On, from the album “The International Anthology of Contemporary Engraving: The International Avant-Garde, Volume 5: America Discovered”

It is unremarkable to find a light switch on a wall, but perhaps as the subject of a work of art, it is most surprising. During the early 1960s, Roy Lichtenstein singled out common objects, including this humble household electrical fixture. Represented cleanly in black and white, these works resemble advertisement illustrations of the time.

In their look and subject matter, such sparse etchings were among the cool visual statements that defined the beginnings of Pop art. With his flipped switch, Lichtenstein turns the viewer on to these exciting new developments and Pop art’s focus on everyday objects. The movement benefited greatly from the simultaneous enthusiasm to make prints. This etching is one from an album published in Europe to convey the pulse of contemporary art in the United States to new audiences.