Standing Explosion (Red) - Bentonville, AR - Philatelic Photographs on Waymarking.com

In the year 2023, Roy Lichtenstein would have celebrated his 100th birthday. In honor of the pop art icon, the U.S. postal service issued a set of five postage stamps showing five different works: four paintings and this sculpture. The 3 ft. tall porcelain enamel on sheet metal piece is part of the collection of the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas.

Roy Lichtenstein often took inspiration from the pages of comic books, especially early in his career. One of his favorite motifs was a comic book-type explosion such as the one that appeared in ‘Whaam!,’ one of his best-known works. By the mid-1960s, he was experimenting with 3-D versions called ‘Wall Explosion’ and ‘Wall Explosion II.’ This effort culminated in the free-standing sculpture series called ‘Standing Explosion’ (1965-66). In his paintings, Lichtenstein would often employ patterns of dots emulating the Ben-Day dots found in the printing of comic books. He incorporated these dots into this sculpture by using perforated steel sheets.

There are six versions of ‘Standing Explosion’ which are known by their predominate color. The one depicted on the stamp is the red version. Recently (2019), the blue version sold for over half a million dollars. Earlier, the original yellow version sold for almost $900,000.

Stamp Issuing Country: United States Date of Issue: 24-Apr-2023 Denomination: (63c) Color: multicolored Stamp Type: Single Stamp Relevant Web Site: Not listed

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