The Las Vegas Art Museum is pleased to present the exhibition, Roy Lichtenstein Prints 1956-97, September 10-November 19, 2006. The exhibition features over 70 works from the collection of Jordan D. Schnitzer and his family foundation. Organized by the Museum of Art / Washington State University in consultation with the Jordan Schnitzer Family Foundation, the exhibition spans Lichtenstein’s career from the first proto-Pop image made in 1956 to the print the artist was working on at the time of his death in 1997.

Although best known for his comic-book imagery, Lichtenstein took on a wide range of subjects and genres that included still life, portraiture, landscape, abstraction, and modern art history, all brought into existence under the crisp, clear look that came to define “a Lichtenstein:” primary colors, Benday dot patterns, stripes, and strong outlines.

“Roy Lichtenstein founded Pop Art in the early 1960s, together with Andy Warhol,” says LVAM Director Libby Lumpkin. “Today, Lichtenstein is considered one of the greatest artists of the 20th Century. The impact of his work is incalculable. The Schnitzer collection provides the rare opportunity to study the evolution of the artist’s themes and styles in their entirety. It includes examples of all the most famous motifs, including the ‘Brushstroke,’ which is a graphic image of a painted brushstroke that stands as one of the most incisive and devastating critiques of a previous generation’s artistic assumptions ever created.”

The exhibition is accompanied by a 96-page book containing essays by Chris Bruce, Dave Hickey, and Liz Brown. Originally exhibited at Washington State University, Pullman, the exhibition traveled to the Henry Gallery of Art, University of Washington, Seattle, and the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art, University of Oregon, Portland. Following the Las Vegas venue, it continues on to the Palm Springs Desert Museum, Palm Springs.