Roy Lichtenstein Composition I For Sale

Composition 1 is part of Roy Lichtenstein’s Composition series, created in the mid 90’s, in which he created a strong, literal interpretation of the freeform spirit of music and music-making, within a four print sequence. Lichtenstein had a lifelong passion for music stemming from childhood as his mother was a gifted piano player. During the 30’s, he spent much solitary time visiting New York Jazz clubs invigorated by the lively rhythms.  

By the later years of his life, before his passing in 1997, Lichtenstein could play piano, clarinet and saxophone. So buoyed by the melody making, he created Composition 1 as a way to explore how spontaneous qualities of music can be translated onto a canvas, using the traditional means of art and the methodology of commercial design.  

Within the precisely framed composition of the artwork, Lichtenstein plays with a freely interconnecting series of looping musical notations winding around the canvas. Lichtenstein’s recognisable diagonal stripes and ben day dots are situated beneath the vertical format; bringing the imaginary music sheet to life through the artist’s characteristic potent black and white lines, red and black notes, set against a boldly coloured background in bright blue, red and yellow. 

Experimenting with the flattened patterns of an imaginary music sheet, Lichtenstein entertains his passion for music making, liberating the notes and staves from horizontal forms to create this energetic, fluid investigation into the power of symphony in our lives.