Roy Lichtenstein’s Brushstroke Contest (1989) is a witty and intellectually rich meditation on artistic identity — a dazzling culmination of his lifelong exploration of the relationship between gesture, artifice, and the act of painting itself. In this late masterpiece, Lichtenstein transforms the most primal sign of painterly expression — the brushstroke — into a theatrical competition of form, rhythm, and control. The result is at once playful and profound: a visual dialogue about what it means to make, to imitate, and to define art in the postmodern age.

Across the composition, a flurry of monumental brushstrokes — each distinct in color, texture, and direction — appear to compete for dominance. Some sweep upward with vigorous energy, others slash diagonally or curl elegantly, their movements frozen in Lichtenstein’s pristine geometry. Yet none of these “brushstrokes” are spontaneous. Each is meticulously composed, outlined in thick black lines, and filled with Ben-Day dots and vivid zones of primary color. What looks like painterly improvisation is instead the ultimate act of control — a translation of emotion into system, of chaos into code.

The “contest” implied by the title unfolds on multiple levels. On the surface, it is a playful parody — a staged competition between gestures, as though each stroke sought to prove itself more expressive, more authentic, more grandly “artistic” than the next. But beneath this humor lies a subtle critique of the heroic myth of Abstract Expressionism, whose gestural marks once symbolized raw individual freedom. Lichtenstein reframes that mythology within the cool logic of Pop: the brushstroke becomes a reproducible image, its uniqueness replaced by reproducibility, its passion by precision.

Created in 1989, this Lichtenstein pop art Lithograph  in colors is hand-signed by Roy Lichtenstein (New York, 1923 – New York, 1997) in pencil: ‘rf Lichtenstein’.  Numbered from the edition of 36, this work is published by Original Editions, New York.

Catalogue Raisonné & COA:

Roy Lichtenstein, Brushstroke Contest, 1989 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. 235 on pg. 216.
2. A Certificate of Authenticity will accompany this work.

About the Framing:

Roy Lichtenstein, Brushstroke Contest, 1989 is framed to museum-grade, conservation standards, presented in a complementary moulding and finished with silk-wrapped mats and optical grade Plexiglas.