In these preparatory models, Lichtenstein creates an unsteady play between the image of the pyramid and its form: the corners that appear to project outward when seen from straight on are instead where the sculpture recedes away from the viewer. Lichtenstein had long been fascinated by tricks of perception and the translation between two and three dimensions, dating back to his years as a student at Ohio State University. Lichtenstein also explored this translation in a number of studio photographs he took of three-dimensional Pyramid prints in the early 1970s. While an aluminum edition of Wall Pyramid (Model) was fabricated posthumously, the other Pyramid studies from this period remain only as foamcore maquettes.
