Roy Lichtenstein, Blonde, 1978; created at the height of Roy Lichtenstein’s mature period, Blonde (1978) captures the artist’s enduring fascination with the language of mass media and the distilled beauty of comic-book iconography. Here, Lichtenstein transforms the archetypal “blonde heroine” — a recurring motif in his early 1960s works — into a poised, monumental figure, stripped of narrative context yet charged with emotional immediacy. Rendered in the artist’s unmistakable visual vocabulary of Ben-Day dots, bold outlines, and primary colors, Blonde is both a meditation on idealized femininity and a commentary on the seductive power of images in contemporary culture.

The composition exemplifies Lichtenstein’s refined command of reduction and balance. Every curve and contour is deliberate — the elegant sweep of hair, the softened geometry of the features, and the flattened expanse of color coalesce into an image that feels at once intimate and mechanical. By the late 1970s, Lichtenstein had moved beyond direct comic reproductions into a more reflective dialogue with the visual systems that shaped them. In Blonde, the woman’s gaze, frozen and enigmatic, transcends her origin in pulp illustration; she becomes a timeless icon of beauty and desire — a modern-day Mona Lisa rendered in dots and lines.

Technically, the work demonstrates Lichtenstein’s mastery of printmaking, a medium ideally suited to his exploration of the intersection between art and commercial production. The crisp precision of the print underscores his fascination with how mechanical means can express — and paradoxically amplify — human emotion. The palette of lemon yellow, crimson, and cobalt evokes both the synthetic brightness of pop culture and the formal rigor of modernism, revealing Lichtenstein’s dual allegiance to irony and aesthetics.

Blonde also resonates as a subtle act of self-reflection. Having spent decades dissecting the clichés of mass communication, Lichtenstein here revisits one of his earliest muses — the blonde woman — but now with a sense of distance and serenity. She is no longer caught in melodrama or speech bubbles; instead, she inhabits a realm of pure visual contemplation. In this transformation, Lichtenstein affirms his position not merely as a Pop provocateur but as a classicist of the modern age — an artist who found lyricism in the lexicon of mass reproduction.

Elegant, iconic, and deeply controlled, Blonde stands as a summation of Lichtenstein’s lifelong pursuit: to bridge the mechanical and the emotional, the comic and the sublime, the everyday and the eternal.

Created in 1978, this Lichtenstein pop art Roy Lichtenstein, Blonde, 1978, is hand-signed by Roy Lichtenstein (New York, 1923 – New York, 1997) in pencil: ‘rf Lichtenstein’.  Numbered from the edition of 38, this work is published by Original Editions, New York.

Catalogue Raisonné & COA:

Roy Lichtenstein, Blonde, 1978 is fully documented and referenced in the below catalogue raisonnés and texts (copies will be enclosed as added documentation with the invoices that will accompany the final sale of the work).

1. Corlett, Lee Mary. The Prints of Roy Lichtenstein A Catalogue Raisonee 1948-1997. Hudson Hills Press: New York, 1994. Listed and illustrated as catalogue raisonné no. 153 on pg. 152.
2. A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany our Roy Lichtenstein, Blonde, 1978.

About the Framing:

Roy Lichtenstein, Blonde, 1978 is framed to museum-grade, conservation standards, presented in a complementary moulding and finished with silk-wrapped mats and optical grade Plexiglas.

Roy Lichtenstein Surrealist: is a collection of prints and paintings created in 1978 by American Pop artist Roy Lichtenstein. In this series, Lichtenstein pays homage to the Surrealist movement while filtering its dreamlike imagery through his precise and graphic Pop style. The works feature fragmented figures, everyday objects, and abstract forms arranged in unexpected and imaginative compositions. Using his signature Ben Day dots, sharp outlines, and bold color contrasts, Lichtenstein transforms the unconscious visual language of Surrealism into a refined study of form, irony, and perception. The Surrealist Series demonstrates his ability to reinterpret major art movements through a distinctly modern and playful lens.

Figures with Rope, 1978

Blonde, 1978

Nude on Beach, 1978

A Bright Night, 1978

At The Beach, 1978

Figures, 1978