A Bright Night

Arguably the most complex pictures Lichtenstein had attempted up until 1977, his surrealist theme works should be understood as an ambitious response to the Whitney Museum of American Art’s survey exhibition Art About Art, organized to investigate the widespread parody and appropriation of history of art icons by contemporary artists since the 1950s. Lichtenstein was the most extensively featured artist in this exhibition, with more than twenty works, including the Picasso-esque Girl with Beach Ball II, 1977 [source excluded]. [1]

From 1977-1979, Lichtenstein would revisit his surrealist roots with a series of paintings and prints. During this extremely prolific period, he created about 49 surrealist paintings and two print series. Seven prints dubbed the “Surrealist Series” were created in 1978 at Gemini G.E.L. Thirteen prints dubbed the “American Indian Theme Series” were begun in 1979 at Tyler Graphics. All were very or fairly small editions (from generally 32 to 50 plus proofs).