Moonscape 1985

Roy Lichtenstein made this ‘Moonscape’ with screen printing, which I guess gives it that lovely flat, graphic feel. I’m imagining Roy in his studio, puzzling over how to capture something as ephemeral as moonlight with such a mechanical process. Look at the brushstrokes – thick and bold, almost cartoonish. What was he thinking as he laid down these gestures? Was he trying to mimic the loose brushwork of the Abstract Expressionists, but with a Pop Art twist? The blue feels like a nod to painters like Joan Mitchell or Helen Frankenthaler, but then the application is so precise. There's a real sense of play here, like he’s juggling different languages of painting. It feels like he is in conversation with them, pushing and pulling at their conventions. Ultimately, it’s this kind of experimentation that keeps the dialogue going. Each artist builds on the last, and the conversation evolves.