Roy Lichtenstein’s “Compositions II” draws on the aesthetic of a student’s school composition book. The original 1964 magna on canvas painting measures 56 x 48 inches (142 x 122 cm) and was part of the Collection Sonnabend in Paris. Today “Compositions II” is held at the Museo d’Arte Contemporanea (MADRE) in Naples, Italy.
“Lichtenstein has produced only a few paintings in which the object coincides with the rectangle. […] As a subject the composition book offers parallels to (Jasper) John’s targets and flags but again the fundamental difference is one of intent. Where Johns wishes to reveal the flag or target as a literal object, to the extent of constructing his canvas in depth, and thereby call into question the nature of reality (the actual flag or target) and illusion, Lichtenstein wants to state the object only in two-dimensional terms. He wishes to assert, above all, that the image can exist both object and illusion in so far as it exists on the picture plane. For him, then, the picture plane, not the object alone, is vitally important. […] Compositions I, II and III differ not in their subject but in details like the addition of 59¢ or the change in the shape of the canvas. […] The selection of such subjects as a school notebook has evoked reminiscences of (Gustave) Courbet, whose choice of a related subject, the common man, was also considered outrageous in its time. Lichtenstein’s subjects are, for the most part, the discards of our civilisation, products for the common man that are obsolete as soon as they appear.” (Diane Waldman, Lichtenstein, page 15, London 1971)
The object itself measures 16.5 x 20.7 cm (6.5 x 8.15 inches) and the frame is 38.6 x 31 x 3.8 cm (15.2 x 12.2 x 1.5 inches). We used the high-quality title page of a 1968 catalogue from the German Kestner-Gesellschaft featuring Lichtenstein’s Composition II, which bears the artist’s red facsimile signature. After wrapping it around an original American composition booklet, we added textile tape to the spine and framed it behind museum glass. This playful object possibly illustrates Lichtenstein’s engagement with everyday objects and their appearance.
