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Grrrrrrrrrrr!!

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Not to be confused withGRRR!.

Grrrrrrrrrrr!!
A menacing white dog on a blue background with onomatopoeic growling caption on a yellow background
ArtistRoy Lichtenstein
Year1965
MovementPop art
Dimensions172.7 cm × 142.5 cm (68.0 in × 56.1 in)
LocationSolomon R. Guggenheim Museum,New York City

Grrrrrrrrrrr!!is a 1965 oil andMagnaon canvas painting byRoy Lichtenstein.Measuring 68 in × 56.125 in (172.7 cm × 142.6 cm), it was bequeathed to theSolomon R. Guggenheim Museumcollection from Lichtenstein's estate. It depicts a head-on representation of an angry dog growling with theonomatopoeicexpression "Grrrrrrrrrrr!!".The work was derived fromOur Fighting Forces,which also served as the source for other military dog paintwork by Lichtenstein.

Background

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a comic frame with military men and a dog
Grrrrrrrrrrr!!'ssource for its narrative content isOur Fighting ForcesNumber 66 (February 1962).

The Lichtenstein foundation notes that the inspiration for this painting is a frame ofOur Fighting Forces#66 (February 1962), which was published byNational Periodical Publications(nowDC Comics). In that frame only a portion of the dog's head is visible and thespeech balloonsays "Grrrrr!"[1]In addition to the painting itself, Lichtenstein produced a small 5.75 in × 4.5 in (14.6 cm × 11.4 cm) graphite on paper study.[2]

The painting was bestowed to the Guggenheim Museum after Lichtenstein's 1997 death, following a promise made in 1992. The museum usedGrrrrrrrrrrr!!in the promotional posters for the 1993 exhibition "Roy Lichtenstein: A Retrospective", which ran from October 7, 1993 – January 16, 1994.[3][4]Other notable exhibitions where this work was shown include "Rendezvous: Masterpieces from the Centre Georges Pompidou and the Guggenheim Museums" which ran from October 16, 1998 – January 24, 1999 at the Guggenheim Museum in New York, as well as "Art in America: 300 Years of Innovation" which traveled to several museums in China between 2007 and 2008.[5][6]The work appeared on the cover of the November 1993 issue ofARTnews.[7][8]

Details

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AlthoughGrrrrrrrrrrr!!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 ofBen-Day dots,black outlines and the three primary colors as the elementary vocabulary of low-budget commercial imagery. "[9]

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 inGrrrrrrrrrrr!!"[10]

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In 1962, Lichtenstein createdArrrrrff!,an oil and graphite pencil on canvas painting depicting a dog from a subsequent issue ofOur Fighting Forces,the series that was the source ofGrrrrrrrrrrr!![11]That source depicts the dog by the name of "Pooch" in profile with a text bubble reading "Sniff--Sniff--Sniff--Sniff--Arrrrrff!" above his head. The inspiration for this painting came fromOur Fighting Forces#69 (July 1962).[12]Arrrrrff!was sold atChristie'sin 1996 for $420,500 to an undisclosed buyer.[13]

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^"Our Fighting Forces #66".Lichtenstein Foundation. Archived fromthe originalon February 7, 2016.RetrievedMay 14,2012.
  2. ^"Grrrrrrrrr! (Study)".Roy Lichtenstein Foundation.Archived fromthe originalon February 7, 2016.RetrievedAugust 4,2015.
  3. ^Vogel, Carol (January 16, 1998)."Inside Art".The New York Times.RetrievedMay 9,2012.
  4. ^"Past Exhibitions: Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum".Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum.RetrievedMay 9,2012.
  5. ^Rendezvous: Masterpieces from the Centre Georges Pompidou and the Guggenheim Museums.New York: The Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation. 1998. p. 539.ISBN0810969165.
  6. ^Davidson, Susan, ed. (2007).Art in America: 300 Years of Innovation.London: Merrell Publishers Limited. p. 271.ISBN9781858943947.
  7. ^"Chronology".Roy Lichtenstein Foundation. Archived fromthe originalon May 7, 2012.RetrievedMay 9,2012.
  8. ^"Wham! Blam! Pow! Roy Lichtenstein!".ARTnews.Vol. 92, no. 9. November 1993. p. cover page.
  9. ^Davidson, Susan, ed. (2007).Art in America: 300 Years of Innovation.Merrell Publishers Limited/Guggenheim Museum Publications/Terra Foundation for American Art. pp. 249, 271.ISBN978-1-8589-4394-7.
  10. ^Blessing, Jennifer."Roy Lichtenstein: 1923-1997".Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum.RetrievedMay 10,2012.
  11. ^"Arrrrrff!".Roy Lichtenstein Foundation.Archived fromthe originalon February 7, 2016.RetrievedAugust 12,2015.
  12. ^"Our Fighting Forces #69 (h)".Roy Lichtenstein Foundation.Archived fromthe originalon February 7, 2016.RetrievedAugust 12,2015.
  13. ^"Roy Lichtenstein (b. 1923)".Christie's.RetrievedAugust 12,2015.
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