I discovered another silkscreen by Lichtenstein, titled, “Ohne Titel” (Seascape) described as “Gouache over collage with blue Rowlux foil, firmly mounted on cardboard. 1964.” This seascape, completed only one year before Moonscape might shed some light on his technique.
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In 1964, Lichtenstein discovered a new material called “Rowlux, a foil made of cellulose propionate with a metallic coating. He used it as his chief element in a series of landscape pictures he did from the mid-1960's. Unlike his usual motifs, these landscapes, are not derived from printed models but are rather free compositions of the artist’s. Nevertheless, they, too, reveal the stylistic features typical of Lichtenstein’s work: dots and black framing lines demarcating powerful color surfaces. The surfaces of the foil, shimmering in reflected colors, suggest depth and movement and make this coastal landscape exciting. Today about 100 works by Lichtenstein are known in this technique.”I’m grateful to my husband who first brought it to my attention several years ago. Although Lichtenstein’s technique clearly describes depth and surface, I am going to take up the opposites of Light and Dark in # 13 from Eli Siegel’s 15 Questions: “Is Beauty The Making One Of Opposites?” It was a hard call, and while depth and surface weaves throughout this paper, light and dark spoke out to me in Moonscape.
“Does all art present the world as visible, luminous, going forth?–does art, too, present the world as dark, hidden, having a meaning which seems to be beyond ordinary perception?–and is the technical problem of light and dark in painting related to the reality question of the luminous and hidden?”
I think this is true. We know this silkscreen is a moonscape by its very title, and, it has a moon. But what are we looking at it? Might it be an aerial view? It is abstract and mysterious in it’s luminosity and darkness. The deep, rich, bright shades of blue can be taken for a body of water or the blue sky. I know not which, as it is still a mystery to me.I love the swirling, circular, luminescent blue that appears phosphorescently, having, as Eli Siegel states, “a meaning which seems to be beyond ordinary perception.” I get the feeling that this blue void is vibrant and alive.
The abstract land mass below or, possibly, dark cloud, looks rather sinister with its black, sinuous, thin, lines, curves and points. There is something eerily delicate about this black mass and while it accents the sinister, the flat, white abstract cloud above with the small, red benday dots have Lichtenstein's comic-book style. Here, the lighthearted and deeply frightening come together. The point where the cloud passes in front of the moon seems to twist in on itself like a thin ribbon. These benday dots are so characteristic of the work we are accustomed to seeing by Roy Lichtenstein.
I see a repetition of similar shapes; The cloud above and dark mass below, the circular shapes in the red dots, moon and shimmering round shapes in the blue luminescent background. If the large blue area is sky, it takes on the richness and motion you might find in the sea with it’s circular whirlpools and eddies. It is a mystery.The luminous blue surface draws you into the depth and darkness through the gradation of shadows lit by the light of the moon. It is truly wondrous.
The rows of benday dots in crossing diagonal lines has one feel depth even while the cloud appears as a flat surface. The way the cloud spreads horizontally across the surface of the moon also makes for a feeling of depth and, at the same time, the moon is a white flat circle lighting up the sky. The flat, rich, abstract black mass in the foreground echos the shape of the cloud. It is clearly in front of the blue space which, again, makes for a feeling of depth.
Before studying Aesthetic Realism, I made reality flat by taking the meaning out of things. In doing so, I trivialized my own meaning. I wanted to be seen as smart and acted as if I knew more than I did. Deeply, I was terrified that people I had to do with would see right through me, that I was all fluff and no stuff. I would flit from one thing to another like a firefly, thinking I was the luminous one, not giving luminosity to anyone or anything else. On the other hand, I felt lonely and like a deep, dark, void, felt like an empty shell of a girl. I was ashamed feeling uneducated but I hid my feelings behind an affable lighthearted smile. I didn’t see going after knowledge as fun. I equated it with drudgery and saw it as taking up too much of my time and I longed to get back to something lighter and easier.
This work of art has what I so much needed to know. I am very grateful to Aesthetic Realism that I heard the criticism of my contempt, with humor and depth. In an early consultation, my consultants asked, “Do you see the depth of other people or do you see them as shadows? Would you like to appear on a stage as the star in your own show?” I had so much trouble remembering things. I didn’t know that I stopped myself from being affected because I was too busy trying to have an effect. This is what made it impossible for me to learn and have the facts of the world find a home within my mind. Because of my good fortune studying Aesthetic Realism and what I continue to learn in this class, my life has taken on so much more: weight, luminosity, richness and color. I feel more truly educated and I see it as an exciting, good time.
