I Can See the Whole Room and There's Nobody in It

The 1960s and 1970s were decades of extraordinary turbulence in the United States politically, socially, economically, and culturally. The visual arts thrived in this atmosphere, in some cases deeply engaged in the tumult, in some cases relatively detached from it. A number of important artists were motivated to write about their work in manifestos, statements, interviews, and theoretical essays....

“I can see the whole room! . . . And there’s nobody in it!” These words, borrowed from a dime-store detective comic book, where they float above the head of a man gazing out of a...

~In the summer of 1961, soon after beginning his experimentation with Pop, Lichtenstein executed a large canvas entitled I Can See the Whole Room!. . . And There’s Nobody In It! (fig. 42). In the...