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Acrylic, oil, graphite pencil on canvas mounted to wall
816 x 384 in. (2072.6 x 975.4 cm)
Signed and dated lower right: rf Lichtenstein / '86

Catalogue entry

Artwork: Mural with Blue Brushstroke, 1986 (RLCR 3573) Photo: Joshua McHugh
RLCR 3573 (LC 1011; RL 1021)
Mural with Blue Brushstroke
1986
Title Source
Castelli; RL Studio Card; RL Studio Photograph
Media
Acrylic, oil, graphite pencil on canvas mounted to wall
Dimensions
816 x 384 in. (2072.6 x 975.4 cm)
Inscriptions
Signed and dated lower right: rf Lichtenstein / '86
Remarks

In 1985, The Equitable Life Assurance Society of the United States announced the expansion of their existing office building in midtown Manhattan with a new 54-story tower to be designed by Edward Larrabee Barnes Associates, built by Turner Construction Company and owned by Tishman Speyer Properties. The combined buildings and outdoor plaza would become the Equitable Center, a hub for contemporary art. The older building would show artworks from the Paine Webber collection, while the new lobby gallery would serve as a branch for the Whitney Museum of American Art. The Equitable Center would include commissioned public art, selected in consultation with the museum. Lichtenstein was one of three artists selected, along with Sol LeWitt and Scott Burton.

Discussions about commissioning a mural by Lichtenstein began in the summer of 1984 between Leo Castelli and Equitable. The suggested location was the six-story sunlit atrium lobby of the Equitable Tower. After agreeing to submit a proposal, Lichtenstein met with Barnes at the construction site to discuss the dimensions of his mural. The artist initially considered altering the wall's limestone, but eventually it was decided to paint the mural on canvas affixed to the wall. The artist spent the summer drafting several studies, before submitting the collage with the final design, RLCR 3313, to Equitable for approval in December 1984 (RLF Archives). It took several months of review before the design was accepted and the agreement signed in May 1985.

Installation of the mural began on November 26, 1985. Lichtenstein worked on the painting for six weeks, with the assistance of James dePasqule, Rob McKeever, David Lichtenstein, Arch O'Leary and Fernando Pomalaza. The mural was completed in January 1986 and remains installed today.

Keyword
Commission
Photo: Joshua McHugh
Related Works
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Provenance
The Equitable Life Assurance Society, New York City
AXA Equitable, 1991
CommonWealth Partners, January 2016
Literature
Brewster 1986
Brewster, Todd. "Pop Primer: Roy Lichtenstein's Monumental Mural Explains the Modern Movement." Life 9, no. 6 (June 1986), p. 75 color ill. (with artist, in situ).
Kimball 1986
Kimball, Roger. "Art and Architecture at the Equitable Center." New Criterion (New York) 5, no. 3 (November 1986), pp. 30–31 not ill.
Stephens 1986
Stephens, Suzanne. "An Equitable Relationship?" Art in America 74, no. 5 (May 1986), p. 116 color ill. (in situ), p. 118 color ill. (in situ).
Viladas 1986
Viladas, Pilar. "Equitable: Art for All." Progressive Architecture 67, no. 5 (May 1986), p. 26 color ill. (in situ).
Adelman and Tomkins 1987
Adelman, Bob, and Calvin Tomkins. The Art of Roy Lichtenstein: Mural with Blue Brushstroke. New York: Arcade Publishing, 1987, p. 6 color ill. (in progress), p. 127 color ill. (with artist), front cover color ill. (with artist), back cover color ill. (with artist).
Illés 1987
Illés, Vera. "Schilderen of het gedrukt staat." Elsevier (Amsterdam) 43, no. 29 (July 18, 1987), p. 15 color ill. (in situ).
Rose, Bernice 1987
Rose, Bernice. The Drawings of Roy Lichtenstein. New York: Museum of Modern Art, 1987. Exhibition catalogue (1987 New York MoMA), pp. 52–53 not ill. [not exhibited].
Windmöller 1987
Windmöller, Eva. "Die Gala-Show des Comic-Kunstlers: Lichtenstein's Puzzle-Bild entschlusselt: Von der Antike bis zur Moderne reichen die Motive seiner Wand-Collage." Stern (Hamburg), no. 4 (January 1987), pp. 42–43 color ill. (double spread; in situ), pp. 44–45 color ill.
Hendrickson 1988
Hendrickson, Janis. Roy Lichtenstein. Cologne: Benedikt Taschen, 1988, n.p. facing p. 90 color ill. (in situ, with artist).
Krasnow 1988
Krasnow, Iris (Photographs by Grace Sutton). "The Patriarch of Pop: Roy Lichtenstein." Museum and Arts 4, no. 5 (September–October 1988), p. 61 color ill. (in situ, with artist).
Shinoda 1988
Shinoda, Tazmi. "Roy Lichtenstein: On 'Mural with Blue Brushstroke'/ Lichtenstein's Mural: A Purgatory of ‘Merry-Go-Round.'" Mizue (Tokyo), no. 947 (Summer 1988), n.p. color ill. (in situ, with artist), n.p. color ill. (details, with artist).
Taylor, P. 1989c
Taylor, Paul. "Roy Lichtenstein." Flash Art, no. 148 (October 1989), p. 88 color ill. (in situ).
Geldzahler 1992
Geldzahler, Henry. "Mural with Blue Brushstroke." Graphis 48, no. 279 (May–June 1992), p. 107 color ill. (detail), p. 109 color ill.
Waldman 1993b
Waldman, Diane. Roy Lichtenstein. New York: Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, 1993. Exhibition catalogue (1993 New York Guggenheim), no. 278 n.p. facing p. 351 color ill. (dated 1986), [not exhibited].
Bode 1994
Bode, Peter M. "Roy Lichtenstein: Am Anfang war der Comic Strip." Art: Das Kunstmagazin (Hamburg), no. 10 (October 1994), p. 29 color ill.
Waldman 1994
Waldman, Diane. Roy Lichtenstein. Translated from the English by Bram Opstelten and Magda Moses. New York: Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation, 1994. Exhibition catalogue (1993 New York Guggenheim), no. 278 n.p. facing p. 351 color ill. (dated 1986), [not exhibited].
Hendricks, N. 2000
Hendricks, Norine S. "Pop Goes the Artist: Roy Lichtenstein." Timeline (Columbus: Ohio Historical Society) 17, no. 5 (September–October 2000), p. 33 color ill. (in situ).
Serafini 2000
Serafini, Giuliano. Art e Dossier. Special issue, Lichtenstein (Milan), no. 152 (January 2000), p. 47 color ill.
Clearwater 2001
Clearwater, Bonnie. Roy Lichtenstein: Inside/Outside. North Miami: Museum of Contemporary Art, 2001. Exhibition catalogue (2001 North Miami MOCA), fig. 12 p. 33 color ill. [not exhibited].
Doris 2007
Doris, Sara Kathleen. Pop Art and the Contest over American Culture. Cambridge, United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press, 2007, no. 46 p. 231 b/w ill. (in situ).
Faton-Boyancé 2013
Faton-Boyancé, Jeanne, ed. L'objet d'art. Special issue, Roy Lichtenstein exposition au Centre Pompidou, no. 69 (July 2013), p. 45 color ill.
Gagosian, New York, and Roy Lichtenstein Foundation 2015
Gagosian Gallery, New York, and Roy Lichtenstein Foundation. Roy Lichtenstein: Greene Street Mural. New York: Gagosian Gallery, 2015. Exhibition catalogue (2015 New York Gagosian), fig. 33 n.p. facing p. 57 color ill. (in progress), fig. 34 n.p. facing p. 157 color ill. (in progress), fig. 35 p. 157 color ill. [not exhibited].

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