Lichtenstein Expressionism

Book excerpt: Accompanying catalogue of an exhibition at Gagosian Gallery, Paris. The catalogue includes a fully illustrated, comprehensive listing of the paintings, drawings, and prints in Lichtenstein’s Expressionism series. Among the styles and movements appropriated by Lichtenstein, his borrowing of Expressionist motifs—from Alexei Jawlensky’s close-up, pensive faces to Ernst Ludwig Kirchner’s jagged, feline figures—strikes the clearest irony. Including key paintings, sculpture, drawings, and woodcuts, this catalogue demonstrates the bold paradox that Lichtenstein posed by translating Expressionist subjects into the primary colors and pop flatness of his signature style.