Girl with Ball 1961

Roy Lichtenstein made this painting of a Girl with Ball sometime in the mid-twentieth century, and what grabs me is the tension between representation and abstraction. He’s using really basic, almost cartoonish lines and colors, right? Red, white, blue, yellow – a super simple palette. Now, check out the Ben-Day dots, that overall texture like newspaper print. That’s a huge part of Lichtenstein’s style; it makes the whole painting feel super flat and mass-produced, yet the details reveal the hand of the artist. Look closely at the blue outlines, how they vary in thickness and wobble slightly. It’s like he's mimicking mechanical reproduction but embracing the imperfect, human touch. And that mouth! It’s so red and open, a perfect pop of color. It draws you in, but it’s also totally artificial. I always think of Warhol’s screen prints when I see Lichtenstein, that same interest in pop culture and mechanical reproduction, but with a totally different vibe. For me it’s this sense of not taking itself too seriously.