Roy Lichtenstein’s Two Paintings: Dagwood, 1984, is part of the eight-part Paintings series, which parodies the boundaries between high and low art culture and explores notions of originality in art.
Two Paintings: Dagwood features the central motif of the Paintings series: fictitious picture frames juxtaposed to distort the viewer’s perception. This vivid print contrasts abstract brushstrokes that evoke the 'painterly' gestures of traditional artworks with the cartoon image of Dagwood, a character from the 1930s comic strip Blondie. Lichtenstein’s recognizable pop art signatures—a distressed comic book character rendered in Ben-Day dots, bright colours, and delineated outlines—starkly contrast with the fluid, pastel-coloured brushstrokes reminiscent of Abstract Expressionist paintings.
True to his satirical form, in Two Paintings: Dagwood, he parodies both fine art and commercial modes of expression, blending them into a cohesive yet contradictory visual narrative.