Roy Lichtenstein Quotes: One of the most influential American pop artists of the 20th century, Roy Lichtenstein was known for his witty and often irreverent compositions. Here are some of his most memorable quotes.
Roy Lichtenstein Quotes
“Artists aren’t the only ones entitled to freedom of expression. I don’t call on anyone else to limit theirs.” — Roy Lichtenstein
“My paintings don’t tell stories. They represent situations, titles, or words. I’m not interested in narrative.” — Roy Lichtenstein
“I am not a social realist, but I am interested in social reality.” — Roy Lichtenstein
“Painting is not a matter of pure painting. It always involves content and ideas.” — Roy Lichtenstein
“My paintings are like movies. There’s as much story and drama in them as there is on the screen.” — Roy Lichtenstein
“Artists can’t change the world. We cannot change anything. We can only interpret, and that’s what I think art really is.” — Roy Lichtenstein
“I want my paintings to be beautiful. That’s the first thing I try to say; that something is beautiful, in both senses of the word.” — Roy Lichtenstein
“If a picture is worth a thousand words, there are a lot of things that I can’t explain with a painting.” — Roy Lichtenstein
“I didn’t want to paint the typical advertisement approach of girls in evening gowns with martinis in their hands, but instead try to paint based on the advertisement pictures.” — Roy Lichtenstein
“I’m not saying that everything should be reproduced. I’m only saying that everything should be available for reproduction if someone wants to reproduce it and if it’s worthwhile. It’s a given that it’s a given.” — Roy Lichtenstein
“I don’t experiment with different kinds of negative space. I do experiments with different kinds of positive space, or with the non-space around objects.” — Roy Lichtenstein
“I’m interested in the formalities of perspective in painting.” — Roy Lichtenstein
“I use colour as an element. The form and shape is what I use to create the composition and composition is my most important tool. ” — Roy Lichtenstein
“I see my paintings as being like little cartoons but with a great deal of humour.” — Roy Lichtenstein
“I don’t think you can make social or political statements in your art. But I do think you can comment on the use of colour, and that’s what I’m doing.” — Roy Lichtenstein
“The way to deal with the subject is to work on it until your own meaning comes through. If you’re working from imagination, that’s one thing. If you’re working from observation or memory, it’s another.” — Roy Lichtenstein
“I don’t like to play with a painting. I want to finish when I start.” — Roy Lichtenstein
“Mostly, my work is figurative. I try to take existing structures and put a new spin on them.” — Roy Lichtenstein
“I don’t think of my paintings as being illustrations. I’d prefer to think of them as being independent, self-contained things that have their own life and identity.” — Roy Lichtenstein
“What artists are doing is perhaps more important than what they’re saying.” — Roy Lichtenstein
“When I use a word, it means just what I choose it to mean—neither more nor less. ” — Roy Lichtenstein
“Most of my paintings are landscape paintings, especially the large ones. My interest is in the daily life of people.” — Roy Lichtenstein
“I’m not interested in art as an expressive element. I don’t want to make an emotional statement.” — Roy Lichtenstein
“The only part of a painting that might be called ‘expressive’ is the word or title. Otherwise, all you’re doing is applying paint.” — Roy Lichtenstein
“I think abstraction is the easiest way to deal with reality.” — Roy Lichtenstein
“What I want to do is make something that looks like it could be a picture of something.” — Roy Lichtenstein
“My drawings are made by drawing a circle instead of a line. And my paintings are made by painting within the circle.” — Roy Lichtenstein
“I paint what interests me at the time. That’s why I find it hard to explain it.” — Roy Lichtenstein
“I’m not an abstract painter in any sense of the word. I don’t make a background, a negative space, or the illusion of space. ” — Roy Lichtenstein
“The problem with making a painting that looks like a cartoon is that people already know what it’s about, and there’s no more for them to think about. It’s already been digested.” — Roy Lichtenstein
“I’ve never made a painting that wasn’t of people.” — Roy Lichtenstein
“I’m interested in the ability to ‘see’ something as an artist and work from there. That’s where I get my ideas from – from what I see every day.” — Roy Lichtenstein
“In most of my paintings, there is not much colour, but most scenes look more like cartoons than real scenes. ” — Roy Lichtenstein
“My paintings are not illustrations. They’re not intellectual objects. They’re an interpretation of something in a way that’s been shown to me by something.” — Roy Lichtenstein
“I try to make clear statements or statements about things, some of which I hope will be taken as statements and some others which are just my own opinions.” — Roy Lichtenstein
“I think that only the artist can give meaning. The audience has to supply whatever meaning they want to give it. If they want to think of it as a baseball game, it’s a baseball game. If they want to think of it as a country scene, or whatever, it’s such and such.” — Roy Lichtenstein
“I would never insult my audience by making statements about art. I wouldn’t tie myself down to any one idea because I think that ideas can be misinterpreted.” — Roy Lichtenstein
“My paintings are more like cartoons than like anything else.” — Roy Lichtenstein
“I don’t make illustrations. I make pictures. I’m not particularly eager to use an illustration as a source of inspiration. I have to have my own ideas to work from.” — Roy Lichtenstein
Roy Lichtenstein Famous Quotes
“I’m not a political artist, in any sense of the word.” — Roy Lichtenstein
“My style is much more left-wing than anything else.” — Roy Lichtenstein
“I think that artists should be treated much like any other professionals.” — Roy Lichtenstein
“I try as far as possible to avoid interpretation. I like the fact that some people get meanings out of my work that I never thought of.” — Roy Lichtenstein
“Abstract art can be intellectualizing and only an intellectual game. I’m not interested in a game. I’m interested in making good pictures.” — Roy Lichtenstein
“Painting is a straightforward process. You just put the colour on. When we’re young, we paint because we don’t know any better. As we get older, we paint because we know better.” — Roy Lichtenstein
“I’m much more interested in the form and in seeing things as a simple form. I think that my work is simple rather than complicated.” — Roy Lichtenstein
“I work within a fairly limited area. The subject matter I use here is more like a subject matter in children’s art books, or something like that.” — Roy Lichtenstein
“I don’t consciously make light and dark, never have done. I make light and dark, but I don’t think of them that way. I just put the light here and the dark there, and that’s all there is to it.” — Roy Lichtenstein
“The only way you can get close to an idea is to make a picture which looks like it could be a picture of what you’re trying to do.” — Roy Lichtenstein
“One man’s art is another man’s trash.” — Roy Lichtenstein
“I’m a literal artist. I think of figures and I paint them. ” — Roy Lichtenstein
“I don’t know anything about art. I just make pictures.” — Roy Lichtenstein
“When I work on a painting, the whole thing goes out of my head, the idea of what it is and what it means. When I work on a drawing, the idea is there but not very much in my mind. ” — Roy Lichtenstein
“A lot of what I do is daydreaming. I hold a picture in my mind and the dots get put down one by one.” — Roy Lichtenstein
“I’m not interested in art as an expressive element. I don’t want to make an emotional statement. ” — Roy Lichtenstein
“In most of my paintings, there are not many colours, but most scenes look more like cartoons than real scenes. ” — Roy Lichtenstein
“My only interest is in shapes and colours that are pleasing to me. I think about them subconsciously and then I go ahead and do them. ” — Roy Lichtenstein
“I work almost entirely unconsciously; there’s no influence of any kind.” — Roy Lichtenstein
“There’s only one kind of art that interests me – visual art. ” — Roy Lichtenstein
“I feel very strongly about using colour. I’m not interested in anything else.” — Roy Lichtenstein
“I never try to make an artistic statement with my paintings and drawings. ” — Roy Lichtenstein
“I stick to my regular technique every time. I keep my brushes the same way. I would rather work fast than work slowly.” — Roy Lichtenstein
“I’m trying to use colours which are interesting simply because of their colours.” — Roy Lichtenstein
“My only interest is in shapes and colours that are pleasing to me. I think about them subconsciously and then I go ahead and do them.” — Roy Lichtenstein
“I don’t want to make an emotional statement with pictures, but I want to give a feeling.” — Roy Lichtenstein
“The only way you can get close to an idea is to make a picture which looks like it could be a picture of what you’re trying to do. ” — Roy Lichtenstein
“I like that some people get meanings out of my work that I never thought of. But I’m always doing them, so they must have some meaning for me.” — Roy Lichtenstein
“I don’t consciously make light and dark. Never have done. I make light and dark, but I don’t think of them that way. I just put the light here and the dark there, and that’s all there is to it. ” — Roy Lichtenstein
“Abstract art could be an intellectualizing game, which I’m not interested in. I’m interested in making good pictures.” — Roy Lichtenstein
“I sometimes start a drawing and don’t finish it. That’s the best way to go about it if you’re going to stop.” — Roy Lichtenstein
“You can only get close to an idea by making one that looks like it could be of what you’re trying to do. ” — Roy Lichtenstein
“I’ve never been comfortable with being abstract. I’m a figurative painter.” — Roy Lichtenstein
“I’m trying to use colours which are interesting simply because of their colour.” — Roy Lichtenstein
“Most of my paintings and drawings have no titles at all. ” — Roy Lichtenstein
“I make about the same number of pictures, but it takes me about five years to finish one. ” — Roy Lichtenstein
“Abstract painting could be an intellectualizing game, which I’m not interested in. I’m interested in making good pictures. ” — Roy Lichtenstein
“I don’t know anything about art; I just make pictures.” — Roy Lichtenstein
“I’m primarily concerned with the painting itself — its surface, area, and colour.” — Roy Lichtenstein
“I was interested in doing something that had to do with the literalness of cartoons.” — Roy Lichtenstein
“I started to make some paintings of comic strips because comics have strong areas or flat areas and big areas of one colour, which are very much like a painting.” — Roy Lichtenstein
Roy Lichtenstein Pop Art Quotes
“I think I never said that making a good comic is hard. I think I said making a good painting is hard.” — Roy Lichtenstein
“I think of myself as a painter that uses funny pictures.” — Roy Lichtenstein
“I want to make the kind of art that has to be looked at really close to really see it. And you don’t have to explain it. You can’t dictate how people will look at a painting. That’s the crazy part of it.” — Roy Lichtenstein
“I work with a team of models. In this case, I call them my girls. They are seven young women who all look alike, but they all have different personalities. They all wear their hair differently.” — Roy Lichtenstein
“I’m sad about what’s happened to painting and museums.” — Roy Lichtenstein
“I’ve been fascinated with mechanical things since I was a kid. I used to take things apart and put them back together. I like to see how things work.” — Roy Lichtenstein
“I’ve concluded that I’m an artist. And my mission is to make a picture as perfect as I can make it.” — Roy Lichtenstein
“When I look at comic strips, it’s like looking at the world in comic strip terms. It’s a highly stylized world with no perspective. You look at it and you know where it is.” — Roy Lichtenstein
“When I started out, I wanted to make cartoon drawings that were realistic and believable.” — Roy Lichtenstein
“When I started, a lot of the paintings were flat. But that wasn’t because I was trying to make them flat, but rather because the subject matter was so flat. Now it’s really like a painting — but with real space. With perspective.” — Roy Lichtenstein
“You know, it’s an extraordinary thing to say, but I feel that I make things that express what it’s like to be alive. But the things themselves don’t have to exist. They only have to make the experience better or worse in some way.” — Roy Lichtenstein
“You have to strip everything down to its most basic elements — line, shape and colour.” — Roy Lichtenstein
“You have to really know your limitations when you start. And then play with them and enjoy them. — Roy Lichtenstein
“You know, in the same way, that a comic strip is a narrative, my paintings are a narrative. — Roy Lichtenstein
“I’m not highly educated like a lot of artists have been, but I’m very well-read.” — Roy Lichtenstein
“Besides making paintings and prints, which I hope people like and find interesting, I also want to make things that make people overreact. I want them to bring their kids up and show them things, and I hope that these kids will be interested.” — Roy Lichtenstein
“It’s hard to say what my paintings mean, but they don’t have to mean anything. That’s what modern art is all about – that the paintings don’t have to be concerned with meaning.” — Roy Lichtenstein
“I’ve worked in abstract and semi-abstract painting forms. And I’d say that at this point, I’m working in a more realistic style, using things from the world of advertising.” — Roy Lichtenstein
“Pop Art employs the imagery of an everyday environment – objects, signs, and symbols – which were familiar to popular culture, but it used these elements in new ways. The work was often witty, at times ironic, and always provocative.” — Roy Lichtenstein
“Pop Art takes the imagery of everyday life, mashes it up and spews it out on a wide scale in large painting formats.” — Roy Lichtenstein
“Through my research, I’ve found that many people like decorative objects. They collect them and hang them in their houses and offices. I didn’t want to make decorative things. I wanted to let the subject matter speak for itself.” — Roy Lichtenstein
“The paintings are all based on things in advertising. And I’ve also taken a lot of things from comic strips and cartoons.” — Roy Lichtenstein
“I’ve always liked mechanical things. I was fascinated with them as a kid. I used to take things apart and put them back together.” — Roy Lichtenstein
“There’s a lot of humour in my work, but it’s not funny like comic strips and cartoons. My work is funny in a different way.” — Roy Lichtenstein
“My work is based on mechanical things and other things that people see for everyday purposes like comics and cartoons.” — Roy Lichtenstein
“We were all trying to be real painters and all had very different experiences regarding being accepted by the public. Whether it was Jasper, Rufino or me, we all had a hard time. But we were all accepted by the galleries.” — Roy Lichtenstein
“Well, you know, I don’t know what art is. Art, to me, is something like a comic strip. It’s a narrative form that’s done in two dimensions on a flat surface.” — Roy Lichtenstein
“I’ve worked in abstract and semi-abstract painting forms. And I’d say that I’m working in a more realistic style, using things from the world of advertising. — Roy Lichtenstein
“I like advertising, but I can’t stand the commercial-ness of it. It’s not my idea of art.” — Roy Lichtenstein
“It’s hard to say what my paintings mean, but they don’t have to mean anything. That’s what modern art is all about – that the paintings don’t have to be concerned with meaning. — Roy Lichtenstein
“I’m not interested in fine art. I love pop culture. — Roy Lichtenstein”
“There are a lot of people who think my work is funny, but that’s because they know the originals I’m taking from.” — Roy Lichtenstein
“I’m not interested in fine art. I love pop culture.” — Roy Lichtenstein