Roy Lichtenstein (1991)

Directed by: Chris Hunt | 51 minutes | documentary

His work is known to many. Even if you know little or nothing about art, you have probably seen the blown-up fragments from American comics. Female figures with yellow blond hair, red lips and panic in their eyes. Roy Lichtenstein (1923-1997) is the man behind these works of art. Together with Andy Warhol and Claes Oldenburg, he is the figurehead of the pop art movement, the art movement in which expressions from popular culture and industrialized mass culture were applied. Advertisements, advertising brochures and comic strips suddenly became a source of inspiration for a new generation of artists. What is called: an image of a can of tomato soup was suddenly elevated to art. Chris Hunt’s documentary ‘Roy Lichtenstein’ (1991) examines the career of the New York artist. How did the movement originate, where did Lichtenstein get his inspiration from and how did he proceed? None other than the artist himself gives the most answers.

The film begins with the emergence of pop art, led by Jasper Johns and Robert Rauschenberg. On archival images in black and white we see the protagonists of that new art movement at the time (we are writing the late fifties, early sixties). However, these people do not speak. It is mainly Lichtenstein himself who gets to tell his story, occasionally interrupted by a handful of other people involved, such as art dealer Leo Castelli and program maker and writer Melvyn Bragg. They tell what makes Lichtenstein’s work, which looks simple, so special. The artist himself explains meticulously how he works; we also see him ‘in action’. He selects fragments from comic strips that he finds mysterious or interesting. He then cuts out the image, inflates it and adjusts lines and colors. His work caused controversy at least in the early 1960s. It is very nice that Hunt, for example, lets cartoonist William Overgard do the talking. By accident, he suddenly saw his own drawing in the Guggenheim Museum, incorporated into a work of art by Lichtenstein. It is clear that Overgard still harbors a grudge against Lichtenstein, whom he calls Lichtenberg, whether intentionally or not. What not everyone will know is that Lichtenstein was a great admirer of Pablo Picasso; the work from his later career was clearly inspired by the Spanish master, just as our own Piet Mondrian was one of his idols. The documentary ‘Roy Lichtenstein’ discusses every phase in Lichtenstein’s career and thus offers a pretty complete overview. The film is from 1991, which has its pros and cons. For example, the film looks grainy and dated. On the other hand, it is crucial that the artist himself speaks extensively (he died in 1997).

Chris Hunt could have dressed up his film a bit more – why not use an art department, for example? The subject is perfect for it! – and make it a more vibrant whole, because ‘Roy Lichtenstein’ looks a bit dull and boring. For the true art lover, however, this documentary offers enough useful information and a unique opportunity to see Lichtenstein at work for yourself. But Hunt could certainly have done more with this.