The Art Machine: Roy Lichtenstein's Pop Art

Today's Geocuration is a quick one because of time constraints, but that doesn't mean it's lacking in interest.
Enjoy.

In the Car by Roy Lichtenstein (American); 1963;  oil and magna.
Location: Edinburgh, Scotland; Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art.

        In my post The Art Machine: Andy Warhol's Pop Art, I talk about the motivation behind Warhol's iconic pop art. Another iconic pop artist that exhibited alongside Warhol was Roy Lichtenstein. While Andy Warhol turned art into a mass-produced non-art art machine, Lichtenstein worked to redefine the definition of art through parody. Chances are you've seen his work without realizing it (or maybe you did?).

        If you look at the paintings' captions, you might notice the media used for these includes "magna." Magna was a brand name of acrylic resin paint that was developed in the late 1940s, and Lichtenstein used it extensively. It's different from traditional acrylic paint because the pigments are ground into acrylic resin by emulsifying them with solvents; it requires using turpentine or mineral spirits to work with because it, unlike traditional acrylic paint, is not water-soluble. Acrylic paint as we know it today was developed in 1960.

I know...Brad by Roy Lichtenstein (American); 1964; oil and magna.
Location: Cologne, Germany; Wallraf-Richartz Museum.

        On the subject of painting media, you might also notice that he places strong emphasis on the primary colors: red, blue, and yellow. Lichtenstein worked off of old comic strips and popular advertising to produce works that are "not 'American' painting but actually industrial painting," a sentiment similar to Warhol's—a relatively unexplored sentiment in the 1960s.

        Not only did Lichtenstein suggest commercialism, but his works remark on the idea of women being homemakers. These ideas live on presently in pop culture—take the Mad Men fad, for instance, and the revival in peplums and other 1950s-1960s fashions. Even the age-old damsel-in-distress is a theme repeated, albeit not originally Lichtenstein's idea; similarly, there has always been a special place in America's (and the world's) heart for thought and speech bubbles. Below you will find a quick look at how pop artist Roy Lichtenstein's work itself is parodied presently, similar to how he himself parodied other art.

M.A.C. Makeup Artist Karin Stone's Lichtenstein Girl
via Adriana de Barros's article, "The Real life Lichtenstein-Comic-Girl"

Chelsea King's Roy Lichtenstein Nails
via Chelsea King's Get Nailed
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Fancy French Words: Trompe l'oeil

        Before you choke yourself trying to get the word out on your own, let's say it together: trompe l'oeil. The first syllable sounds like "romp" but with a "t" in front of it; the second syllable sounds like the name "Lloyd" without the "d." Perfect. So this term is French for "deceive the eye," and it refers to the optical illusion where something flat (like a painting) appears to be three dimensional and seems very realistic.

Ceiling of Jesuit Church, Vienna by Andrea Pozzo (Italian); 1703; fresco.
Location: Vienna, Austria; Jesuit Church.

        This image is of the ceiling inside the Jesuit Church in Vienna, Austria. At first glance, it appears to be a finely decorated interior with a dome, but this entire image is actually flat.

        Trompe l'oeil has been used in popular culture, as well, not just in paintings in old churches. A prime example? Raiders of the Lost Ark. That's right, your favorite archaeologist/geeky sex symbol Indiana Jones is associated with the term. In the warehouse scene, the warehouse seems endless not because it was a super big warehouse, but because part of the warehouse was actually painted on glass. The transition from smaller, real warehouse into the extended painting is virtually seamless.

        When a trompe l'oeil is painted on glass, as in this case, it is also referred to as "matte painting." This large a warehouse would be hard to recreate in its entirety and would add to the budget of the film, but having a highly skilled artist paint the optical illusion works out just fine because I'm pretty sure none of you watched the scene and said "obvious tromp l'oeil is obvious."

        Indy isn't the only one getting in on this technique in geeky films, either. Other scenes to make use of the trompe l'oeil effect include the Death Star's laser tunnel in Star Wars, the Starfleet headquarters in Star Trek The Motion Picture, the Batty and Deckard chase scene in Blade Runner, and the OCP tower in RoboCop. Add these movies to your Netflix queue and see if you can tell, now that I've let you in on this movie black magic that got its start in boring ol' Art History.

Warehouse Scene from Raiders of the Lost Ark via Homages, Ripoffs, and Coincidences.