The Sower
The Sower
Signed Print
Roy Lichtenstein
Price data unavailable
AAGR (5 years) This estimate blends recent public auction records with our own private sale data and network demand.
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Medium: Planographic print
Edition size: 60
Year: 1985
Size: H 105cm x W 141cm
Signed: Yes
Format: Signed Print
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Auction Results
| Auction Date | Auction House | Location | Hammer Price | Return to Seller | Buyer Paid |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| December 2018 | Christie's New York | United States | |||
| April 2018 | Sotheby's New York | United States | |||
| April 2018 | Sotheby's New York | United States | |||
| April 2018 | Sotheby's New York | United States | |||
| October 2017 | Christie's New York | United States | |||
| April 2016 | Christie's New York | United States | |||
| October 2011 | Christie's New York | United States |
Meaning & Analysis
Roy Lichtenstein revisited the landscape motif numerous times throughout his career. His vast Landscapes, Moonscapes and Seascapes comprise several individual series of prints. The Sower from 1985 belongs to the painterly Landscapessuites. The print mainly appropriates the formal attributes of landscape painting. However, it also imitates brushstrokes, thereby critiquing the idealised brushwork of the abstract expressionists.
The Sower depicts a figure planting seeds while walking along a field populated by haystacks. The whole scene is composed of explosive pastel-toned and primary coloured brushstrokes. The vivid hand-painted sweeps within this portrait interact energetically with the mechanical aspects of the artist’s own style. Consequently, the layout of the print becomes similarly abstracted as Lichtenstein’s concurrent Brushstroke Faces and Seven Apple Woodcuts.
Although the print presents a panoramic plough land, Lichtenstein only includes the most distilled and poignant details found in a natural setting. His stylised brushstrokes are translated into the conventional language of the landscape genre, making them appear more instinctive. While Lichtenstein’s simulated painterly gestures symbolise nature in motion, the detached cartoon elements produce spatial ambiguities. These strokes seem to have been cut out and pasted on, drawing attention to the surface texture and object quality of the work.
