Brushstroke 1965

Roy Lichtenstein made this ‘Brushstroke’ painting, and others like it, as a kind of commentary on Abstract Expressionism, playing with the ideas of gesture and spontaneity. I love how the thickness of the black outlines gives the whole image a kind of graphic punch. It's like he's saying, "Okay, you want a brushstroke? I'll give you a brushstroke!" but done in this super controlled, almost mechanical way with the benday dots. The dots make the ground recede, accentuating the cartoonish quality. Look at the drips at the top of the brushstroke. They’re perfect, like each one was planned, which is the opposite of how drips happen in Abstract Expressionism. The brushstroke becomes a ready-made thing, a commentary on Abstract Expressionism and high and low art. For me, it's like Lichtenstein is winking at us, asking what is real and what is fake. It's not about answers; it’s about keeping the conversation going. Think of Guston who was also poking fun at Abstract Expressionism at around the same time. A painting never really ends, does it?