Brushstrokes

Among Lichtenstein's recurring subjects, the brushstroke is perhaps his most enduring motif. In a parody of the painterly gesture closely associated with Abstract Expressionism, he presents the brushstroke—the principal 'signature' of the fine artist—as an object in its own right, a visual pun of sorts frozen in time and space. Set against a field of colored dots, Lichtenstein's motif mimics the photomechanical printing methods commonly used to produce comic strips, a reflection of his abiding interest in popular culture and preference for the impersonal and machine-made image.