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Roy Lichtenstein (1923-1997); Sweet Dreams Baby!, from 11 Pop Artists Portfolio, Vol. III; image 1
Roy Lichtenstein (1923-1997); Sweet Dreams Baby!, from 11 Pop Artists Portfolio, Vol. III; image 2
Lot 169

Roy Lichtenstein
(1923-1997)
Sweet Dreams Baby!, from 11 Pop Artists Portfolio, Vol. III

26 May 2021, 12:00 EDT
New York

Sold for US$125,312.50 inc. premium

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Roy Lichtenstein (1923-1997)

Sweet Dreams Baby!, from 11 Pop Artists Portfolio, Vol. III (Corlett 39), 1965
Screenprint in colors on heavy, smooth white wove paper, signed in pencil and numbered 32/200 (there were also 50 Roman numeral proofs), published/printed by Original Editions/Knickerbocker Machine and Foundry, Inc., New York, Dawa Basaneow screen printer, with full margins.
35 3/4 x 25 5/8in (90.6 x 65cm)
sheet 37 5/8 x 27 5/8in (98.4 x 70cm)

Footnotes

In Lichtenstein's most important print, Sweet Dreams Baby! 1965, the artist boldly announces his Pop Art bona fides to the reigning practitioners of Abstract Expressionism. The combative phrase and cartoonish figure of a man on the receiving end of a knock-out punch are meant to deliver a warning, albeit humorous, that he planned to rewrite the rules of painting, and indeed of printmaking.

Using silkscreen, Lichtenstein instructed commercial printers to apply heavily inked passages, more like sign printing than traditional fine art printing that used etching or stone lithography. Lichtenstein's trademark application of magnified Benday dots in the composition, meant to mimic mechanical offset printing of newspapers, became part of the composition - his "brushstrokes" applied, ironically, by hand. Lichtenstein's radical idea of using subjects from mass media in his art practice was one of his most enduring legacies.

Additional information

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