Shipboard Girl (Corlett II.6) is one of the best-selling original prints by the US Pop Art artist Roy Lichtenstein. Executed in yellow, red, blue, and black, this work consists of countless dots of color that come together to form an image. Similar to the way newspaper pictures are printed, Lichtenstein used outlines to frame the picture elements and then filled them with these bright dots of color. Following Seurat’s pointillism technique, Lichtenstein relies on our eye’s instinct to merge the individual dots into an overall color surface; however, Lichtenstein was a pop artist, and in his interest in playing with and tickling our eye, he makes the dots a little too big and a little too far apart for us to merge the dots, drawing our attention to his technique. Moreover, Lichtenstein gives us a fabulous subject in this “incomplete narrative.” The incomplete narrative remained a popular style throughout Lichtenstein’s career. In this sense, we witness a fascinating scene with a beautiful blonde (complete with bright red lips) shown on the ship of a luxury liner (recognizable by the water and the lifebuoy). She has a strange expression on her face, and since we don’t learn any more details about this mystery, we have an “incomplete narrative”. From the visual construction to the artistic process, Lichtenstein offers us a wealth of visual pleasure that engages our minds and senses. This 1965 original color offset lithograph was published by Leo Castelli, NY and printed by Graphic Industries, Inc, NY. This work is hand signed in pencil by Roy Lichtenstein (New York, 1923 – New York, 1997) in the lower right and is from an unnumbered edition.

Roy Lichtenstein’s worldwide fame is based on the value-free representation of well-known comics. In the early 1960s, for example, he first caused a sensation in the art world with his signature dot technique (benday dots), bright colors, and thick black outlines. Lichtenstein’s works are emblematic of everyday life in the U.S. in the 1960s: Chewing gum, the Vietnam War, stars and tears. Above all, female comic figures in tragic situations remained one of the artist’s favorite motifs. But Roy Lichtenstein also alienated works of art by Cézanne, Matisse and Picasso – also in his famous grid style. He also created numerous sculptures and, shortly before his death, worked intensively on Chinese landscapes (Landscapes in Chinese Style).

The Whitney Museum of American Art in New York is planning another major Roy Lichtenstein exhibition for the first time in 2026.