The Chief
Signed Print

Name: The Chief
Brand: Roy Lichtenstein
Rating: 5 (234 reviews)

Roy Lichtenstein

Price data unavailable

AAGR (5 years) This estimate blends recent public auction records with our own private sale data and network demand.

There aren't enough data points on this work for a comprehensive result. Please speak to a specialist by making an enquiry.

Medium: Lithograph

Edition size: 25

Year: 1956

Size: H 43cm x W 54cm

Signed: Yes

Format: Signed Print

Find out how Buying or Selling works.

Track this artwork in realtime

Watch artwork, manage valuations, track your portfolio and return against your collection

Track auction value trend

The value of Roy Lichtenstein’s The Chief, a signed lithograph from 1956, is estimated to be worth between £4,250 and £6,500. This work has been sold once at auction since its initial sale in June 2022. Over the past five years, the hammer price has remained consistent, with an average annual growth rate of 0%. This work is rare, with an auction history and an edition size of 25.

Unlock up-to-the-minute market data on Roy Lichtenstein's The Chief, login or create a free account today

Auction Results

Auction Date	Auction House	Location	Hammer Price	Return to Seller	Buyer Paid
June 2022	Wright	United States

Meaning & Analysis

Pop pioneer Roy Lichtenstein is known for his prints and paintings inspired by commercial and popular culture. Although the majority of Lichtenstein’s artworks maintain a certain air of parody, the thematic contents of his earliest prints differ greatly from his later artistic output. Executed in 1956, The Chief manifests a little known aspect of the artist’s oeuvre. This black and white lithographic drawing constitutes the precursor of Lichtenstein’s iconic American Indian series.

Similar to Indians Pursued by American Dragoons from 1952, this illustration of a tribal chief wearing a feather headdress manifests Lichtenstein’s earliest satirical sensibilities. The work appropriates its main figure from traditional Western paintings featuring American Indians. However, the artist inserts the subject matter into a surprising cubist narrative. In line with Ten Dollar Bill of the same year, Lichtenstein renders his chief in profile, flattened against the canvas in an amorphic manner. Utilising markedly unrealistic proportions, the shapes are here abstracted and verging on mythical.

Lichtenstein lends his angular composition and elementary forms a whimsical painterly quality, elevating these from serious to comedic. Through careful tracing and contouring, he produces radical flatness and sketch-like qualities. In doing so, the artist offers an ultimate parody of fine art as well as a commentary on the fetishised representation of indegenous heritage.

Roy Lichtenstein, born in New York, 1923, is a seminal figure in the Pop Art movement, renowned for his comic book and advertisement-inspired artworks. His transformative journey from classical painter to Pop Art pioneer began with his iconic piece, Look Mickey, marking the fusion of painting with pop culture. Lichtenstein’s works, including Whaam!, Drowning Girl, and Crying Girl, blend parody and satire, challenging the boundaries between popular culture and ‘high art’. With over 5,000 pieces to his name, Lichtenstein’s enduring influence resonates in contemporary art, his works celebrated in prestigious institutions worldwide.

Currency:

We connect buyers and sellers of original contemporary and modern prints, facilitating discreet, independent, investment led private sales. Fixed, clear and mutually agreed upon between both parties - simple, safe and secure.