Roy Lichtenstein Haystack Signed Color Screenprint Edition of 250

Artist: Roy Lichtenstein
Title: Haystack
Edition: 88/250
Image Size: 14 3/8" x 17 3/16"
Frame Size: 28" x 31" x 1"
Medium: Color Screenprint on C.M. Fabriano Paper
Year: 1969
Inscription: Signed, dated, and numbered in pencil on bottom front margin
Documentation: Includes Gallery Certificate of Authenticity

"Haystack" (1969) is a color screenprint by Roy Lichtenstein (1923–1997), a leading figure of the Pop Art movement whose work redefined the boundaries between high art and popular imagery in the postwar era. In this print, Lichtenstein engages a familiar rural motif through his distinctive graphic vocabulary: crisp contours, areas of flat color, and a disciplined use of the screenprint medium to evoke texture and form. The composition reflects his broader interest in the language of visual representation and its capacity to navigate between abstraction and narrative suggestion.

By the late 1960s, Lichtenstein had expanded his practice to include a range of subject matter beyond his more widely recognized comic-inspired works. In prints such as "Haystack", he explored natural and architectural forms with a formal precision that aligns with his critical engagement with both modernist traditions and mass-media aesthetics. Screenprinting allowed Lichtenstein to articulate crisp lines and consistent fields of color, reinforcing his examination of mechanical reproduction and artistic authorship. Through repeated engagement with print media, he contributed significantly to the elevation of graphic multiples within the context of fine art.

The present work is signed, dated, and numbered in pencil on the bottom front margin "88/250", indicating its position within a limited edition of two hundred and fifty impressions. The sheet measures 14 3/8 by 17 3/16 inches. "Haystack" is accompanied by a Gallery Certificate of Authenticity, and it exemplifies Lichtenstein's sustained exploration of form, technique, and the conventions of visual language during a pivotal period in his career. Works by Lichtenstein are held in the permanent collections of major institutions including the Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, and the Art Institute of Chicago, underscoring his enduring impact on twentieth-century art.

About Roy Lichtenstein

Roy Lichtenstein was an American artist and a central figure in the Pop Art movement, best known for his bold reinterpretations of commercial imagery, comic strips, and mass media aesthetics. Born in New York City, Lichtenstein studied at Ohio State University, where he developed a foundation in fine art and design before serving in the U.S. Army during World War II. After completing his studies, he taught at several institutions while refining a visual language that would later redefine the relationship between high art and popular culture.

Lichtenstein rose to prominence in the early 1960s with paintings that appropriated imagery from comic books and advertisements, rendered in flat areas of primary color, heavy black outlines, and his signature use of Ben-Day dots. By meticulously replicating mechanical printing techniques through hand painting, Lichtenstein challenged traditional notions of originality, authorship, and painterly expression. His work positioned mass-produced visual culture as a legitimate subject of fine art, aligning him with contemporaries such as Andy Warhol and Claes Oldenburg while maintaining a distinct formal rigor.

Beyond his iconic comic-inspired works, Lichtenstein explored a wide range of themes and styles, including art historical reinterpretations, landscapes, still lifes, and interior scenes. He engaged critically with modernist movements such as Cubism, Expressionism, and Surrealism, translating their visual languages into his own graphic idiom. Over the course of his career, Lichtenstein worked across multiple media, including painting, sculpture, printmaking, and drawing, demonstrating a sustained interest in seriality and visual reproduction.

Lichtenstein's work has been exhibited extensively in major museums worldwide and is held in the permanent collections of institutions such as the Museum of Modern Art, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Art Institute of Chicago, and Tate Modern.