Lichtenstein  – A Retrospective

There is something wonderful and fabulously reassuring about heading out to a take in a little art and being greeted by a seething mass of under 8s.

Yes kind reader, I have mellowed in my latter years and find this soft change not as uncomfortable as I’d presumed it would be.

Rather, I find these days, children lying on floors in galleries, armed with sketchbooks and colouring pencils at the ready, exactly the kind of behaviour which should be encouraged. Even if these same small darlings find it necessary to pencil roll the whole ramp of the ground floor of the museum between taking in the talents of the modern day master and eating their organic rice cakes (and leaving crumbs).

To my feedback then and what was hanging on the walls of Level 2, at the Tate Modern, Sunday 17 March.

Lots and lots of glorious Roy Lichtenstein.

A chap I knew next to nothing about however wished to explore.

Let’s look at Room 3 of the exhibition to start with what pleased me the most:

• Alka Seltzer (1966)
  an impressive black and white with a mermaid like pound coin fizzying in the centre.
• And head to Magnifying Glass (1963, I think)
  to be grabbed by Mr Lichtenstein’s ability to illustrate the difference between magnified and not magnified

Either head now to Room 4 or 5 – I chose 5 purely by accident though happily didn’t suffer for my silliness.

There are two Seascape paintings in this room, both interestingly painted in 1965, which are worth a little standing in front of and enjoying. The first (the smaller of the two) on your left as you enter, is a wacky pearly blue and incredibly unique when compared to his other works in terms of texture and appearance. Then, cast your eyes to the right (if you are facing the first) and you’ll find the other Seascape , grab the closest child’s ipod or iphone, switch to lego photo app and upload an image…see…very similar.

Now return to Room 4 – War and Romance.
This is the room that will bring joy to any pop art admirer or male child.

My personal favourites:

• Masterpiece – 1962
  (and I had to buy the postcard)
• Takka Takka – 1962
  for this lifted the amusement factor further with ‘The exhausted soldiers…always hungry for decent chow, suffering from the tropical fungus infections, kept fighting.’
• And M-Maybe – 1965
  ‘M-Maybe he became ill and couldn’t leave the Studio’, for it’s reassuring that other women have cut ungrateful, user types too much slack like I have in the long decent past.

Now find yourself Room 7 – Art about Art.
It’s like the Lichenstein App, featuring some pretty persuasive reasons why Roy was (and is) such a legend.

Look out for:

• Cubist Still Life – 1974
• Frolic – 1977
• Washington Crossing the Delaware 1 – 1951
  this one made me chuckle in a most unladylike fashion

Then, I found myself wishing it was the Summer Exhibition where I could position a little red sticker against the glass cabinet that protected Reclining Nude in Brushstroke Landscape (study) – 1986

This was a really good room.

But wait there’s more. Yes, it’s Room 8 Artist’s Studio where you can play, spot the lemon and a special call out to:

• Still Life of Goldfish – 1972

I could go on, though that might spoil your experience…it’s on until 27 May 2013.