Name: Sunrise
Brand: Roy Lichtenstein
Rating: 5 (236 reviews)

Track auction value trend

Roy Lichtenstein's Sunrise (signed) from 1966, an enamel artwork, is estimated to be valued between £19,000 and £29,000. This piece has shown consistent value growth, with an average annual growth rate of 4%. This work has an auction history of 11 total sales since its entry to the market in October 2008. In the last 12 months, the average selling price was £22,347, across a total of 1 sale. In the last five years, the hammer price has ranged from £22,067 in November 2022 to £22,347 in May 2025. The average return to the seller over the last five years has been £18,876. The edition size of this artwork is limited to 75.

Meaning & Analysis

Roy Lichtenstein’s continuous revision of the landscape genre is an important part of his early artistic oeuvre. Executed in 1966, Sunrise is one of the individual landscape depictions featured in Lichtenstein’s Landscapes, Moonscapes and Seascapes sequence. Incorporating his strong, bold lines and passages of accentuated colour, the print also features the artist’s signature Ben Day dots.

Presented in horizontal format, Sunrise shows a bright yellow disc representing the sun arising in the middle of the composition. Its rays are gathered together in blue beams surrounding the main circular shape in the centre. The yellow tinge of the sun is reflected in the clouds above, while also illuminating the bluish sea stretched out beneath the horizon line. Lichtenstein uses a gradation of blue dots to compose the calm surface of the water.

Sunrise is a rare example of porcelain enamel on perforated steel. Although the work was prepared successively by hand, it was perfected using machines. Lichtenstein’s mechanised process of creation distorts the imagery. Therefore, the composition is as much a sly criticism of consumerism, as it is a pop rendition of a landscape. Lichtenstein conducts a quest for harmony here, sustained by the elementary and associative forms that characterise his interpretation of the sun motif.

Roy Lichtenstein, born in New York, 1923, is a seminal figure in the Pop Art movement, renowned for his comic book and advertisement-inspired artworks. His transformative journey from classical painter to Pop Art pioneer began with his iconic piece, Look Mickey, marking the fusion of painting with pop culture. Lichtenstein’s works, including Whaam!, Drowning Girl, and Crying Girl, blend parody and satire, challenging the boundaries between popular culture and ‘high art’. With over 5,000 pieces to his name, Lichtenstein’s enduring influence resonates in contemporary art, his works celebrated in prestigious institutions worldwide.