American Indian Theme
6 works
Roy Lichtenstein Composition I (C. 297) For Sale
Roy Lichtenstein
Composition I (C. 297), 1996
Screen print
39 x 29 in 99.1 x 73.7 cm
Edition
Edition of 50 plus 10 AP
About this work
Roy Lichtenstein’s Composition I (C. 297), created in 1996, demonstrates the artist’s lifelong fascination with visual rhythm, structure, and the translation of sound into image. Here, musical notation—staff lines, notes, and bars—unfurls across the surface in bold sweeps, weaving into a complex yet tightly ordered composition. The screen print exemplifies Lichtenstein’s ability to distill the dynamism of one medium (music) into the rigid mechanics of another (graphic art).The curling, intersecting staves mimic both movement and melody, their curves suggesting the flow of a symphonic score made visible. The bold black notes punctuate the field like beats, while splashes of primary color—blue, yellow, red—recall Lichtenstein’s signature Pop palette. This use of color, contained yet vibrant, creates a harmony that mirrors musical intervals, offering the viewer both a visual and conceptual score.As with his Brushstroke works of the 1960s, Lichtenstein engages in a meta-commentary on artistic creation. Just as the Brushstrokes transformed the expressive gesture of painting into a mechanical, Pop icon, Composition I mechanizes the ephemeral nature of music into a crisp, static graphic language. The ephemeral becomes permanent, the flowing becomes structured, and sound is transformed into sight.The print also resonates with modernist traditions of synesthesia, recalling artists such as Wassily Kandinsky who sought to render music as visual abstraction. However, where Kandinsky pursued the spiritual and transcendent, Lichtenstein embraces the commercial, the mechanical, and the flat—appropriating a universal language of notation and stripping it of its acoustic dimension. What remains is a bold, ironic meditation on art’s ability to represent what cannot be fixed: time, rhythm, and sound.Created near the end of his career, Composition I reflects Lichtenstein’s continued exploration of how art can deconstruct its own languages. It stands as both a celebration of music’s vitality and a witty reduction of its infinite fluidity into Pop Art’s characteristic grammar of lines, dots, and color blocks.For more information or to buy Composition I (C. 297) by Roy Lichtenstein, contact our galleries using the form below.
Price on Application
Auction History
Composition I · Roy Lichtenstein · Sotheby's · 2025-09 · $215,900
Composition II (Corlett 298; RLCR 4497) · Roy Lichtenstein · Sotheby's · 2025-10 · $69,850
Composition I · Roy Lichtenstein · Christie's · 2023-04 · $69,300
Composition I · Roy Lichtenstein · Christie's · 2024-04 · $69,300
Composition II · Roy Lichtenstein · Christie's · 2025-04 · $63,000
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About the Composition Series
Roy Lichtenstein Composition Prints For Sale
Roy Lichtenstein Composition prints for sale at Guy Hepner Gallery, New York. The Composition series (1996) is among the final print portfolios Lichtenstein completed before his death in 1997 — a suite of four prints depicting the composition notebook, applying his Pop graphic vocabulary to the ubiquitous American school notebook and its distinctive marbled cover pattern.
The Series
The composition notebook — the black and white marbled cover school notebook that was a fixture of American classroom life throughout the twentieth century — is one of the most recognisable objects of American consumer culture. In his Composition series, Lichtenstein subjects this familiar object to the same graphic treatment he had applied to Campbell's Soup cans over three decades earlier: the found commercial object rendered in flat colour, Ben-Day dot patterns, and bold black outlines.
The series is notable for its treatment of the marbled cover pattern — a complex, organic, pseudo-random graphic element that presents a formal challenge to Lichtenstein's system of mechanical reproduction. His resolution is characteristic: the marbling is simplified and regularised, its organic randomness converted into a controlled graphic pattern that remains recognisable as marbling while being systematically transformed by his Pop vocabulary.
Produced in 1996, the Composition prints are among his very last completed print works. They share with the Nudes series (1994–97) the quality of late-career statement: works produced in full awareness of the artist's complete output, extending that output into new territory in the final years of his life.
Collecting Composition Prints
Late-career significance. As one of his final print suites, the Composition works carry the weight of late-career statement. Collectors building comprehensive Lichtenstein holdings typically seek works from this period.
Formal innovation. The treatment of the marbled cover pattern represents one of the more formally inventive solutions in his print catalogue — a found graphic element that tested and ultimately confirmed the power of his Pop system.
Condition. Standard Lichtenstein screenprint condition considerations apply. Request a full condition report.
Signed impressions. Hand-signed examples carry premiums over unsigned impressions from the same edition.
Edition documentation. Corlett catalogue raisonné reference and publisher documentation are essential.
Authentication
Composition prints are authenticated via the Roy Lichtenstein Foundation catalogue raisonné (Corlett). Guy Hepner provides full provenance documentation for all works.
Acquire Composition Prints at Guy Hepner
Contact our New York team at 177 Tenth Avenue to discuss current availability, condition, and acquisition guidance for the Composition series.
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About Roy Lichtenstein
Roy Lichtenstein prints for sale and Roy Lichtenstein paintings for sale at Guy Hepner Gallery, New York. Our inventory spans lithographs, screenprints, and unique works from his most collected series: Brushstrokes, Reflections, Nudes, Interiors, Haystacks, Cathedral, Entablature, and American Indian Theme — all with full provenance and Corlett catalogue raisonné references. We also acquire Lichtenstein. Free valuations available.
Roy Lichtenstein (1923–1997) is the defining figure of American Pop Art and one of the most actively traded artists on the post-war and contemporary market. His bold graphic language — Ben-Day dots, black outlines, primary palettes drawn from comic books and advertising — is among the most instantly recognisable in twentieth-century art. Born in New York City, he was exhibited by Leo Castelli Gallery from 1962 and worked until his death in September 1997, producing one of the most extensively documented print catalogues of any artist of his generation.
Roy Lichtenstein Art For Sale
Roy Lichtenstein art for sale spans signed prints, paintings, and unique works across his full catalogue. His most collected categories: signed and numbered screenprints and lithographs from the major series, unique works on paper, and large-format canvas paintings. The auction benchmark was set when Masterpiece (1962) sold for $165 million in a private transaction in 2017, and Nurse (1964) achieved $95.4 million at Christie's New York in 2015. Major print series regularly achieve $100,000–$2 million at Sotheby's, Christie's, and Phillips.
Roy Lichtenstein Prints For Sale
The most liquid and accessible segment of his market. Working with Gemini G.E.L., Petersburg Press, and Castelli Graphics, Lichtenstein produced lithographs, screenprints, woodcuts, and relief prints across three decades. Key series at Guy Hepner:
- Brushstrokes (1965–66) — Pop satire of Abstract Expressionist gesture; his most conceptually celebrated series
- Haystacks (1969) — Monet homage in Ben-Day dots and primary colour; his most decorative print subject
- Cathedral — Rouen Cathedral reworked through his commercial-art graphic vocabulary
- American Indian Theme (1980) — a major suite exploring Indigenous American motifs
- Reflections (1988–94) — canvases-within-canvases; his most technically intricate prints; strongest late-career market
- Nudes (1994–97) — figurative final series synthesising his full graphic vocabulary
- Interiors (1990s) — consumer culture imagery from furniture and décor catalogues; a distinctly American subject
- Peace Through Chemistry — Science and Technology series; bold, graphic, institutionally held
Signed impressions command significant premiums over unsigned editions. Corlett catalogue raisonné reference and publisher's certificate documentation are essential for any acquisition.
Roy Lichtenstein Original Art For Sale
Roy Lichtenstein original art for sale — unique paintings on canvas — represents the rarest category of his output. Major early canvases are primarily in institutional collections; secondary market appearances are concentrated at evening sales at Christie's, Sotheby's, and Phillips. Works on paper and preparatory drawings offer compelling opportunities for collectors seeking unique works with strong Lichtenstein provenance at more accessible price points.
Roy Lichtenstein Prints — Price Guide
- Unsigned secondary series editions: $5,000–$25,000
- Signed lithographs, Haystacks / Cathedral / American Indian Theme: $30,000–$150,000
- Signed screenprints, Brushstrokes / Reflections / Nudes: $40,000–$500,000
- Early 1960s single-sheet works and rare artist's proofs: $100,000+
Sell Roy Lichtenstein Prints — Free Valuation
Guy Hepner actively acquires Roy Lichtenstein prints, paintings, and works on paper from private collections. If you are looking to sell Roy Lichtenstein prints or seeking a current market valuation, contact our New York gallery for a confidential, no-obligation assessment. We handle all series including Brushstrokes, Reflections, Nudes, Haystacks, Cathedral, American Indian Theme, and Interiors.
Interested in adding Roy Lichtenstein to your collection? Contact Guy Hepner Gallery at 177 Tenth Avenue, New York to discuss current inventory and acquisition strategy.