Study for New York State Mural 1968

Roy Lichtenstein made this Study for New York State Mural with paint and his signature benday dots, which is a kind of system. There's such a graphic quality to the work. I always think of comic books when I see Lichtenstein’s paintings, but this feels a bit different because of the scale of the mural. I love how crisp and clean the colors are, how they pop off the surface. The flat planes of primary colors, like the sunny yellow and the deep blue, create a visual punch, while the benday dots add texture and depth. The way he's split the composition in two like that; the overall dynamism is just a lot of fun, like a game of visual ping-pong! I always think about Leger and Stuart Davis when I look at Lichtenstein, but he takes their ideas in a very unique direction. I love the way art builds off itself, this ongoing conversation that blurs influence and originality.