Red Lamp
Signed Print

Similar to Roy Lichtenstein’s elaborate eight-part series titled Paintings from 1984, Red Lamp of 1992 presents the beholder with a portrait of a fictitious portrait. Created concurrent with Lichtenstein’s Interiors, the work also re-frames the ultimate image of quotidian domesticity.

Utilising his signature stylised aesthetic, the artist transforms the mundane interior scene into an image with defined contouring and a vibrant colour scheme. The main composition shows a yellow frame mounted on an imaginary wall, containing a sparse living room interior. Stripped of all pigmentation, an armchair and a coffee table sit side by side at the centre of the canvas. Lichtenstein situates a bell-shaped lamp with a round red base on top of the stand.

The work reflects the artist’s fascination with the paradoxical relationship between fine art and commercial design. It is also a unique manifestation of the varied conceptual ideas and technical skills Lichtenstein honed throughout his career. The references and the visual language self-consciously establish the artist alongside his pop peers. Theirs was a contemporary tradition that recognised the artistic potential of the aesthetics of popular culture. Last but not least, the print demonstrates the profound awareness Lichtenstein had of art history and of his crucial position within it.