Look Mickey

1961

Roy Lichtenstein

Painter, American, 1923 - 1997

The Disney cartoon characters, Donald Duck and Mickey Mouse, fish off a dock in this horizontal painting. The scene and characters are painted entirely flat areas of canary yellow, cobalt blue, tomato red, and white. To our left, Donald leans over the edge of the dock with his feet spread and duckbill hanging open. He has a white body outlined in blue, big eyes filled with a pattern of tiny blue dots, and yellow feet and duckbill. He wears a blue sailor’s hat and jacket with a red bow tie and yellow circles indicating buttons. He holds a fishing pole with an oval, red bobber near the fishhook high over his head. The pole has bent back with the fishhook snagged on the back hem of Donald’s jacket. A white speech bubble over Donald’s head is outlined in blue, and blue text inside reads, “LOOK MICKEY, I’VE HOOKED A BIG ONE!!” Mickey stands to our right, covering his smiling mouth with his left hand, on our right, and holding an upright fishing pole with the other hand. His round face is filled with a pattern of tiny red dots, and his curving hairline and ears are blue. He wears blue pants, a red shirt and shoes, and white gloves. The dock is mostly yellow with a white area on the right. Its planks and three white, round posts supporting it are outlined in blue. Rippling water surrounding the dock is defined by wavy lines and undulating bands of blue against a yellow background. The artist signed his initials in the lower left, “rfl.”

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Artwork overview

More About this Artwork

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Video:  Roy Lichtenstein's "Look Mickey" (ASL)

This video provides an ASL description of Roy Lichtenstein's painting, Look Mickey.

Artwork history & notes

Provenance

Dorothy and Roy [1923-1997] Lichtenstein, New York; gift (partial and promised) 1990 to NGA; gift completed 1999.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1982

  • Roy Lichtenstein - Paintings, Parris Art Museum, Southampton, New York, 1982.

1990

  • High and Low: Modern Art and Pop Culture, Museum of Modern Art, New York; Art Institute of Chicago; Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, 1990-1991, no. 71, repro. (shown only in New York).

1991

  • Art for the Nation: Gifts in Honor of the 50th Anniversary of the National Gallery of Art, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 1991, unnumbered catalogue, color repro.

1993

  • Roy Lichtenstein, travelling exh. organized by Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York (7 venues in U.S. and Europe), 1993-1996, no. 19, repro.

1999

  • Off Limits: Rutgers University and the Avant-Garde, 1957-1963, The Newark Museum, 1999, pl. 17, repro.

2001

  • Les années Pop, Musée national d'art moderne, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, 2001, unnumbered catalogue, repro.

2003

  • Roy Lichtenstein--All About Art, Louisiana Museum of Modern Art, Humlebaek, Denmark; Hayward Gallery, London; Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Madrid; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, 2003-2005, no. 3, repro.

2012

  • Roy Lichtenstein: A Retrospective, Art Institute of Chicago; National Gallery of Art, Washington; Tate, London; Musée national d'art moderne, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris, 2012-2013, no. 8, repro.

2014

  • Pop to Popism, Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney, 2014-2015, unnumbered catalogue, repro.

  • Pop Art Myths, Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza, Madrid, 2014, no. 14, repro.

2015

  • International Pop, Walker Art Center, Minneapolis; Dallas Museum of Art; Philadelphia Museum of Art, 2015-2016, pl. 60.

Bibliography

n.d.

  • Rost, Kerstin. "Roy Lichtenstein Interviewed by Kerstin Rost." Unpublished manuscript in NGA curatorial files.

1965

  • Rublowsky, John. Pop Art. New York, 1965: 43-49, repro. 50.

1966

  • "Oldenburg, Lichtenstein, Warhol: A Discussion." Artforum IV, no. 6 (February 1966): 21.

1972

  • Waldman, Diane. Roy Lichtenstein. Milan, 1972: 25-26.

1991

  • Esterow, Milton. "Roy Lichtenstein: 'How Could You Be Much Luckier Than I Am?'" Art News 90, no. 5 (May 1991): 85-91, repro.

1992

  • Mamiya, Christin J. Pop Art and Consumer Culture: American Super Market. Austin, 1992: 87-88, fig. 42.

1993

  • Waldman, Diane. Roy Lichtenstein. New York, 1993: 21, 25, fig. 19.

1994

  • Lewis, Jo Ann. "Roy Lichtenstein's Naturel Progression: New Directions for Pop's Old Master." The Washington Post (30 October 1994): G7, repro.

1997

  • Sylvester, David. Some Kind of Reality: Roy Lichtenstein Interviewed by David Sylvester in 1966 and 1997. London, 1997: 7.

2000

  • Jancène-Jaigu, France. "L'autocitation chez Roy Lichtenstein: de Artist's Studio, Look Mickey à la série des Reflections." In Bernard Brugière, Marie-Christine Lemardeley, and André Topia, eds. L'art dans l'art. Paris, 2000: 347-353.

2002

  • Lobel, Michael. Image Duplicator: Roy Lichtenstein and the Emergence of Pop Art. New Haven and London, 2002: 31-39, fig. 11.

2004

  • Hand, John Oliver. National Gallery of Art: Master Paintings from the Collection. Washington and New York, 2004: 452-453, no. 382, color repro.

2006

  • Bader, Graham. "Donald's Numbness." Oxford Art Journal 29, no. 1 (2006): 93-113, cover and fig. 1.

2011

  • Bader, Graham. "Lichtenstein's Narcissus." In Contemporary Art and Classical Myth. Ed. Isabelle Loring Wallace and Jennie Hirsh. Farnham, Surrey, and Burlington, Vermont, 2011: 159-173, pl. 9.

2012

  • May, Stephen. "Roy Lichtenstein, A Retrospective at National Gallery of Art." Antiques and the Arts Weekly. (November 9, 2012): 1, 30, repro.

Inscriptions

lower left: rfl; upper right reverse: rfLichtenstein / '61

Wikidata ID

Q4307180

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