Roy Lichtenstein Haystack Series 1969 For Sale

Roy Lichtenstein’s Haystack series of ten prints, which he created in 1969, consisted of six lithographs and screenprints in contrasting colours on Rives BFK paper, with one relief print on wove paper, each signed, numbered and dated in pencil. 

Whilst Lichtenstein’s work in the first few years of the 1960s was predominately preoccupied with painted scenes from comic books, he turned to landscapes in the mid 1960s when he created works that featured floating clouds, sunrises, seascapes and mountains. Lichtenstein’s Haystacks and Cathedrals series were his first collaboration with Gemini G.E.L. in Los Angeles. 

Haystacks was based on Claude Monet’s seminal series Haystacks (1890-91), which each featured a single or pair of haystacks depicted at different times of day. Monet’s Impressionist paintings were primarily a mediation on light. The repetition of the same subject allowed the starkly contrasting weather conditions and shifting seasons to convey the ever-evolving effect of light on the singular subject. The series illuminated the contrast in colour conveyed by the subtle interplay of light. 

In 1968, Lichtenstein began exploring Monet’s haystacks as a subject and produced them the following year. In response, Lichtenstein’s series of the same name - made almost eight decades later - charts the journey of the day’s light from morning, rendered yellow in Haystack #1, to midnight which is depicted in black in Haystack #7. Lichtenstein’s interpretation introduces the mechanical effect of screenprinting, which appears computer generated. Ironically, the printed process captures the evolving light effects of a natural, rural scene, whilst also alluding to the mass-produced nature of art historical masterpieces. In his Cathedral and Haystack series, Lichtenstein evoked Monet’s light exploration through his signature Benday dots to make Impressionism, in his words, “industrial.” 

In an interview with artist and curator John Coplans, Lichtenstein discussed Monet’s Haystack paintings in relation to his prints: “The prints are a little smaller, but that’s not significant. The paintings are all different images. In terms of exactness of placement and register, the prints are better, because they can be better controlled in this medium. Working on canvas isn’t controllable in the same way. The paintings bear the tracks of corrections of various things. The prints are all worked out beforehand and appear purer.” 

To create the series, Lichtenstein produced a full-scale black-ink drawing that was then used to create the image on the plates. According to The Prints of Roy Lichtenstein catalogue raisonné (1949-1997): “A negative of the drawing was laid over Lichtenstein’s Benday dot stencil on the sensitized plates, recreating the pattern in the positive plate when it was exposed to light”.

Buy Roy Lichtenstein Haystack series

Andipa Editions, as part of Andipa, have been at the forefront of the Lichtenstein market for over 20 years. To enquire about buying Haystack series by Roy Lichtenstein, contact us via sales@andipa.com or on +44 (0) 20 7589 2371.

Sell Haystack series by Roy Lichtenstein

With a global network of active buyers, Andipa Editions are the place to sell your Haystack series. Straight-forward and stress-free, we manage the process on your behalf and help to maximise your return. For a complimentary valuation of your Roy Lichtenstein Haystack series , contact us via sales@andipa.com or on +44 (0) 20 7589 2371. Explore our collection of Roy Lichtenstein prints for sale.