Label Text
Exhibition History"Painting in New York 1944 to 1969," Pasadena Art Museum, Nov. 22, 1969 - Jan. 1970
Group Exhibition (Roy Lichtenstein, Richard Serra, Frank Stella, Andy Warhol), Leo Castelli Gallery (4 East 77th Street), New York, September 20–October 11, 1969
Published ReferencesTHE NATHAN EMORY COFFIN COLLECTION, a portfolio of fifty selections from the collection, published by the Des Moines Art Center to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the death of Nathan Emory Coffin, 1981, b/w ill.
"A Visual Spectrum of the Arts," SEE MAGAZINE, Nov./Dec. 1977, color ill. p.6
John Coplans, "Pasadena's Collapse and the Simon Takeover - Diary of a Disaster," ARTFORUM, Vol XIII, no.6, 1975, pp.28-45, ill. p.38
John Coplans, ed., ROY LICHTENSTEIN, Praeger, New York, 1972, pl.64, p.127
Diane Waldman, ROY LICHTENSTEIN, Harry N. Abrams, New York, 1971, color ill. no.176
"Recent Accessions of American and Canadian Museums," THE ART QUARTERLY, Autumn 1970, ill. p.337
Lawrence Alloway, ROY LICHTENSTEIN, Abbeville Press, New York, 1983, color pl. no.46, p.48
DES MOINES REGISTER, Feb. 1, 1970, ill.
AN UNCOMMON VISION: THE DES MOINES ART CENTER, Des Moines Art Center, 1998, ref. & b/w detail p.172, color ill. p.173
DMAC Bulletin, Mar. 1970, cover ill.
ARTFORUM, article by Jean Louis Bourgeois, Nov. 1969, ill. pl.76, p.77
"Painting In New York 1944 to 1969," Pasadena Art Museum, 1969, exh. cat. ill. pl.18, p.41
Diane Waldman, "The Great Pyramid," from ROY LICHTENSTEIN, Guggenheim catalog, 1969, ill.
DES MOINES ART CENTER: SELECTED PAINTINGS, SCULPTURES AND WORKS ON PAPER, Des Moines Art Center, 1985, ref. pp.140 & 141, b/w ill. pl.81, p.141
Along with Claes Oldenburg and Andy Warhol, Lichtenstein is among the most important and best known of the international Pop artists. Employng both subject matter and the technique of the comic strip, Lichtenstein's paintings and sculptures have attained an individuality. Discussing Pop Art with G. R. Swenson, the artist has described it as "an involvement with what I think to be the most brazen and threatening characteristics of our culture, things we hate, but which are also powerful in their impingement on us. I think art since Cezanne has become extremely romantic and unrealistic, feeding on art; it is utopian. It has had less and less to do with the world, it looks inward--new-Zen and all that. This is not so much a criticism as an obvious observation. Outside is the world; it's there. Pop Art looks out into the world; it appears to accept its environment, which is not good or bad, but different--another state of mind."
Source: Bulletin, March 1970.
Exhibition History"Painting in New York 1944 to 1969," Pasadena Art Museum, Nov. 22, 1969 - Jan. 1970
Group Exhibition (Roy Lichtenstein, Richard Serra, Frank Stella, Andy Warhol), Leo Castelli Gallery (4 East 77th Street), New York, September 20–October 11, 1969
Published ReferencesTHE NATHAN EMORY COFFIN COLLECTION, a portfolio of fifty selections from the collection, published by the Des Moines Art Center to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the death of Nathan Emory Coffin, 1981, b/w ill.
"A Visual Spectrum of the Arts," SEE MAGAZINE, Nov./Dec. 1977, color ill. p.6
John Coplans, "Pasadena's Collapse and the Simon Takeover - Diary of a Disaster," ARTFORUM, Vol XIII, no.6, 1975, pp.28-45, ill. p.38
John Coplans, ed., ROY LICHTENSTEIN, Praeger, New York, 1972, pl.64, p.127
Diane Waldman, ROY LICHTENSTEIN, Harry N. Abrams, New York, 1971, color ill. no.176
"Recent Accessions of American and Canadian Museums," THE ART QUARTERLY, Autumn 1970, ill. p.337
Lawrence Alloway, ROY LICHTENSTEIN, Abbeville Press, New York, 1983, color pl. no.46, p.48
DES MOINES REGISTER, Feb. 1, 1970, ill.
AN UNCOMMON VISION: THE DES MOINES ART CENTER, Des Moines Art Center, 1998, ref. & b/w detail p.172, color ill. p.173
DMAC Bulletin, Mar. 1970, cover ill.
ARTFORUM, article by Jean Louis Bourgeois, Nov. 1969, ill. pl.76, p.77
"Painting In New York 1944 to 1969," Pasadena Art Museum, 1969, exh. cat. ill. pl.18, p.41
Diane Waldman, "The Great Pyramid," from ROY LICHTENSTEIN, Guggenheim catalog, 1969, ill.
DES MOINES ART CENTER: SELECTED PAINTINGS, SCULPTURES AND WORKS ON PAPER, Des Moines Art Center, 1985, ref. pp.140 & 141, b/w ill. pl.81, p.141
DimensionsCanvas (/image): 129 × 204 1/4 in. (327.7 × 518.8 cm)
Accession Number 1970.1
Classificationspainting
SignedR. Lichtenstein '69 (verso l,l)
Catalogue raisonnéRLCR 1784
ProvenanceArtist; (Leo Castelli Gallery, New York); Des Moines Art Center [purchased from the previous, 1970]
Collections
Images (2)
Audio (1)
DSM Speaks Audio Tour with Jen Geigley, Community MemberAudio Transcript
DSM Speaks Audio Tour with Jen Geigley, Community Member
Run Time: 1.15 minutes
Recorded by Jen Geigley, CultureALL Community Ambassador /
My favorite work of art at the Des Moines Art Center is The Great Pyramid by Roy Lichtenstein, which was painted in 1969.
In this painting, Lichtenstein simplifies the iconic pyramids to simple, geometric triangles. He uses only black, white, and yellow to create the scene — a limited color palette that sharpens our focus on the bold shapes. I love how the bright yellow sky pops against the stark black and white forms. He adds dimension using his signature black dots, a nod to the printing techniques of comic strips.
While the subject — the Great Pyramid — comes from real life, Lichtenstein transforms it. Heavy black outlines and flattened color fields turn natural forms into structured, graphic shapes. As he once explained, Pop Art "looks out into the world" — reflecting a new, sometimes uncomfortable reality of modern culture.
Even though it looks like a printed comic, Lichtenstein actually painted all those dots and lines by hand, which is pretty amazing.
Lichtenstein was a big part of the Pop Art movement, like Andy Warhol. Artists in this movement were all about turning everyday things and pop culture into art.
The Great Pyramid is a perfect example of how he could take something familiar and turn it into something completely new and exciting, and I love visiting this painting whenever I'm at the Art Center.
DES MOINES SPEAKS
DSM Speaks are short audio reflections on artwork in our permanent collection, written and voiced by diverse members of our community. Contributors to this program were selected in partnership with CultureALL and the Des Moines Art Center. We hope by elevating these diverse ways of seeing we can encourage all visitors to connect more deeply and to see themselves and their identities within our walls.
