Favorite Object- Philadelphia Museum of Art

Sleeping Girl

1964 

Oil and Magna on canvas

Roy Lichtenstein

I chose one of Roy Lichtenstein pieces as my favorite objects this week. I am a fan of the artist and his pieces and recognized it immediately when I spotted it. During our trip to the Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMA) I did not have a lot of time to explore and go to different areas of the museum. The area I wanted to visit was the modern and contemporary art. I returned to the PMA on Friday to get a better experience there and to see more of the exhibits since our trip was the first time I had been there and to visit the modern and contemporary art gallery. Modern art provides me with more recent and familiar themes and it seems more open ended for interpretation, and it was my favorite gallery when I walked around. Especially the Pop Art Style pieces since I find them to be fun and exciting, which is something I look for in art pieces. 

This piece is important to me because it shows the interesting style of comic book artwork. I have always been fascinated with inkjet and ben-day printing and how lots of circles over lapping can create a picture or color, and I especially like how this looks under a microscope. The fact that every dot is precisely placed based on the spacing and overlapping, and usually only cyan, yellow, magenta, or black can be used is interesting to me since it so calculated in technical. I enjoy how Roy Lichtenstein takes this interesting process and uses it in his work, and his pieces allow you to focus on this technique, not so much the story being told. I also like how the "Sleeping Girl" does not really appear as though she is sleeping, but her facial expression reads as something else. She seems distraught or upset, and it could be keeping her from actually sleeping peacefully. 

According to the accompanying text panel, this piece is on loan from a private collection. It is also not found in the online collection. 

This object is on display in the Modern and Contemporary Art Galleries. It is displayed on a plain white wall.  It was on a wall near an entry into the gallery, so no pieces were hung directly next to it. In the space however, there were a few Pop Art style pieces including Andy Warhol's "Jackie" and "Brillo Boxes". Here is a photo I took showing how it is displayed, and what I like about this photo is that a girl in a polka-dot dress was working on a school project about the piece in front of it, and the polka-dots compliment the piece. 

I think expanding my knowledge on Pop Art and its role in art history would enrich my understanding and enjoyment of this piece. I also think knowing more about comic books would also further my knowledge about this piece, since this piece was inspired by a comic panel called "Girls Romances". I think reading this comic as well would also give me more understanding of the subject Lichtenstein was painting. Additionally, I am hoping to attend the Roy Lichenstein in his Studio exhibit going on at the Gershman Y sometime this Fall and expanding my knowledge on Roy Lichenstein more and it looks like an interesting exhibit to check out, and something I would enjoy. 

People who would not be interested in this piece would be those with little to no interest in modern art and in Pop Art. Some may find this piece to lack technical skill and to be too simplistic. While the girl is conveying emotion and is distraught, it may lack a story that some may wish to find in an art piece. 

Opposing views would tell you that the girl is a symbol for something else entirely and that her facial expression is calm and peaceful. 

I think more pieces to this collection would engage me and viewers with this object. I enjoy how Lichtensteins pieces only show one part of a comic panel, while most comic media is a series of many panels that tells a story. It’s a different approach that allows viewers to think more about the piece and what might actually be occurring in the picture. It also allows viewers to appreciate the style being used and think about the ben-day printing pattern, which is what I like so much about his pieces.