Screenprint on paper
Tate Collection
Works with images
General Collection
ARTIST ROOMS
Collection
<a href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/roy-lichtenstein-1508" aria-label="More by Roy Lichtenstein" data-gtm-name="header_link_artist" data-gtm-destination="page--artist">Roy Lichtenstein</a>
Composition II
ARTIST ROOMS 
Tate and National Galleries of Scotland. Lent by The Roy Lichtenstein Foundation Collection 2015
abstraction
Ben-Day dots
cartoon / comic strip
emotions, concepts and ideas
fine arts and music
formal qualities
from recognisable sources
inscriptions
leisure and pastimes
man-made
music
music and entertainment
musical note
objects
sheet music
symbols and personifications
<p><span>Composition II</span> 1996 is one of three screenprints published by Gemini G.E.L., Los Angeles and recorded in the second volume of the catalogue raisonné of the artist’s prints (Corlett and Fine 2002), the other two being <span>Composition I</span> 1996<span> </span>(Tate AL00378) and<span> Composition III</span> 1996 (Tate AL00380). In these prints Lichtenstein presented arrangements of curving and looping musical staves; no longer fixed on their usual horizontal, linear orientation, the musical notation is set free. Two of the prints – <span>Composition I </span>and <span>Composition III </span>– are vertical in format, while <span>Composition II </span>has a landscape format. The notes and curving staves are set against area of primary colours and the artist’s signature diagonal lines and dots. Music was one of Lichtenstein’s great loves – he played the flute and saxophone and was particularly interested in jazz. These images therefore respond to the freedom and improvisatory nature of this form of music, as well as pointing to the artist’s own exploration of visual composition. This copy of <span>Composition II </span>is number three of twelve artist’s proofs aside from the edition of fifty.</p>
paper print screenprint
14 March 2015 – 10 January 2016
2016-01-10
14 March 2015 – 10 January 2016
2016-01-10
2015-03-14
Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art (Edinburgh, UK)
http://www.nationalgalleries.org/
2015-03-14
ARTIST ROOMS Roy Lichtenstein
Collection based display
22 October 2016 – 26 February 2017
2017-02-26
22 October 2016 – 26 February 2017
2017-02-26
2016-10-22
Wolverhampton Art Gallery (Wolverhampton, UK)
http://www.wolverhamptonart.org.uk
2016-10-22
ARTIST ROOMS 2016: Roy Lichtenstein
Loan-out
22 September 2017 – 17 June 2018
2018-06-17
22 September 2017 – 17 June 2018
2018-06-17
2017-09-22
Tate Liverpool (Liverpool, UK)
http://www.tate.org.uk/liverpool/
2017-09-22
Roy Lichtenstein
Collection based display
13 July 2019 – 4 January 2020
2020-01-04
13 July 2019 – 7 September 2019
2019-09-07
2019-07-13
Grundy Art Gallery (Blackpool, UK)
28 September 2019 – 4 January 2020
2020-01-04
2019-09-28
Hatton Gallery (Newcastle upon Tyne, UK)
2019-07-13
ARTIST ROOMS 2019: Roy Lichtenstein
Loan-out
Composition II
object: 902 × 1140 mm
frame: 1076 × 1316 × 46 mm

<a href="/search?gid=999999788" data-gtm-name="tombstone_link_bequest" data-gtm-destination="list-page--search-results">ARTIST ROOMS</a> 
Tate and National Galleries of Scotland. Lent by The Roy Lichtenstein Foundation Collection 2015
<div class="text">
<p>
<i>Composition II</i> 1996 is one of three screenprints published by Gemini G.E.L., Los Angeles and recorded in the second volume of the catalogue raisonné of the artist’s prints (Corlett and Fine 2002), the other two being <i>Composition I</i> 1996<i> </i>(Tate <a class="acno-pop" data-gtm-destination="page--artwork" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/lichtenstein-composition-i-al00378" title="View the details of this artwork"><span>AL00378</span></a>) and<i> Composition III</i> 1996 (Tate <a class="acno-pop" data-gtm-destination="page--artwork" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/lichtenstein-composition-iii-al00380" title="View the details of this artwork"><span>AL00380</span></a>). In these prints Lichtenstein presented arrangements of curving and looping musical staves; no longer fixed on their usual horizontal, linear orientation, the musical notation is set free. Two of the prints – <i>Composition I </i>and <i>Composition III </i>– are vertical in format, while <i>Composition II </i>has a landscape format. The notes and curving staves are set against area of primary colours and the artist’s signature diagonal lines and dots. Music was one of Lichtenstein’s great loves – he played the flute and saxophone and was particularly interested in jazz. These images therefore respond to the freedom and improvisatory nature of this form of music, as well as pointing to the artist’s own exploration of visual composition. This copy of <i>Composition II </i>is number three of twelve artist’s proofs aside from the edition of fifty.</p>
<p>Lichtenstein was born in New York, and was a central player in American pop art. He came to prominence in the 1960s, making works based on imagery from comic strips, such as <i>In the Car</i> and <i>Whaam! </i>1963 (Tate <a class="acno-pop" data-gtm-destination="page--artwork" data-gtm-name="body_text_link" href="https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/lichtenstein-whaam-t00897" title="View the details of this artwork"><span>T00897</span></a>). In these works he used the Benday dot, common to newspaper and magazine reproduction, to produce works that appeared mechanically reproduced, and which in fact are even more stylised than the cartoons Lichtenstein appropriated. Printmaking was an integral part of his practice throughout his career from the late 1950s through to the 1990s.</p>
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<b>Further reading</b>
<br/>Mary Lee Corlett and Ruth E. Fine,<i> The Prints of Roy Lichtenstein: A Catalogue Raisonné: 1948–1997</i>, New York and Washington D.C., revised and updated second edition 2002.<br/>Graham Bader (ed.), <i>OCTOBER Files 7: Roy Lichtenstein</i>, Cambridge, Massachusetts and London 2009.<br/>James Rondeau and Sheena Wagstaff, <i>Roy Lichtenstein: A Retrospective</i>, exhibition catalogue, Tate Modern, London and Art Institute of Chicago<i> </i>2012.</p>
<p>Lucy Askew<br/>Senior Curator, Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh<br/>August 2014</p>
<p>Amended by Stephen Huyton<br/>Assistant Collection Registrar, ARTIST ROOMS<br/>September 2017</p>
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Summary
2018-02-22T00:00:00
summary
SHORT_TEXT
abstraction Ben-Day dots cartoon / comic strip emotions, concepts and ideas fine arts and music formal qualities from recognisable sources inscriptions leisure and pastimes man-made music musical note music and entertainment objects sheet music symbols and personifications