Bicentennial Print from America: The Third Century
Roy Lichtenstein
American, 1923–1997
1975
A lithograph and screenprint by Roy Lichtenstein that recombines fragments of American symbols into a comic‑book–style collage meant to celebrate and comment on the United States’ bicentennial.
You first notice the hard black outlines and flat, intense colors arranged like oversized comic panels—sunbursts, a bridge, curling waves, and graphic ornament collide in a brisk, puzzle‑like composition where yellow and gray planes snap the eye.
Made for the Bicentennial, this work shows how Pop Art used mechanical printing and mass‑media imagery to both celebrate and interrogate national myths, translating commercial visual language into a vehicle for cultural reflection.
Medium
Lithograph and screenprint from a portfolio of five lithograph and screenprints, three collotypes, three screenprints, and two lithographs
Dimensions
composition: 25 x 18" (63.5 x 45.7cm); sheet: 30 x 22 5/16" (76.2 x 56.7cm)
Classification
Department
Credit
Gift of Mobil Oil Corporation
Accession
502.1976.5
Palette
Art Terms
Exhibitions
