# 5796 - 2023 First-Class Forever Stamp - Paintings by Roy Liechtenstein: Portrait of a Woman, 1979

U.S. #5796
2023 Portrait of a Woman – Roy Lichtenstein

• Part of a set of 5 stamps honoring American artist Roy Lichtenstein
• Pictures Lichtenstein’s painting “Portrait of a Woman” 

Stamp Category:  Commemorative
Value:  63¢ First Class Mail (Forever)
First Day of Issue:  April 24, 2023
First Day City:  New York, New York
Quantity Issued:  18,000,000
Printed by:  Banknote Corporation of America
Printing Method:  Offset, Flexographic
Format:  Pane of 20
Tagging:  Phosphor tagged paper, block

Why the stamp was issued:  To commemorate Roy Lichtenstein with one of his more famous works of art.

About the stamp design:  Pictures Lichtenstein’s oil and magna on linen painting “Portrait of a Woman” (1979).

First Day City:  The stamps were issued April 24, 2023, in New York City, at the Whitney Museum of American Art.

About the Roy Lichtenstein set:  Set of five stamps celebrating the works of one of the most well-known American artists of the pop movement – Roy Lichtenstein (1923-1997).  Each stamp pictures a different work by Lichtenstein:

“Standing Explosion (Red)” (porcelain enamel on steel sculpture, 1965)
“Modern Painting I” (oil on magna on canvas, 1966)
“Still Life with Crystal Bowl” (oil and magna on canvas, 1972)
“Still Life with Goldfish” (oil and magna on canvas, 1972)
“Portrait of a Woman” (oil and magna on linen, 1979)

The selvage of the pane of 20 pictures a photograph of Lichtenstein taken by Bob Adelman along with an image of Lichtenstein’s 1983 sculpture “Brushtrokes in Flight.”

History the stamp represents:  Roy Lichtenstein is widely remembered for his comic-inspired paintings.  Yet, they only make up about five years of his four-decade career.

Most of these works were inspired by war and romance comics because they were “emotionally strong.”  Lichtenstein was intrigued by the contrast of these comic panels that portrayed extreme emotions in a rather common manner.  In his adaptations, he upped the drama and painted them in an almost cold, technical style.  His paintings drew attention to the stereotypical portrayals of masculine men and vulnerable women.

Lichtenstein took small comic panels as inspiration and painted them hundreds of times larger than the original images.  While the comics were printed, he hand-painted his images in a manner that resembled the printing process.  He would also change colors, add or remove elements, and give the images new meanings.

While his paintings were popular, Lichtenstein did receive criticism.  Some suggested he was simply copying their artwork.  However, Lichtenstein’s paintings questioned what constitutes “art.”  And they challenged the general belief that commercial products, such as comics, were not art.  As fellow artist Bill Griffith explained, Lichtenstein could “take low art, bring it into a high art context, appropriate it, and elevate it into something else.”