Glass and lemon in a mirror 1974

Roy Lichtenstein created this painting, “Glass and lemon in a mirror” sometime during his career using bold swathes of colour. I imagine him working on it, flat on his back like Michaelangelo, but probably with a can of spray paint! You can see the blue, white, and black areas are sharply delineated, but he’s also brought in yellow and beige. Lichtenstein must have started by masking out sections, one colour at a time, building up the image from block areas. I think he’s telling a story. Is it a table in a bar, a still life? Is it the end of the evening? What does the lemon mean? It’s a painting of a mirror but it’s also a picture. You know, painters are all in conversation with each other, we riff on each other's ideas, and Lichtenstein is in that mix too. Every artist brings something new to the table while nodding to those who came before. It’s not about fixed meanings but endless possibilities, and what you see in it, right now.