Interior with cactus 1978

Roy Lichtenstein made this painting, *Interior with cactus*, using oil and magna on canvas. I love imagining how the artist committed to the line with that hard edge, and the deliberation required to fill in the solid planes of bold color. The Ben-Day dots might suggest mass production, yet they don't. They are clearly rendered by hand. This creates an interesting tension. I can imagine Lichtenstein thinking about Matisse and other early modern painters who were invested in the interior as a space of artistic investigation. But then turning it all on its head, by making it as flat and graphic as possible. It's so funny! The black cactus shape is so graphic, and the black and white stripes make me dizzy! But the red pot is vibrant and draws me in. It's all one big conversation. What do you think?