BARBARALEE DIAMONSTEIN
81
My ea rl y Pop pa inting referred LO comi c strips and o ther com–
mercia l images, Pi casso, Mondri an , art Deco, etc., but wh a t rea ll y
occu pies me is wh a t occupi es mos t arti sts and tha t's constructing a
painting - a wo rk; pUlling IOgether ma rk s. T here are certa in ch a rac–
ter isti cs common LO a ll o f my works a nd certa in differences con sistent
with the pa rti cul a r subj ect I'm p ursuin g.
Yo u as ked wh o influell ced me and tha t's difficult because th ere
are so man y influences: Happenings and En vironmen ts , j ohns,
Ra uschenberg, and Rivers.
Diamonstein:
Was thi s when you were a t Rutgers?
L ichtenstein:
I was there from 1960-63 and the mos t immed ia te
influences on m y work were All a ll Kaprow, who was teaching there,
and assoc ia tes o f hi s in Ha ppenin gs. Obvio usly, comic strips th em–
selves were a n influ cnLe, but the li cen se to refer LO them so di rect ly
came from wo rk being done then by Kaprow, Oldenbu rg, Din e,
Wh itma n , Ra u schenberg a nd compa n y.
Diamonstein:
Wha t a bo ut their predecessors, some o f th e in sta nces in
your wor k o f homage to Leger and Pi casso.
L ichtellstein :
Th ese were more remo te influ ences. I thin k m y bi gges t
es theti c influ en ce rni ght be Picasso. I have o nl y grown LO like Leger
recentl y. Yo u mi ght think beca use o f hi s preoccu pa tion w ith indus–
tri a l forlllS a nd the bluntn ess a nd "dumbness" o f hi s style th a t he
would haVl' been impo rt ant to me, but I n ever undersLOod him.
Diamonstein:
I suspect a ll o f th ese peopl e h ad a n influence on yo u .
L icht enslt' in:
I agree.
Diamollst f'in:
T he work
YOIl
were do ing a t tha t time was referred to as
nco- Dada. Yo u had a lo ng fri ends hip with Duchamp , who then li ved
in New Yo rk . \Vh a t di d he think o f tha t new movement , a nd how
wioes pread wa s hi s influence
0 11
th e wo rk o f tha t sO-IO-spea k schoo l
of pa inting?
Castelli:
Well , cu ri o usly enoug h , the first o f the pa in ters tha t were
influenced by Du ch amp did n o t know him o r hi s work a t a ll. T h ey
kn ew a bout h im , but they hadn ' t n o ti ced him parti cul a rl y. Actua ll y.
they go t to know Duch amp th ro ugh j ohn Cage who h ad known
Du r ham]> before th ey did . So. I sh ould say tha t Ra uschenberg an d
John s cl iscoVl'red , ill quo tes, Du champ. Ra u schcnberg kn l'w him a
little ca rli er. btlt il was John s who was cl oses t
to
Duchamp.
Diamonstein:
Then he redi scovered Ducham p .
Castell i:
/\fter j o hns h ad p a int ed the flag. the ta rgets, th e lett ers, the
figures. But then , he go t to know Ducha ll1p , and Ra uschen berg a bit
too , and th ey becamc fast fri end s before the Po p a rtist's appea red
