Thinking Nude (C. 289)

Roy Lichtenstein (1923-1997) was a leading figure of the American Pop Art movement, alongside Andy Warhol, James Rosenquist and Claes Oldenburg. Late in his career, Lichtenstein returned to the female subject of his 1960s comic strip works in a more provocative way, by broaching the genre of the female nude. The ‘Nude Series’, of which “Thinking Nude” is a part, was one of the last series before his death in 1997. Instead of using live models like artists of previous generations, Lichtenstein drew from his archive of comic clippings. In Lichtenstein’s signature Pop art style, he employed varying-sized Benday dots and a limited color palette. The Thinking Nude remains an object of desire, just as in traditional paintings, yet captured in a state of bliss, she is also in control and experiences desire of her own. This work was published by Tyler Graphics, Ltd., Mount Kisco, New York.