Formal Analysis of the Five Brushstrokes art in NOMA

The New Orleans Museum of Art purchased an addition of outdoor art that changed the look of the museum all together in 2013. It is the Five Brushstrokes that are a monumental work of art by Roy Lichtenstein commissioned in the 80s. It is considered to be Lichtenstein’s most ambitious piece of artwork in his Brushstroke series that he came up with time. It consists of five separate elements with the tallest being over 40 feet in the air (Hatch, 56). The Five Brushstrokes features a striking collection of some forms as well as colors and is one of the Lichtenstein’s premier “scatter pieces.” Having been installed in NOMA, it became a prominent addition to the celebrated outdoor sculptures and s also awe-inspiring to anyone visiting the art museum.

The Five Brushstrokes originally commissioned in the Stuart Collection at the University of California San Diego (UCSD) in the 1980s. Lichtenstein worked on commission while sketching his thoughts, creating color cut out elements and also made wooden Marquette of the work. The sculpture was donated to NOMA by Sydney and Walda Besthoff, who are sensational and famous for world class outdoor sculpture that is on view in NOMA’s sculpture garden.

The Five Brushstrokes in the museum is 20-n feet tall painted on aluminum sculpture created by the characteristics of Lichtenstein. He has a trademark recognizable pop art style in which liquid, two-dimensional painted shapes are translated into the towering, three-dimensional artworks.With its combination of painting and sculpture at the same time, the artwork serves as a fitting and outstanding visible visual induction to NOMA’s collection of art. In fact, the art placed NOMA within the elite group of public art institutions in the United States of America.

Lichtenstein died in 1997 and is famous for paintings especially the ones which depict panels from comic books that bare blown up to heroic proportions heightening their formal qualities and also exaggerating their emotional content (Hatch, 57). The enlarged brushstrokes are clearly predominant in his paintings especially in a series that he completed in the mid-1960s at the height of his reputation as one of the top art’s enfant terrible. The brushstroke was used as ironic commentary on the seriousness and self-importance of abstract expressionism of the 1940s and the 1950s (Hatch, 57). The brushstroke, however, in the contemporary society came to symbolize the freedom of individuals and artists and the presence of the artists’ hand in the creative process.

The Five Brushstrokes, serve as very potent visual reminders of the experience in NOMA to all visitors. It can evoke a feeling and a sense of emotion of being free and also creates a sense of readiness and open-mindedness. It appeals to an individual to be ready for the unthinkable and stimulates the free spirit and willingness to learn and see what one had never seen or learned what one had never learned before. It also arouses a strong sense of curiosity because of the way it takes advantage of the unthinkable making one wonder whether the artist had a clear image in their mind when making the piece of art. It also appeals to the visitors of NOMA to want to see more while in the Museum. Lichtenstein also evoked a dry sense of humor and showed a non-conformist attitude when he made the five Brush strokes that clearly indicate the typical style of making art and paintings that have an emotional appeal and also attached to passion.

He shows some form of free will and could seem to mock having to make every art emotional but just makes one learn that they can have fun with art. It creates a sense of fun and can even make one that was not into art love seeing and making their interpretations of the intentions of the artist without necessarily having to go down to the emotion and passion of the painter. The Five Brushstrokes are an authentic portrayal of the liberty and freedom of art.