Illustration For Passage Du Nord-Ouest
Illustration For Passage Du Nord-Ouest
Signed Print
Roy Lichtenstein
48 x 35cm, Edition of 80, Intaglio, 1992
£2,600-£3,900
$4,900-$7,500 Market Value Indicator
$4,850-$7,000 Market Value Indicator
¥24,000-¥35,000 Market Value Indicator
€3,000-€4,500 Market Value Indicator
$27,000-$40,000 Market Value Indicator
¥560,000-¥830,000 Market Value Indicator
$3,500-$5,000 Market Value Indicator
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Meaning & Analysis
Two decades after the publication of Allen Ginsberg’s 1972 poetry collection, The Fall Of America, Roy Lichtenstein was entrusted with illustrating a selection of poems from the book. Ginsberg was a central member of the Beat Generation, a literary movement responding to changes in American culture and politics in the post-war era.
Passage Du Nord-Ouest iIllustrates Ginsberg’s poem “Northwest Passage”, which details the harrowing consequences of local pollution and industrial reach. To this day, the Northwest Passage represents centuries of effort to find a route westward from the Atlantic to the Pacific ocean. Ginsberg’s poem calls to attention the inherent financial and materialistic passage that this endeavour imposed across the North American continent.
Lichtenstein’s Passage Du Nord-Ouestdraws on Ginsberg’s spontaneous and prophetic style of expression for its main composition. It is the only black and white work in the series, compiled out of broken black lines set against an off-white background. It is also the only print depicting a figure, showing Ginsberg himself drawn as a guru, floating in the centre of the canvas in lotus position. Lichtenstein’s Passage Du Nord-Ouest appropriates the long standing tradition of saint portraiture, presenting a minimalistic depiction of Ginsberg as a divine spiritual leader.
