Roy Lichtenstein

Part of a collection of 10 collages by Roy Lichtenstein for Allen Ginsberg, La nouvelle chute de l'Amérique; dix gravures de Roy Lichtenstein. Paris: Les Éditions du Solstice, 1992 (2019.8:1-10).
In 1991, Pop artist Roy Lichtenstein was approached by French publisher Jean-Claude Meyer to provide illustrations for a French edition of Allen Ginsberg's The New Fall of America. Ginsberg selected eleven poems to be translated into French and Lichtenstein created ten collages inspired by them, from which etchings were printed for the book. In a manner typical of Lichtenstein's process, the collages are made of pieces of printed paper--with motifs such as stripes--and cut-outs from hand-painted sheets in solid colors. The imagery is also characteristic of Lichtenstein's interest in popular illustrations. An evocation of Ginsberg as a Buddha in a lotus pose, for instance, was inspired by a vignette symbolizing meditation on a yoga class sheet. Cubistic visions of the city and emblems of explosions alternate with more peaceful landscapes to provide a visual counterpart to Ginsberg's vivid evocation of contemporary America.