Torpedo...Los!: Difference between revisions

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Revision as of 00:15, 26 April 2017

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'''''Torpedo...Los!''''' (sometimes '''''Torpedo...LOS!''''') is a 1963 [[pop art]] oil on canvas painting by [[Roy Lichtenstein]]. When it was last sold in 1989, ''[[The New York Times]]'' described the work as "a comic-strip image of sea warfare".<ref name=AdKWSARa$M/> It formerly held the record for the [[Roy_LichtensteinRoy Lichtenstein#Art_marketArt market|highest auction price for a Lichtenstein work]]. Its 1989 sale helped finance the construction of the current home of the [[Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago]] in 1991.

Like many of Lichtenstein's works its title comes from the [[speech balloon]] in the painting. The work was included in Lichtenstein's second solo exhibition. The source of the image is a [[comic book]] from [[DC Comics]]. Lichtenstein has made significant alterations to the original image to change the focus and perspective in addition to significant alteration of the narrative element of the work. The work plays on the background-foreground relationship and the theme of vision that appears in many of Lichtenstein's works.

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The source of the image is "Battle of the Ghost Ships?" in [[DC Comics]]' ''Our Fighting Forces'' (October 1962), although the content of the speech balloon is different (this is edition number 72 according to some sources and 71 (a) according to others).<ref name=RLDW>{{harvnb|Waldman|1993|pages=96&ndash;97, 104}}</ref><ref name=TLLF>{{cite web|url=http://image-duplicator.com/main.php?work_id=0118&year=1963&decade=60|title=Torpedo...LOS!|accessdate=May 20, 2012|publisher=Lichtenstein Foundation}}</ref> According to the Lichtenstein Foundation website, ''Torpedo...Los!'' was part of Lichtenstein's second solo exhibition at Leo Castelli Gallery of September 28 – October 24, 1963, that included ''[[Drowning Girl]]'', ''[[Baseball Manager]]'', ''[[In the Car]]'', ''[[Conversation (Roy Lichtenstein)|Conversation]]'', and ''[[Whaam!]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lichtensteinfoundation.org/lfchron1.htm|title=Chronology|accessdate=June 9, 2013|publisher=Lichtenstein Foundation}}</ref><ref name=RLOF4>{{cite book|editor-last=Bader|title=Roy Lichtenstein: October Files|pages=2&ndash;4|chapter=Reviews 1962&ndash;64|last=Judd|first=Donald}}</ref> Marketing materials for the show included the [[lithograph]] artwork, ''[[Crak!]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://image-duplicator.com/search.php?string=Crak&search_year=&search_series=|title=Search Result: CRAK!|accessdate=June 26, 2013|publisher=LichtensteinFoundation.org}}</ref><ref name=RLGB>{{cite book|title=Roy Lichtenstein|editor-last=Bader|editor-first=Graham|series=October Files|publisher=[[MIT Press]]|year=2009|isbn=978-0-262-01258-4|chapter=Technology Envisioned: Lichtenstein's Monocularity|last1=Lobel|first1=Michael|pages=118&ndash;20|ref=harv}}</ref>

On November 7, 1989, ''Torpedo...Los!'' sold at [[Christie's]] for $5.5 million (US${{formatnum:{{Inflation|US|5.5|1989|r=1}}}} million in {{CURRENTYEARInflation-year|US}} dollars{{inflation-fn|US}}) to Zurich dealer Thomas Ammann, which was a record for a [[work of art]] by Lichtenstein.<ref name=AdKWSARa$M>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/11/09/arts/a-de-kooning-work-sets-a-record-at-20.7-million.html|title=A de Kooning Work Sets A Record at $20.7 Million|accessdate=May 9, 2012|date=November 9, 1989|work=[[The New York Times]]|author=Reif, Rita}}</ref> The sale was described as the "highpoint" of a night in which Christie's achieved more than double the total sales prices of any other [[contemporary art]] auction up to that date.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/12/06/arts/art-prices-are-still-astonishing-but-fever-seems-to-be-cooling.html|title=Art Prices Are Still Astonishing, But Fever Seems to Be Cooling|accessdate=May 9, 2012|date=December 6, 1989|work=[[The New York Times]]|author=Reif, Rita}}</ref> The seller of the work was Beatrice C. Mayer, the widow of Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago founder and board member Robert B. Mayer as well as daughter of [[Sara Lee Corporation]] founder [[Nathan Cummings]].<ref name=A>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/11/03/arts/auctions.html|title=Auctions|accessdate=May 9, 2012|date=November 3, 1989|work=[[The New York Times]]|author=Reif, Rita}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://docs.newsbank.com/openurl?ctx_ver=z39.88-2004&rft_id=info:sid/iw.newsbank.com:NewsBank:CSTB&rft_val_format=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:ctx&rft_dat=0EB37331AD0EB121&svc_dat=InfoWeb:aggregated5&req_dat=0D0CB579A3BDA420|title=Donors cite need for new art museum|accessdate=August 23, 2009|date=January 29, 1991|work=[[Chicago Sun-Times]]|author=Gillespie, Mary}}</ref> Prior to the sale the work was part of the Robert B. Mayer Memorial Loan Program and was exhibited at colleges and museums.<ref name=A/> ''Torpedo...Los!'' was expected to sell for $3 to 4 million at the time.<ref name=A/> In 1991, Mayer became one of the key benefactors of the new Museum of Contemporary Art Building.<ref name=Tesoanam>{{cite web|url=http://docs.newsbank.com/openurl?ctx_ver=z39.88-2004&rft_id=info:sid/iw.newsbank.com:NewsBank:CSTB&rft_val_format=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:ctx&rft_dat=0EB37331A6F45D82&svc_dat=InfoWeb:aggregated5&req_dat=0D0CB579A3BDA420|title=Trustees endow success of a new art museum|accessdate=August 23, 2009|date=January 29, 1991|work=[[Chicago Sun-Times]]|author=Gillespie, Mary}}</ref>

==Description==