A Bright Night from the Surrealist Series 1978

Roy Lichtenstein made this print, A Bright Night from the Surrealist Series, using screen printing and lithography. What stands out is how Lichtenstein takes the process of artmaking into his own hands, making it something that looks mechanical but really isn't. The texture here isn't about thick paint, but about flat, bold colors meeting sharp lines. The red stripes are like a visual rhythm, playing against the solid fields of yellow, black, and white. The red lips pop out, but they're also flattened and part of this broader design. The waves in the background, the star, all feel like they're made of paper cutouts. It makes me think of what it means to take something from popular culture and flip it into something fine art. It’s a conversation about how we see and what we value. And in that sense, Lichtenstein's kind of like a modern-day Fernand Léger, someone who saw the beauty in everyday objects and the power of bold, simple forms.