Study for "Razzmatazz"
1978
Image not available — this artwork is under copyright
View on museum website →Medium
graphite and colored pencil on tracing paper
Dimensions
sheet: 48.3 x 61.3 cm (19 x 24 1/8 in.)
Classification
Drawing
Department
CG-W
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Gift of Dorothy Lichtenstein and David and Mitchell Lichtenstein in memory of Jane B. Meyerhoff
Accession Number
2005.22.7
Art Historical Context
Roy Lichtenstein's *Study for "Razzzz"* (1978) offers a fascinating glimpse into the preparatory process of one of Pop Art's most iconic figures. By the late 1970s, Lichtenstein had evolved beyond his signature comic-book imagery of the 1960s, exploring abstracted forms, brushstrokes, and vibrant patterns inspired by modern art history and consumer culture. This drawing, created as a study for the larger painting *Razzmatazz*, his meticulous planning for bold compositions that playfully riff on artistic conventions, blending humor with high art. Executed in graphite and colored pencil on trac...
About the Artist
Roy Lichtenstein
Roy Lichtenstein was born on October 27, 1923, in New York City to Milton Lichtenstein, a real estate broker, and Beatrice Werner Lichtenstein, a homemaker with musical training, in an upper-middle-class German-Jewish family. Growing up on the Upper West Side, he displayed early artistic talent, sketching jazz musicians and visiting museums like the Museum of Modern Art. In 1939, he studied painti...