Roy Lichtenstein - Nurse 1964
Nurse 1964
121x121cm oil and Magna on canvas
Sold for: USD 95.4 million
Auction house: Christie's, New York
Sale date: 9 November 2015
Seller: Anonymous owner
Buyer: Anonymous buyer
From Christie's:
Painted at the height of his career, Roy Lichtenstein’s Nurse is a dazzling masterpiece—a celebration of the bold new imagery that changed the direction of art. The subject of this painting stands alongside Warhol’s Marilyn Monroe, Elizabeth Taylor and Jacqueline Kennedy as one of a distinguished group of icons who take their place in the history of figurative painting. Initially titled Frightenedness, the protagonist symbolizes her profession, however when seen through Lichtenstein’s prism, her anxious gaze and hand raised nervously upwards towards her face displays a palpable sense of drama that infuses the narrative with a sense of fear and foreboding. No words are spoken, no context is given—yet the artist’s exceptional understanding of the language of visual communication is able to set the stage for a complex drama that is about to play out before us.