"Roy Lichtenstein, really one of the greats?" by Eric Mircher

[This is a continuation of my translations of Eric Mircher's original articles.  Please read this introduction for the background behind this project.]

     The Roy Lichtenstein retrospective, the Centre Pompidou's summer exhibition, has opened to the public and will be on view through to November 4, which puts it on schedule to coincide with the FIAC 2013 art fair here in Paris.  It appears that this exhibition is supposed to gain general approval from not only the summer tourist crowds from foreign lands or from the French provinces, but also Parisian art lovers.  After having made a number of stops in the anglo-saxon world, the exhibition lands in France.  No one understands a thing of the artist and his work but one hears an unending parroting of the learned litany of catch phrases about this very cultivated Pop Art genius who is so “invigorating.”

Roy Lichtenstein, Stretcher Frame with Crossbars I, 1967 – collection Cari Sacks

     The emblematic canvas of this exhibition is no doubt “Stretcher Frame with Crossbars.”  It isn't a very well known Lichtenstein and neither is it very invigorating.  In his very recognizable blown-up mechanical comic strip dot technique, the back of a painting is depicted: the wooden stretchers, raw canvas, and the extra edge of canvas covering the frame.  Lichtenstein seems to be declaring here the ideas of his artistic program: deconstruct and reveal by a total absence of affectations the nuts and bolts of a painting.  The reverse canvas.  It is a pretty successful piece, modeled on the “mirror” pieces or the blown-up objects, like “Notebook.”  In regards to the pieces referencing comic strips,  they all ultimately seem rather bland and thin.  Once the system of their construction is understood, one becomes quickly and extremely bored.  In fact, nothing appears to be able to make up for this impression of boredom and artificiality.  One will to no avail tell us about Roy's love for the great artists, from Picasso to Matisse, but one wonders who is in service of whom here.  We all know about the deft subterfuge which consists of reworking another artist's masterpieces in order to valorize one's own production.  It is finally what happens if one looks at this exhibition without too much emotion, as so much praise has been heaped on by the press in regards to this mega-show.

     The retrospective ends in a blue labyrinth, narrow and without any way of taking a step back, where the “Zen” paintings are displayed.  Emptiness can signify fullness, and this is the basis of the pictorial tradition of Asian art.  Lichtenstein appears to have understood this well, and for a change, one can take a break from the incessant presence of  his systematic pixellation.  However, a few arrondissements further away, in Paris, at the Cernuschi Museum, there are original Chinese paintings on view, and they are superb.  A few tourists may get lost on that side of the Parc Monceau, and we can hope that they will prefer the original to the copies that are blown-up here.  

• Article written by Eric Mircher
• (Translated from French by Roy Forget)