Expressionist Woodcut Series (C. 172-8)

In 1978, Lichtenstein visited the famed Rifkind Collection of German Expressionist prints at UCLA and met with the collector, Robert Gore Rifkind. Partially in response to that experience, Lichtenstein's work over the next few years took inspiration from Heckel, Kirchner, Schmidt-Rottluff, and other giants of the period. For this series he chose to work with the woodcut technique -- a favored medium for the Expressionists. While the resulting images evoke several iconic prints and borrow compositional elements from the movement, there are no exact references and Lichtenstein maintains his signature style. However, this series represents a departure for the artist in both palette and approach -- in order to emulate the feel of Expressionism, Lichtenstein abandoned the primary colors and dots he had used frequently in previous graphics.