Purist Painting in Yellows 1975

Roy Lichtenstein made this “Purist Painting in Yellows” – although when, nobody seems quite sure! It's interesting how Lichtenstein simplifies the familiar, almost like reducing painting to a set of instructions. The surface is super flat, right? The colors are these bold, graphic punches – yellows and blacks doing a real dance. And those Ben-Day dots! It's like he's saying, "Hey, this is a painting, but it's also a printed image, but it's also a painting!" Look at how the black lines confidently outline everything, turning forms into signs. The shapes touch and relate to each other, but there is no naturalism. It reminds me a bit of Fernand Léger, who also loved simplifying forms, but Lichtenstein brings a Pop Art sensibility, questioning the very nature of high and low art. It leaves you wondering: What is real, and what is a copy? What does it mean to paint in a world saturated with images?