The artwork “In the Car” by Roy Lichtenstein, created in 1963, is a notable piece of Pop Art. The medium used for this work is magna on canvas, and it measures 172.7 by 203.2 centimeters. Classified as a genre painting, the artwork embodies the distinctive characteristics of the Pop Art movement. Currently, it is housed at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art in Edinburgh, United Kingdom.
“In the Car” features a stylized representation of a man and a woman situated in an automobile. The man, depicted in profile, is focused intently on the road ahead, grasping the steering wheel. His features are bold and defined, with a distinct blue shadow cutting across his face, an exemplar of Lichtenstein’s signature style that incorporates comic strip aesthetics. The woman, in contrast, is shown in a close-up view leaning toward the man, her eyes closed and her cheek nearly touching his head, conveying a sense of intimacy or perhaps contemplation. Both characters are rendered with thick outlines, flat planes of color, and dots mimicking the Ben-Day dot printing process used in comics of the time.
The artwork’s palette is limited, yet striking, with the vibrant red of the car’s interior framing both figures, and the woman’s yellow hair and leopard-print scarf providing visual focal points. These elements reinforce the commercial and mass-media context from which Pop Art draws, while also playfully engaging with the culture of the era.
