American painter Roy Lichtenstein (1923?1997) pioneered a new epoch in American art, bursting onto a scene dominated by Abstract Expressionism in late 1950s New York and defining a new art vocabulary for a new era.
With his groundbreaking use of industrial production techniques and trivial, quotidian imagery such as cartoons, comic strips, and advertising, Lichtenstein joined contemporaries such as Andy Warholand James Rosenquist to reflect and satirize American mass media and consumer culture. Works such as Look, Mickey! (1961), Drowning Girl (1963), and Whaam! (1963) deployed mass production techniques, particularly Ben-Day dots printing, to create a blow-up effect and pixelated “dot” style, with which Lichtenstein has become synonymous.
This book provides an essential overview of Lichtenstein’s career, tracing his earliest Pop statements through to later “brushstroke” retorts to Abstract Expressionism and reinterpretations of modern masterpieces. We look at his leading position in midcentury modernism, and the ways in which his works both critique and chronicle 20th-century America.
It all began in 1985 when the very first original TASCHEN publication and inaugural Basic Art title, Picasso, was released. A game-changing series was born! Since then, these succinct and slimline books have developed into a true treasure trove. Nearly 200 titles, translated into some 20 languages, and offering an introductory who’s who of art history, architecture, and design, this series became the world’s best-selling art book collection ever published.
Each title from the Basic Art Series provides a comprehensive introduction to a significant artist, architect, or designer. The publications offer a detailed chronological summary of the artist’s life and work and analyze their historical importance and cultural legacy. Readers are taken through the subjects’ biographies and become familiar with key works illustrated in high quality reproductions. From Bauhaus to Basquiat, the series includes books on Bacon, Eames, Gaud??, Haring, de Lempicka, Dal??, Klimt, Koons, Leonardo da Vinci, Monet, O’Keeffe, Kahlo, Mies van der Rohe, Pop Art, Rothko, Surrealism and much more.
For its 30th anniversary, we beamed this much loved series up to its new 21st century orbit: revised, newly designed, and hardcover bound ? but still at a rock-bottom price! The series originated as A4 size folios but the new Basic Art comes in a much more manageable size; easily portable so that you can go mobile with your extensive knowledge of cultural history. The art book series details the individuals whose practices have shaped the development of art and design but it also records larger art movements in titles where you can explore the context of a generation and appreciate the galvanizing spirt of the collective. An essential element to any library, the Basic Art Series are the quintessential TASCHEN art books.
“These seductive books have slick production values, excellent illustrations, and smart texts. Each one is a fast-food, high-energy fix on the topic at hand.” ????The New York Times Book Review
