Study for Bull III 1973

Roy Lichtenstein’s screenprint, "Study for Bull III," uses bold colors and graphic simplification to explore themes of representation and industrial production. Made in the USA, this work is from a series of prints from the 1970s that reinterprets a famous series of lithographs of a bull by Pablo Picasso. Lichtenstein uses his signature Ben-Day dots and flat planes of color to deconstruct the image into a set of abstract shapes and patterns. By mimicking the look of commercial printing, Lichtenstein blurs the line between fine art and mass culture, while also poking fun at the macho bravado often associated with Picasso's work. Historians often turn to sources like exhibition catalogs and critical reviews to understand the public reception of art and the values it reflects. The meaning of "Study for Bull III" is intertwined with the social and institutional contexts of the Pop Art movement, Lichtenstein's interest in questioning the status of art itself.