In addition to still lifes and woodcut, Lichtenstein embraced yet another art-historical style in his Expressionist Woodcut Series – German Expressionism. In the 1960s and 1970s, Lichtenstein shifted from appropriating mass-produced imagery to stylistic conventions and specific works of Modern masters. Expressionist Woodcut Series originated during Lichtenstein’s trip to Los Angeles in 1978, where he was introduced Robert Gore Rifkind’s collection of German Expressionist woodcuts, prints and illustrated books. Inspired, he appropriated and borrowed stylistic elements for his own works. German Expressionists, particularly the Brücke artists in the early 1900s, worked in woodcut prints characterized by simplified forms and heightened color. To produce the series’ five woodcuts, Lichtenstein worked with Baltic Birch wood for blocks, hand cut the lines, and referenced his small colored-pencil drawings. This portfolio was Gemini G.E.L. and Lichtenstein’s first major woodcut series.

To challenge high art in an age of mechanical reproduction, Lichtenstein’s seven compositions incorporate elements of Expressionism with his Pop Art aesthetic. Striping, shading, and defined shapes evoke Expressionist woodcuts, while the bright rich colors and schematic forms suggest comic images. For example, Head is a seven-color woodcut of an Expressionist angular face rendered from interlocking primary colors, flat shapes, and heavy black outlines used in the commercial press. The woodcut textures of wood grain, smooth, and jagged lines signify the tone and texture of commercial printed materials. Lichtenstein’s signature Benday dots are used sparingly in this series because their effect is not expressionistic. The portfolio is made up of portraits, some reminiscent of Lichtenstein’s comic strip beauties and lovers of the 1960s. Reclining Nude and Nude in the Woods introduce the nude into Lichtenstein’s oeuvre, a theme that becomes central in the 1990s.