Bull IV

"Bull IV," created in 1973, is a sophisticated color lithograph, screenprint, and line-cut executed on Arjomari wove paper by Roy Lichtenstein in collaboration with master printers Ron Olds, Ron McPherson, and Bruce Porter at the renowned workshop Gemini G.E.L. This complex medium classification places the work firmly within the dynamic American printmaking boom of the period spanning 1951 to 1975. The piece is part of a celebrated series where Lichtenstein explored the abstraction and reinterpretation of classical artistic subjects through the lens of mechanized visual language.

The collaboration with Gemini G.E.L. was essential to achieving the work's characteristic flatness and high contrast. Lichtenstein, a key figure in Pop Art, utilized the combined techniques of lithography, screenprinting, and line-cut to achieve distinct layers of color and texture, often mimicking the Ben-Day dots and thick black outlines of comic books. However, in the Bull series, the artist applies this aesthetic precision not to mass culture imagery, but to canonical art history, specifically referencing Pablo Picasso’s celebrated series of lithographs depicting the bull motif. This process of visual deconstruction transforms the traditional symbol of masculine power into a graphic, stylized form.

As an outstanding example of late Pop Art prints, this work demonstrates Lichtenstein’s commitment to exploring how form and meaning shift when subjected to commercial reproduction techniques. The print resides in the permanent collection of the National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C., and represents a key moment in the history of modern American art. As a historic graphic work now often considered within the public domain scope, high-quality prints of this important work remain highly influential for contemporary graphic artists and designers globally.