Reflections on Crash, 1990: Print from Roy Lichtenstein's Reflections series

  • Reflections on Crash, 1990 is a print on paper by Roy Lichtenstein from his reflections series depicting a main in the middle of an airplane crash
    Reflections on Crash, 1990
    Lithograph, screenprint, relief, and metalized PVC collage with embossing on mold-made Somerset paper
    Sheet: 59 1/8 x 75 in. (150.2 x 190.5 cm), Edition of 68; plus 16 AP, 1 RTP, 1 PPI, 1 PPII, 1 A, 1 C
    ©The Estate of Roy Lichtenstein
    BACK TO: REFLECTIONS SERIES
     
    Roy Lichtenstein’s Reflections on Crash, 1990, is a monumental print from the celebrated Reflections series, revisiting his earlier war imagery through a layered, reflective surface. In the lower left corner, the face of a fighter pilot emerges in red Ben-Day dots, his gaze directed toward the centre where the word “CRASH” explodes across yellow and red bursts. The surrounding field of blue dots and the faint outline of a second jet in white and silver reinforce the dramatic tension, echoing the visual language of Lichtenstein’s 1960s combat scenes while reframing them through late-career abstraction.
     
    Executed in lithograph, screenprint and relief with metalised PVC collage and embossing on mould-made Somerset paper, the work measures an imposing 150.2 x 190.5 cm overall. Strips of metallicised material run across the surface, simulating glare and reflection as though the scene is viewed through glass, a defining feature of the Reflections series. Issued in an edition of 68 with artist’s proofs and workshop impressions, Reflections on Crash remains a technically ambitious and visually commanding example of Roy Lichtenstein’s late printmaking practice.

  • "I wasn't sure pop art or my work would last more than six months." 

     
    -Roy Lichtenstein
    In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Roy Lichtenstein incorporated metalised PVC into selected prints, most notably within the Reflections series. These reflective strips were collaged onto the surface to simulate glare, light streaks and the illusion of viewing the image through glass. The metallic material interacts with the flat lithographic and screenprinted areas, introducing shifts in light as the viewer moves around the work. This use of industrial, reflective surfaces reinforced Lichtenstein’s long-standing interest in reproduction and mediation, while adding a tactile and optical complexity that distinguishes his late print practice from the flatter aesthetic of his early Pop works.