Study for Red Barn II (1969) is a refined yet playful architectural drawing from Lichtenstein’s mature period. With precise linework and a comic-like composition, the artist strips away the nostalgia typically associated with the Red Barn motif and Americana, reimagining it through the cool, graphic language of Pop. Lichtenstein was fascinated with symbols of American culture past and present, once saying "I'm interested in portraying a kind of idealized version of something that was never ideal to begin with." The artist was surrounded by these symbols in the Hamptons; he purchased a home in Southampton in 1968, one year before completing this work.

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Lichtenstein was fascinated with geometry, structure, and color, and he translated everyday subjects into coded visual systems, much like Mondrian or Cézanne, but with a uniquely American twist. This work reflects a conceptual shift in his late 1960s production, as he moved beyond contemporary comics and advertisements to reinterpret landscapes and art historical references through a Pop lens.

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Unlike his large-scale, industrially finished paintings, Study for Red Barn II is a rare example of Lichtenstein’s preparatory drawings, and highlights the precision, restraint, and structure that underpinned his iconic canvases. The work was made as part of a progression from a small black and white sketch to this colored-pencil sketch, to a full scale painting, which has been held by the Museum Ludwig in Cologne, Germany, since 1976. Lichtenstein’s work is held in major permanent collections throughout the world, including MoMA, the Whitney Museum, Tate Modern, and Centre Pompidou among others. He continues to be celebrated as one of the leading figures of Pop Art, redefining our understanding of mass-media, advertising, and fine art to the present day.