Nude on beach 1977

Roy Lichtenstein created this painting, Nude on beach, with oil and magna on canvas. Oh, this is beachy alright! Lichtenstein is such a trickster, I wonder what he was thinking, painting a nude like this... Is that the sun, or is it cheese? I love how he simplifies everything into these basic shapes and colors, it's like he's saying, “Hey, let's take a good, hard look at what we think is real.” I think I see some Matisse in here, that joyfulness! Like that painter, Lichtenstein isn't afraid of bold colors and graphic edges, he just throws it all together and makes it sing. I can see a clear dialogue with Pop Art from the 60’s, there’s a certain aesthetic that comes through in the colors. I can only imagine them talking to each other across time. Ultimately, it's up to us to decide what it all means.