The Warrior 1951

Roy Lichtenstein's Warrior is made from found and constructed metal parts. What I love about seeing it is that it's a sculpture made by a painter. I wonder about the artist making it in the studio. How do you decide what to use and what to leave? Which bits to put together? The sculpture’s surface has that gorgeous mottled colour, and it stands on a simple wooden base. These colours weren't mixed so much as found. It has a roughness and a real simplicity. The forms here are so great - a disk, a sort of grater, a half-moon, some wood and a ball on top. It really brings out the raw feeling and emotion in the piece, like it's been through a lot, this warrior. It’s as if he’s saying, here I am, assembled, and ready to see what comes next. It’s like one of those line drawings by Picasso that’s made of one continuous line. It's full of invention, a meeting of playfulness and seriousness.