The pair of works was to be hung in the studio of the Milanese house of Versace. However, the finished paintings, Interior with Diana and Interni with Ajax, remained in Lichtenstein's studio at the time of the designer's death in July 1997.
It wasn't until that December when Donatella Versace was contacted by the artist's studio and informed of the existence of the paintings.
Donatella Versace then had them exhibited at the Versace residence in New York
Showing the works in Southampton is particularly suitable as Lichtenstein had a home and studio here, where he continued to experiment with different styles and mediums from the 1970s until his death in 1997.
The artist has not only lived and worked in Southampton but has been continually inspired by the local community throughout his career. Is Interior with Diana and Interior with Ajax, with Lichtenstein's iconic Benday stitches, draw significant influence from Greco-Roman iconography that coincidentally often appeared in the creative visions of Lichtenstein and Versace. While there is no known specific source for Ajax or Diana used by the artist, the subjects are instantly recognisable. Lichtenstein has captured their essence, and therefore the viewer feels that he automatically knows the images in these works. The repetitive use of Benday blue dots, a key feature of the artist's oeuvre, brings together the detailed elements of these striking interior scenes into a harmonious vignette. This combination of new and old elements presents the canvases as incredible, unified works by one of America's leading modern masters for his friend, Gianni Versace.
Diana, the virginal Roman goddess of the moon and the hunt, was a subject depicted several times by Lichtenstein in his later years
Often pulling images from his own archive of work, Lichtenstein incorporated his early profile studies of Diana into this interior, as if he had been waiting for this moment to show her on a finished canvas.
A Greek motif reminiscent of the Versace jellyfish
In the front frame of Interior with Diana, this key Greek motif recalls the Versace logo: Medusa surrounded by a ring with the same Greek design, a play on the iconography of ancient Greece and on Gianni Versace himself.
Ajax, Greek hero of the Trojan War, is at the forefront of his canvas
He is instantly recognized by his classic profile, bare chest and Greek war helmet. A master of mixing the high and low arts, Lichtenstein juxtaposes simple and modern furnishings in the same simple framework of Ajax. Also, above Ajax's head, he's included a small still life within a still life. The framed fruit painting is reminiscent of the highly graphic and iconic print ads for which Lichtenstein was so famous early in his career.
Alongside these two masterpieces, there will be a selection of other important works by the artist including Girl in Mirror, 1964 and Shipyard Girl, 1965.
