Skip to main content

WHAM! BANG! POP! Part of Our Collection is on a Stamp

By Marie Hofer, Content Specialist, Art & Architecture

Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art will be closed Monday, May 13, to prepare for the visit of Antiques Roadshow. We will return to normal hours of operation Wednesday, May 15.
Image from an installation in our galleries in 2016. Roy Lichtenstein, Standing Explosion (Red), 1965, porcelain enamel on steel, 38 x 25 x 30 in. Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas, 2010.8.
Image from an installation in our galleries in 2016. Roy Lichtenstein, Standing Explosion (Red), 1965, porcelain enamel on steel, 38 x 25 x 30 in. Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas, 2010.8.

We’ve been bursting with excitement to share a bit of postal news with you: one of the sculptures in our collection is on a stamp!

The US Postal Service recently featured Standing Explosion (Red) in one of five stamps commemorating Roy Lichtenstein’s colorful Pop art. This celebrates what would’ve been the artist’s 100th birthday.

At the announcement ceremony, the stamp’s dedicating official, Thomas Marshall, explained that “the Postal Service uses its stamp program to raise awareness and celebrate the people who represent the very best of our nation. Roy Lichtenstein certainly deserves this recognition because of the remarkable creativity and innovation he demonstrated throughout his career.”

Dorothy Lichtenstein, the artist’s widow and president of the Roy Lichtenstein Foundation, was also in attendance. She said, “I think it’s an honor, and more people will find out about Roy. I think he would have really loved it.”

 

Roy Lichtenstein's stamps for the US Postal Service, designed by USPS art director Derry Noyes, feature the 1965 sculpture Standing Explosion (Red) from the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas; the 1966 canvas Modern Painting I from the Frederick R. Weisman Art Foundation in Los Angeles; the 1972 painting Still Life With Crystal Bowl from the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York; and two paintings from private collections, Still Life With Goldfish (1972) and Portrait of a Woman (1979). USPS.
Roy Lichtenstein's stamps for the US Postal Service, designed by USPS art director Derry Noyes.
The stamps feature the 1965 sculpture Standing Explosion (Red) from the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas; the 1966 canvas Modern Painting I from the Frederick R. Weisman Art Foundation in Los Angeles; the 1972 painting Still Life With Crystal Bowl from the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York; and two paintings from private collections, Still Life With Goldfish (1972) and Portrait of a Woman (1979). USPS.

Lichtenstein was a leading force in the Pop art movement, which drew on popular culture for inspiration. From the late 1950s through the 1960s, this movement flourished in the United States and Britain, sourcing its aesthetic from advertisements, Hollywood movies, and comic books.

Roy Lichtenstein, Standing Explosion (Red), 1965, porcelain enamel on steel, 38 x 25 x 30 in. Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas, 2010.8. Photography by Edward C. Robison III.
Roy Lichtenstein, Standing Explosion (Red), 1965, porcelain enamel on steel, 38 x 25 x 30 in. Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, Bentonville, Arkansas, 2010.8. Photography by Edward C. Robison III.

Standing Explosion (Red) is an early example of Lichtenstein’s sculptural work and resembles explosions in comics. The work uses bold primary colors, heavy outlines, and perforated sheets of steel, which mimic the look of Ben-Day dots—a technique used to print comic illustrations.

The sculpture will be on view soon in our Contemporary galleries. See the work at the museum, and then get your stamp from USPS to mail a little piece of Crystal Bridges to friends and family!

 

Want to hear more about what’s happening at Crystal Bridges? Sign up for eNews and get updates on your favorite artworks and programs delivered straight to your inbox.

 

Library Displays Pop Art Materials
Roy Lichtenstein, Popeye

Library Displays Pop Art Materials

Library
Now through July 31, 2017, Crystal Bridges is hosting a focus exhibition on the work of Roy Lichtenstein. The exhibition, featuring five works from the artist’ early career in the…
Read more
Keith Haring is Hitting the Road to the Broad!

Keith Haring is Hitting the Road to the Broad!

Art & Collection

After nearly ten years on Walker Landing, Keith Haring’s beloved sculpture Two-Headed Figure (1986) and other works are heading to Hollywood.

Read more
Buy Ruth Asawa Stamps from the US Postal Service
Ruth Asawa USPS Forever stamp

Buy Ruth Asawa Stamps from the US Postal Service

Art & Collection
The US Postal Service is honoring the life and career of Japanese American artist Ruth Asawa, whose work is found in the Crystal Bridges collection, with a beautiful stamp collection…
Read more