot patterns and flat colour fields, reinforcing the balance between geometric precision and undulating form that defines his late print practice.

  • "Use the worst colour you can find in each place - it usually is the best." 

     
    - Roy Lichtenstein
    Roy Lichtenstein is closely associated with the use of Ben-Day dots, a commercial printing technique originally developed to create shading and secondary colours in inexpensive comic books and newspapers. Lichtenstein meticulously replicated and enlarged these dots by hand, transforming a mechanical process into a defining artistic device. In his paintings and prints, Ben-Day dots serve both as a flat surface pattern and as a method of modelling light and shadow, reinforcing the tension between mass reproduction and fine art that lies at the centre of his Pop Art practice.