Dallas Museum of Art, Nasher Sculpture Center Gifted More Than 50 Roy Lichtenstein Works

Works by Roy Lichtenstein, a defining American pop artist, have found a new home in North Texas. The Dallas Museum of Art and the Nasher Sculpture Center announced the joint acquisition of more than 50 of Lichtenstein’s works on Oct. 27, the 100th anniversary of the artist's birth.

The collection was gifted by the Roy Lichtenstein Foundation, which held more than four years of collaborative discussions with the two museums that resulted in the selection of the objects. The collection, the largest joint gift made by the Lichtenstein Foundation, includes 16 sculptures, 15 drawings, 14 maquettes, three sets of test objects and studio tools, two tracings, two collages and one prototype.

“We are thrilled to be one of the few institutions worldwide to be identified and selected by the Lichtenstein foundation to take on a gift of works of art, but also to take on some responsibility for the legacy of the artist,” says Jed Morse, the Nasher Center's chief curator. “The magnitude of the gift really does make this a center for the study of Liechtenstein.”

Lichtenstein was a leading figure in the pop art movement of the 20th century, most prominently recognized for his critiques of American commercial culture in the 1960s. Lichtenstein’s signature style is founded on his use of Ben-Day dots in his painting practice, which is reminiscent of classic comic book printing styles. Some of his most recognizable works include 1963 paintings "Whaam!" and "Drowning Girl."

“All of his art, whether it is painting, printmaking or sculpture, is really about how we perceive objects and images,” Morse says. “He was, I think, not only one of the iconic purveyors of pop art, but really an artist who got us to think very carefully about what we see, what it means within our culture and how we see it and what that means to us as human beings.”

Both the DMA and the Nasher, whose directors have had longstanding relationships with the Lichtenstein Foundation, were approached by the foundation with the idea of making a joint gift to establish a collective study and display of the artist’s production and process. The museums’ curatorial staffs and the Lichtenstein Foundation then went about the selection process collaboratively, resulting in the variety of objects now co-owned by the two museums.

Collectively, the objects show an expansive set of works documenting Lichtenstein’s longform creative process, from starting hand-sketched drawings to the final form of large-scale 3D sculptures. Other aspects of the collection display varying themes and mediums, in two and three dimensions, that the artist explored throughout his career . Highlighted materials include glass and mirrors, ceramics and the painted cherrywood works of the Brushstroke sculpture series.

“The process that he [Lichtenstein] took to break something down into its visual components and then conceive of how they would work within a three-dimensional form is something that people in Dallas will particularly get some insight into,” Morse says. “In addition to that, because of the breadth of the subjects covered in this gift, they'll also have a much deeper sense of, you know, the depth of kinds of subjects that interested Lichtenstein throughout his career [...] which is one of the great strengths of the collection.”

The DMA has previously co-owned pieces of art with other museums, but this type of shared undertaking is new to the Nasher. The 50-item Lichtenstein collection is stored locally and jointly cared for by both museums.

The co-ownership is a fairly simple one — if one institution wants to show particular works, it will notify the other institution and ensure those works are available. Morse says collaborating with an Arts District neighbor makes these shared responsibilities even easier, as the DMA and the Nasher are across the street from each other.

The Lichtenstein collection is about more than simple convenience for the two Dallas museums. Morse says Dallasites’ access to Lichtenstein’s works presents a new opportunity to enlighten North Texans on the expanse of the artist’s skills, particularly in sculpture practice, and his lasting legacy within the art world.

“​​The Nasher Sculpture Center has worked very closely with our colleagues at the Dallas Museum of Art [...] to make a selection that made sense not only for both institutions, but for the impact that it would have on Lichtenstein studies,” Morse says. “It's an incredible gift to have that here in the city of Dallas. ... It’s an enormous privilege and honor, and we take that responsibility very, very seriously.”