The Ring 1962

Here we have Roy Lichtenstein, freezing a fleeting moment in time with graphic lines and bold colors. Lichtenstein was interested in mechanical reproduction - so he used screen printing to achieve a flat, uniform finish, but in other paintings of this time he would mimic the look of printing through hand painting. There's something so matter-of-fact about the way the ring is presented, suspended between two sets of hands. The red background pulsates outwards, like a comic book explosion or a heart beating fast. The dot pattern gives a curious texture to the areas of skin tone, a kind of cool impersonal warmth. Those thick, black outlines are a masterstroke, turning something tender into something like a road sign. It reminds me of a painting by Alex Katz, all clean lines and flat colors, but where Katz is subtle, Lichtenstein is anything but. The real genius of Lichtenstein is that he takes something so loaded, so emotional, and turns it into pure, unadulterated pop. What does that say about love then, I wonder?