Initially conceived in 1989 and developed during the following years, Roy Lichtenstein began The Interiors, a series of work depicting ideal but banal domestic environments inspired by furniture ads the artist found in telephone books or on billboards. The works were created using a combination of printing techniques including lithography, woodcut and screenprint, all of which the artist had mastered in his earlier work examining the Ben Day dot technique, which were made at Gemini G.E.L. in Los Angeles. Although Lichtenstein may be most remembered for his work inspired by comic strips and graphic novels, this later series marked a departure which met with some acclaim. Lichtenstein manages to integrate the readymade appearance of the interiors while employing painterly gestures infused with thick contours, bold colours and flat surface planes.

An amusing theme which flows through the series is Lichtenstein’s nod towards many of his contemporaries. In other works from the series, a Jackson Pollock can be seen in the composition, in another an Andy Warhol flower painting hangs on the back wall. In the present work, The Living Room, we see the artist featuring one of his own Brushstrokes works, a simple statement that he too is one of the American greats.