Roy Lichtenstein’s Enamel-on-Steel Ceramic Prints & Their Lasting Market Power

Of all of these ceramic works, three particular prints have emerged as the most valuable in Lichtenstein's entire repertoire: Crying Girl, Girl In Mirror, and Vicki! I Thought I Heard Your Voice. All created in 1964, each of these works form an edition of just eight. This scarcity, coupled with their large dimensions and the brilliant effect of the ceramic print on steel, has driven the value of these works to surpass all other Lichtenstein works printed on paper.

In the mid-1960s, Lichtenstein began experimenting with enamel as a medium, a material commonly used in industrial applications. This glossy, kiln-fired surface was rarely associated with fine art at the time, but it offered the perfect vehicle for Lichtenstein’s graphic style – enhancing the bold contour and flat areas of colour that defined his Pop idiom. In moving away from paper and canvas to steel, Liechtenstein positioned his works in direct conversation with mass production, mechanical reproduction, and the postwar American visual landscape.

The creation of these prints was both technically complex and logistically demanding. Each enamel-on-steel work began with a cut sheet of heavy-gauge steel, prepared for firing. Layers of powdered glass were then sifted onto the surface and fused in an industrial kiln at temperatures upwards of 800°C, forming a sleek, permanent surface. Once cooled, the artist’s design – complete with Ben-Day dots, sometimes text fragments, and cropped faces – was screenprinted over the enamel using ceramic pigments. The effect is at once industrial and intimate: mechanical in execution but expressive in tone, highlighting Lichtenstein’s ability to extract emotion from the language of mass media.

Works like Sunrise and Cloud And Sea reflect this experimentation, but it is the three “Girl” works – Crying Girl, Girl In Mirror, and Vicki! I Thought I Heard Your Voice – that have become the most sought-after. Their subject matter, rooted in Lichtenstein’s early investigations of the comic-strip heroine, is treated here with exceptional formal precision. Unlike the more ubiquitous screenprints on paper, these works exist outside the edition norms of printmaking: Crying Girl was created in an edition of five, while Vicki! And Girl in Mirror were produced in editions of eight, each with two artist proofs.

Despite appearing at auction only rarely, these enamel-on-steel works have been responsible for the lion’s share of total annual sales value in several key years. In 2015, 2019, and 2023, these works alone accounted for between 84% and 96% of all sales value in Lichtenstein’s print market. Their significance is such that the presence – or absence – of just one can materially shift the performance of his market in any given year.

The scale of value in this extremely limited segment of his print market is striking. Vicki! I Thought I Heard Your Voice reached £5.8 million at auction in 2019, making it the highest-selling Lichtenstein print on record. Girl In Mirror, another enamel-on-steel edition from 1964, consistently fetches multi-million-pound results white it appears at auction. Even with the broader context of blue chip printmaking, these prices place Lichtenstein within a league of his own. While other artists – Warhol, Haring, Hockney – have achieved remarkable results for iconic prints and complete sets, few bodies of work rival the eight-figure territory now associated with Lichtenstein’s individual enamel editions.

These enamel-on-metal works exist in stark contrast to the more frequently traded segments of Lichtenstein’s market. For example, his 1960s Girl screenprints – Reverie, Shipboard Girl, and the paper-based version of Crying Girl – remain the most actively sold prints across the past decade. Between 9 and 22 lots are traded annually, offering collectors a consistent entry point into Lichtenstein’s market. However, while these works dominate in frequency, their values are significantly lower. The 2019 auction record for Reverie stands at $220,637, while Crying Girl and Shipboard Girl reached $110,303 and $69,237 respectively in 2021.

The divergence is even more visible in growth trends. Reverie has shown the strongest five-year appreciation, with an annual average growth rate (AAGR) of 9%. In contrast, Crying Girl has experienced a modest decline of 2% across the same period. These figures are instructive: while the lower end of Lichtenstein’s print market offers stability and access, the upper end – defined by the enamel-on-steel works – is driven by rarity, prestige, and deep-pocketed buyers seeking landmark pieces.

The ceramic enamel works are more than just rarities – they are definitive statements within Lichtenstein’s practice. Produced at the height of his rise in New York following his solo debut at Leo Castelli Gallery in 1962, these prints capture the early confidence of an artist pushing the boundaries of his medium. They embody Lichtenstein’s interest in repetition, standardisation, and surface, all while retaining a potent emotional core. The cropped faces, anguished expressions and punctuated dialogue place these women somewhere between romantic stereotype and modern archetype – icons of 1960s visual culture reframed as museum-worthy objects.

Today, they hold a dual status in the market: as coveted artworks of historic importance, and as financial assets with exceptional performance. Their limited availability ensures competitive bidding when they do appear, often setting the tone for Lichtenstein’s wider market that year. Unlike other print categories that are condition-sensitive or trend-driven, these works have sustained interest through cultural relevance, market scarcity and institutional demand.

In Extremely Limited: Roy Lichtenstein, MyArtBroker’s second collaborative report with ArtTactic, we examine the enduring influence of Lichtenstein’s enamel-on-steel prints through a comprehensive lens of market data, historical context and collector behaviour. These works form a central pillar of the report, which identifies them as the key drivers of value within his entire print market.

For readers interested in acquiring, consigning or simply understanding these extraordinary editions, the report offers unparalleled insight. Learn how these works have shaped market performance across decades, what conditions elevate value further, and how they compare to Lichtenstein’s more accessible print segments, including his Nudes and Girl screenprints on paper.

Visit ArtTactic.com to download the full report, or click here to receive an exclusive promotional discount through MyArtBroker.