Art and Artifice

Archive 35 - Summer 2021

Lichtenstein sculpture Head with Blue Shadow, 1965, Painted ceramic

Photo from the May 17–Sep 3, 2012 Retrospective at the Chicago Art Institute.

"Head with Blue Shadow" is a sculpture created by American artist Roy Lichtenstein in 1965. It is an example of Lichtenstein's signature style, which incorporates elements of popular culture and comic book art into fine art.

The sculpture depicts a stylized human head, which is composed of geometric shapes and flat planes. The face is divided into sections, with areas of solid color separated by thick black lines. The most striking feature of the sculpture is the blue shadow, which is cast on the wall behind the head. The shadow is cut from the same sheet of metal as the head and is positioned at a slight angle, so that it appears to be an extension of the sculpture itself.

"Head with Blue Shadow" is made from painted and polished steel and measures 36 x 24 x 18 inches. It is a three-dimensional representation of a two-dimensional image, which is a characteristic of Lichtenstein's work. The sculpture was part of a series of "brushstroke" sculptures that Lichtenstein created in the mid-1960s, which were inspired by his earlier paintings that depicted exaggerated brushstrokes.

"Head with Blue Shadow" is now part of the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York, where it is considered an important example of Lichtenstein's work. The sculpture is admired for its bold use of color and line, and for its playful commentary on the relationship between high and low art. By transforming a comic book image into a three-dimensional sculpture, Lichtenstein challenged traditional notions of what art should be and helped to redefine the boundaries of contemporary art.

Art by Ivan Albright

At the Art Institute of Chicago, 2012 exhibit

Original Page June 29, 2021