Grrrrrrrrrrr!!

Not to be confused with GRRR!.
Grrrrrrrrrrr!!
Artist Roy Lichtenstein
Year 1965
Type Pop art
Dimensions 172.7 cm × 142.5 cm (68.0 in × 56.1 in)
Location Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York City

Grrrrrrrrrrr!! is a 1965 oil and Magna on canvas painting by Roy Lichtenstein. Measuring 68 x 56 1/8 inches (172.7 x 142.5 cm), it is part of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum collection. It depicts a head-on representation of an angry dog growling with the onomatopoeic expression "Grrrrrrrrrrr!!".

Background

Grrrrrrrrrrr!!‍‍ '​‍s source for its narrative content is Our Fighting Forces Number 66 (February 1962).

The Lichtenstein foundation notes that the inspiration for this image is a frame of Our Fighting Forces Number 66 (February 1962), which was published by National Periodical Publications (now DC Comics). In that frame only a portion of the dog's head is visible and the speech balloon says "Grrrrr!"[1]

The painting was bequeathed to the Guggenheim Museum after Lichtenstein's 1997 death, following a promise made in 1992. The museum used Grrrrrrrrrrr!! in the promotional posters for the 1993 exhibition "Roy Lichtenstein: A Retrospective", which ran from October 7, 1993 – January 16, 1994.[2][3] The work appeared on the cover of the November 1993 ARTnews.[4][5]

Details

Although Grrrrrrrrrrr!! is derived from what Guggenheim Senior Curator Susan Davidson calls a "low-grade comic strip" that is a typical Lichtenstein source, it is representative of Lichtenstein's fascination with "the atomic language of Ben-Day dots, black outlines and the three primary colors as the elementary vocabulary of low-budget commercial imagery."[6]

According to Jennifer Blessing of the Guggenheim, "There is also an element of humor in creating fine art out of what has customarily been considered 'low,' a playfulness that is equally evident in the onomatopoeic caption and bellicose expression of the dog in Grrrrrrrrrrr!!"[7]

Notes

  1. ↑ "Our Fighting Forces #66". Lichtenstein Foundation. Retrieved 2012-05-14.
  2. ↑ Vogel, Carol (1998-01-16). "Inside Art". The New York Times. Retrieved 2012-05-09.
  3. ↑ "Past Exhibitions: Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum". Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. Retrieved 2012-05-09.
  4. ↑ "Chronology". Roy Lichtenstein Foundation. Retrieved 2012-05-09.
  5. ↑ "Wham! Blam! Pow! Roy Lichtenstein!". ARTnews 92 (9). November 1993. p. cover page.
  6. ↑ Davidson, Susan (ed.). Art in America: 300 Years of Innovation. Merrell Publishers Limited/Guggenheim Museum Publications/Terra Foundation for American Art. pp. 249, 271. ISBN 1-8589-4394-9.
  7. ↑ Blessing, Jennifer. "Roy Lichtenstein: 1923-1997". Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. Retrieved 2012-05-10.

External links