BENTONVILLE, ARK.- Crystal Bridges has announced it will install a monumental recent acquisition, Roy Lichtenstein’s Brushstroke (1996, 2002-2003), on the lawn of Heartland Whole Health Institute. Weighing almost five tons, the 32-foot-high, 20-foot-wide sculpture is a rendition of a giant brushstroke of slick white paint.

“Brushstroke has found a natural home on the Crystal Bridges Campus, where art blends with architecture, nature, wellness, and education,” said Rod Bigelow, Crystal Bridges executive director. “Set within a landscape designed to invite reflection and discovery, the work complements the trails, galleries, and gathering spaces on the campus. Brushstroke will create a moment of pause and a sense of wonder, sparking curiosity and contemplation. Ensuring this monumental work of art is on view, in a public space, reinforces Crystal Bridges’ mission to make art accessible to all.”

The outdoor Brushstroke sculpture will be placed in conversation with Lichtenstein’s Screen with Brushstrokes, which is on view inside Heartland Whole Health Institute. The screen, which is a promised gift to the Crystal Bridges collection as part of a generous gift from Candace and Michael Humphreys, highlights the interplay between painting and functional art. Both the screen and the sculpture celebrate the concept of the brushstroke as a powerful symbol of creativity and the connection between different artistic disciplines. As early as the mid-1960s, Lichtenstein (1923-1997) featured brushstrokes in both paintings and sculpture, isolating the spontaneous gesture of painters as a stylized Pop symbol.

"Brushstroke is an extraordinary addition to the Crystal Bridges Campus, and a monumental extension of the remarkable Roy Lichtenstein works already in the collection,” said Austen Barron Bailly, deputy director, curatorial and guest experience at Crystal Bridges. “Positioned to greet visitors as they arrive and make their way down to the museum, it signals what Crystal Bridges offers—art that is bold, accessible, and deeply connected to the experience of place. Brushstroke invites curiosity from the very first step onto campus.”

The work was acquired from the Hirshhorn, consistent with the collections policy established by founding donor Joseph H. Hirshhorn in 1966.

Brushstroke joins two other Lichtenstein works in the Crystal Bridges collection. Still Life with Mirror is on view in the museum’s Visions of America Galleries. Standing Explosion (Red) is on view in Crystal Bridges’ Bigelow Bridge gallery.