Study for "Fragmented Painting of Lemons and a Melon on a Table" 1973

Roy Lichtenstein made this study for “Fragmented Painting of Lemons and a Melon on a Table” using pencil and colored pencil on paper. The diagonal hatching and flat planes of color remind me that art is really just a series of decisions. The cool thing about this study is seeing Lichtenstein work through those decisions. There’s something about the casualness of the colored pencil that makes me think about him sketching this out, maybe in his studio, surrounded by his other Pop Art creations. The red outline of the table and the yellow of the fruit really pops against the paper. It’s like he's playing with how little information he needs to give us for our brains to fill in the rest. You know, it’s funny, because looking at this, I’m reminded of Cézanne, who was also obsessed with fruit. But while Cézanne was all about capturing the essence of the object, Lichtenstein’s giving us a kind of cartoon version. It shows you how artists are always in conversation with each other, even across generations. It’s a reminder that art is never really finished, it’s just constantly being reinterpreted.