Roy Lichtenstein

Leo Castelli Gallery, New York (LC# 481)
Mr. and Mrs. Horace Solomon, New York (acquired in 1967)
Renée Lachowsky, Brussels
Vanthournout Collection, Brussels (acquired by the present owner from the above circa 1975)
Sotheby's, New York, November 14, 2006, Lot 16
Acquired by the present owner from the above

New York, Leo Castelli Gallery, Roy Lichtenstein, October - November 1967

Lawrence Alloway, "Roy Lichtenstein," Studio International 175, no. 896, January 1968, p. 30, illustrated
Pierre Sterckx, "De la Physique de Lichtenstein," Artstudio, No. 20, 1991, p. 121
Ann Hindry, Artstudio, no. 20, Spring 1991

This work is in excellent condition overall. Please contact the Contemporary Art Department at 212-606-7254 for a condition report prepared by Terrence Mahon. This painting is framed in a brushed metal strip frame.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

In 1967, Roy Lichtenstein embarked on a series entitled "Modern Paintings," including the present work, Modern Painting with Fishes.  Intensely geometric and focused on a single inanimate object or form, Lichtenstein's primary enterprise with this series was the adoption of a reduced, simplified and more pure composition. 

The Modern Paintings are a clear break from his prior focus on romance and war comics, and share more in common with the French Cubist Fernand Léger in their compartmentalization of space.  In addition, Lichtenstein now looked to the Art Deco style for its simplified shapes and clearly articulated linearity as a means by which to organize his canvases. In the artist's archives, one of the source images for Modern Painting with Fishes is a photograph taken by Lichenstein of an Art Deco frieze displaying an underwater scene.  The Benday dots, tightly edited details, and primary colors are still just as prevalent in this work as in his 1960s canvases.  By carefully manipulating these design elements bisected by two diagonal wave-like bolts, Lichtenstein instilled a playful dynamism in this painting.
In this premiere example of the series, Lichtenstein maintained a clever balance between the compartmentalized structure and formal elements of the Modern Paintings with the amusing subject matter of the fishes, a break from the norm in that they are one of the few living objects aside from humans to be depicted by the artist.