Untitled Head II
22 1/2 x 12 x 9 1/4 inchesUntitled Head II, 1970
California English Walnut
22 1/2 x 12 x 9 1/4 inches
edition of 30
signed and numbered by the Artist on a metal plate under the Wood Base.
Published by Gemini G.E.L., Los Angeles
Literature
G. Magnani, ed., International Index of Multiples: From Duchamp to the Present, Cologne 1993, p. 124 (illustrated).
M. Corlett, The Prints of Roy Lichtenstein: A Catalogue Raisonne 1948-1993, New York, 1994, pg 27.
Gemini G.E.L. and National Gallery of Art. Gemini G.E.L. Catalogue Raisonné (Los Angeles and Washington, D.C.), 2001, no. 31.32 color ill.
Exhibitions
Fine Arts Gallery of San Diego, Twentieth Century Art, July-September 1970, another from the edition exhibited. New York, New York, Castelli Graphics, Roy Lichtenstein: New Editions, Lithographs, Sculptures, Reliefs, September-October 1970, another from the edition exhibited.
Philadelphia, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Multiples: The First Decade, March-April 1971, another example exhibited. San Antonio, McNay Art Institute, November-December 1974 another from the edition exhibited.
Mexico City, Museo Del Palacio De Bellas Artes; Monterrey, Museo de Arte Contemporaneo De Monterrey, A. C.; Roy Lichtenstein: Imgágenes Reconocibles: Escultura, Pintura y Grafica, July 1998-January 1999, another from the edition exhibited.
Washington, D.C., The Corcoran Gallery of Art; Valencia, Instituto Valenciano de Arte Moderno; La Coruña, Fundacion Pedro Barrié de la Maza; Lisbon, Centro Cultural de Belem, Roy Lichtenstein: Sculpture & Drawings, September 1999-August 2000, another from the edition exhibited.
Museum Collections
Hirshhorn Museum, Washington D.C.
National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.
Full documentation: Roy Lichtenstein Foundation
Additional Photos
The Modern Head series of the 1970s sees Lichtenstein shift away from commercial imagery and into explorations of art historical genres instead. His visual style propelled him to the forefront of the Pop Art movement during the 1960s. Lichtenstein shifted his focus from appropriating commercial imagery already in the 1970s and began examining art historical genres instead.
ROY LICHTENSTEIN MODERN HEAD SERIES
The Modern Head series of the 1970s sees Lichtenstein shift away from commercial imagery and into explorations of art historical genres instead. His visual style propelled him to the forefront of the Pop Art movement during the 1960s. Lichtenstein shifted his focus from appropriating commercial imagery already in the 1970s and began examining art historical genres instead.
Roy Lichtenstein's "Modern Head" series, created in the 1970s, stands as a critical dismantling of the history of Modern Art. This series represents a shift in Lichtenstein's approach, moving away from mass-produced imagery towards the appropriation of stylistic conventions and specific works of Modern masters, including Picasso, Monet, Matisseand Mondrian.
Untitled Head II (Trial) (RLCR 1917), 1970
Aluminum, painted wood
National Gallery of Art, Washington
As a transitional figure between modernism and postmodernism, Lichtenstein recreated versions of Impressionist, Cubist, Art Decoand German Expressionist works in his signature comic style. Despite the parody inherent in his work, Lichtenstein expressed admiration for the artists he referenced, stating, "The things I have apparently parodied I actually admire."
The inspiration for the "Modern Head" series came from Alexei von Jawlensky's Constructivist portrait heads exhibited in the 1968 Pasadena Art Museum's Serial Imagery exhibition. Lichtenstein adopted Expressionist motifs from Jawlensky's work, infusing them with his own Pop aesthetic to create original compositions.
The "Modern Head" series challenges Modern Art by presenting fine art portraits in the style of mass-produced comic illustrations. Drawing on Constructivist and Machine Art methods of depicting human figures with an industrial machine quality, Lichtenstein employed machine printing techniques such as dots and flat colors to create figures reminiscent of media images.
Lichtenstein’s Modern Heads sought to critically dismantle the history of modern art. To achieve this, the artist explored a formal idea that was of particular interest to him at the time; impure style. Lichtenstein’s Modern Heads proceeded by re-configuring decorative motifs borrowed from a variety of sources. Indeed, the Modern Heads are among a select few pieces in the artist’s oeuvre that don’t exclusively reference one specific artist or creative trend. Instead, the compositions conjoin diverse shapes adapted from facade ornamentations, interior design, sculptures and historical paintings.
