
Roy Lichtenstein 1923-1997
Image: 35⅜ x 55⅞ Inches (89.8 x 142 cm)
In Thinking Nude (1994), Roy Lichtenstein extends the formal and conceptual investigations of his final Nudes series, combining stylised figuration with the flattened logic of Pop. The figure is positioned in a moment of apparent reflection, but Lichtenstein offers no narrative clues or expressive cues — instead, the emotional weight of the scene is subsumed by visual structure.
The composition features a highly abstracted female form placed within an ambiguous interior, where spatial depth is suggested but never fully rendered. The curving lines of the body contrast with rigid elements of the background — windowpanes, patterned flooring, angular shadows — creating a dynamic push and pull between figure and frame.
Borrowing visual strategies from his Interiors, Mirror, and Perfect/Imperfect series, Lichtenstein treats the act of “thinking” not as an inner state but a surface condition — as much a part of the graphic field as the surrounding décor. The figure, like the environment, is an image assembled from signs, not sensations.
Relief printed on Rives BFK mould-made paper and signed “rf Lichtenstein” in pencil lower right, Thinking Nude is offered in excellent condition by Coskun Fine Art, with full authentication and provenance available upon request.
Literature
Cohen Taylor (1994)
Catalogue Raisonné: Corlett 289 (page 260)