Bull II 1973

This is Roy Lichtenstein’s ‘Bull II’ and what strikes me is the electric blue. It's so different from the earthy tones you might expect when you think about a bull. I bet it was a total trip for Lichtenstein, starting with something so grounded, so ancient, and then filtering it through his signature Pop Art sensibility. I can imagine him, you know, sketching, redrawing, abstracting – each stage simplifying, amplifying, until you get this bull stripped down to its essential form. Look at the lines – they’re so clean, so deliberate. It makes me think about industrial production, about how images get reproduced and circulated in our culture. And yet, there’s also something so playful about it, like he’s not taking it all too seriously. Painting isn’t about perfection, it is an ongoing experiment! He was in conversation with the greats like Picasso and Leger, but also with the world of advertising and comic books. I wonder what it was like to see this for the first time?